I completely understand and agree with you. Public policy has a hard time matching scientific guidelines, it's hard to generalize at a global scale.

I agree about the "thanks I'm cured" energy and that's why I included citations to show that it does help some people. It's worth trying. It's not the only reason for depression, but it is the easiest and has the least side effects in terms of treatment options. No constant cost of therapy and no drugs and side effects. But if you have multiple things causing issues with mental health, you're going to crave the unhealthy food to cope. That makes adherence to a healthy diet harder too.

I think the most promising recent legislation regarding food has been Oaxaca, Mexico banning sugary drinks and junk food for those under the age of 18 in 2020. [0] Which also has specific research backing that age group. [1]

There's might be some debate eventually about high-fat vs high-sugar being worse, but over-processed junk food is a good catch all I think. Neither is healthy for a gut biome although high-fat/lipid is talked about more often. [2]

I personally have a theory that high-sugar is worse than high-fat. But I have no research I can point to backing it other than the idea that low carb diets seem to do better than low fat diets. Even though diets at the end of the day it's calories in, calories out, in this context not all calories are equal. I think self measuring blood sugar levels are going to be the next big thing for diet trends.

I do agree that fresh fruits and vegetables are harder to find in places of lower socioeconomic status, but that's a more complex issue than only "elite" grocery stores reserving the fresh fruit.

GMO fruit is just as good as organic. The marketing in the west makes it seem like organic is the only way to go, but frozen fruits and non organic vegetables are just as healthy if not healthier. [3] You generally have to use harsher pesticides for organic foods anyway to get good yield. [4]

The bigger issue is that time is a also luxury and preparing a healthy meal takes time.

People who can afford that time are also affluent enough to be able to shop at elite places like Whole Foods. The supply chain for fresher fruits and vegetables means the cost is higher so it only sells at 'elite' chains where there is a demand and people can afford it.

If you're working long hours, maybe two jobs, you're not going to have time to cook, the cheapest reasonable meal is the processed fast food place.

I don't have a solution but with enough research, public policy won't be able to ignore the detrimental cost of high-sugar and high-fat and highly processed foods. One day I think we'll look at food today the way we see nicotine and cigarettes of the past, and I'm not alone in that sentiment.

[0] https://www.npr.org/2020/09/14/912029399/we-had-to-take-acti...

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7284805/

[2] 2019 Microbiome and Mental Health, Specifically as It Relates to Adolescents

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11920-019-1075-...

https://sci-hubtw.hkvisa.net/10.1007/s11920-019-1075-3

[3] https://extension.umn.edu/preserving-and-preparing/science-f...

[4] https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/02/author-robert...