As reported in the Trends Journal, compared to air pollution, COVID-19 paled as a killer in China, where the coronavirus first emerged. With slightly over 4,600 Chinese succumbing to the virus pandemic, it is important to note that more than 1.5 million Chinese die every year from environmental pollution, according to a worldwide study by 40 scientists published in 2017 in the British medical journal The Lancet.
As stated in a press release on ScienceDaily, a scientific resource website, worldwide, air pollution causes 8.8 million early deaths a year. As of last Sunday, about 285,000 had died from COVID-19.
In Italy, the first western nation to be hit by the virus and which set the stage for the COVID hysteria, in the Lombardy region, where most of the deaths occurred, studies show a link between high levels of air pollution and death rates from coronavirus.
Aaron Bernstein, professor at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health and one of the research leaders, stated bluntly, “People who have been living in places that are more polluted… are more likely to die from coronavirus.”
While Italy suffered the largest percentage of deaths from COVID-19 in Europe, it is barely mentioned that about half of all deaths from the virus in the country took place in the Lombardy region, whose capital is Milan, which has high levels of air pollutants.
In the UK, a Cambridge University study reveals that those living in areas with high levels of air pollution are at a higher risk of dying from coronavirus. The lead researcher of this study stated, “There is an overlap in the health conditions that both air pollution and COVID-19 cause, which needs to be explored further.”
Given that those who breathe polluted air are more likely to be afflicted with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and chronic lung issues, and the proof that these health conditions are directly related to those dying from the coronavirus confirms the link.
Fatten Up?
With millions upon millions of citizens scared to venture outdoors, sticking it out at home, food producers are getting desperate to get their products consumed.
In Belgium, the largest exporter of frozen fries, the trade association Belgapom is focusing promotions to encourage increased consumption of the deep-fried product in order to lower the large potato surplus caused by the national shutdown. Recently, the head of the association urged Belgians to “increase that moment of joy an extra time in the week.”
In France, the cheese industry has launched a “Do what you can for cheese” campaign. The government has allowed cheesemakers to avoid certain protocols for protecting the quality of their products. For example, rules were relaxed concerning how long milk can be stored before used and cheese restrictions on aging and quality have been relaxed in order to increase production.
In the UK, where data from the Health Survey for England reported over 30 percent of the population as clinically obese and over 60 percent either overweight or obese, a trade organization for meat farmers generated a recent “Steak Night” social media push. According to the UK’s National Beef Association, “The meat we are consuming this week started production three years ago or more. Beef production cannot be turned on and off like a tap.”
“America: We’re #1”
America leads the world in obesity, with over 70 percent of its adult population overweight and 42.4 percent among them obese.
As we have noted in the Trends Journal, not only are the locked down eating more low quality prepared canned and processed foods, with demand for meat high and a number of meat processing plants closed down, the nation is suffering a meat supply shortage.
To rev-up production, the White House went into action, invoking the “Defense Production Act” on 29 April to get meat production back up to speed.
TRENDPOST: For over a decade, studies have pointed to the link between obesity and eating large quantities of meat, from a 2010 European study published In the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition to more recent data from the medical research group Antibodies.com.
TRENDPOST: In oligarch America, just four companies control 85 percent of the entire meat processing market.
“The industry is a poster child for the trend towards excessive concentration, reduced competition and – as we are now discovering – a decline in resilience,” said Tim Bond, partner and portfolio manager at London-based Odey Asset Management.
When Michael Taylor was appointed by President Clinton to be head of the Food Safety and Inspection Service, he stated his surprise when he first saw the phone in his new office: “On the telephone there were two speed dials with names by them. And one was to the American Meat Institute and the other was to the National Cattlemen’s Association.”
We note this because the economic devastation inflicted by politicians locking down economies will destroy millions of small businesses, leaving less competition while expanding market share to large multinationals.
