Nestlé CEO Says Water Is Food That Should Be Privatized – Not A Human Right

I read the article and I watched the video and I even caught some of the german the CEO of Nestlé was using. In the video he makes lots of arguments, including that drinking water as a human right isn't something he thinks is right – because water should be considered a foodstuff, so it can have value, and that value shows how important and valuable it is. He also declares that genetically modified foodstuffs have been in use in America for 15 years with no ill effects and then kvetches about how Europe refuses to allow this kind of food out of safety sake.

I think his arguments come from a place that I would characterize as obnoxious capitalism. This is what happens when money clouds your thinking so you don't see individual people anymore, you just see the bottom line and big numbers you can crow about. Like supporting 4 million people with your company and so forth. Each of his arguments is something I would expect a capitalist to make, one who has lost his inherent humanity. So, lets unpack them one at a time.

Drinking Water

I was born and grew up in the Great Lakes region. For me, potable drinking water was never a concern – the city I grew up in had such excellent drinking water that you could make ice from it, and then pour it into a glass and drink as much as you wanted without having to worry about any ill effects from that water. Water here is common, so common as to be beyond thought. Potable water is free, available to everyone who wants it, and as much as they care to drink. Anyone can walk up to any business or restaurant or house and ask for a glass of water and get that very thing without paying one cent for it. This is something that is very important to understand about America versus the rest of the world. It is only in America where the water is free and clean and healthy. Everywhere else, you could drink the water that's available and reap the consequences of that action – or you could pay for bottled water. This CEO of Nestlé comes from a culture where water is Evian or Perrier. It's bottled, it costs money, so obviously his instinct is that water isn't a human right – because it would mean that the companies that sell good water would be forced to give it away for free. This is something that Americans take for granted and it was something, as a child of the Great Lakes, had no operating concept of when I went to France. In Europe, if you wanted to quench your thirst you had only a few options – wine or beer, bottled water, or your own urine. The last is unpalatable, but it is sterile and in a way, minimally potable. I think that the outrage over this video about water should be tempered by the light of cultural sensitivity. Poor Europeans have no operating knowledge of water so clean you can stick your head in Lake Superior and drink until you burst and you have absolutely nothing to fear about what comes next. No parasites, no bacteria, no cross-contaminated sewage-laden water supply to fear, just pure clean crystal clear water and a nearly inexhaustible supply of it to boot! So I for one write a pass for this poor swiss, or german, or whatever he is – ultimately European person and his weak understanding of just how vital and important water truly is. This is why we call it the New World here, we don't suffer from water scarcity or doubts about water quality, and it's free. It's something that I remind myself regularly when the political winds smell of shit here in the United States, yes, life can be difficult, challenging even, but. BUT. BUT WE HAVE FREE CLEAN WATER. How much is that worth? More than gold, more than money, more than anything. Humans can go without food for weeks and not die. We can't do that kind of survival when it comes to water, we need water too much, it's too dear. So temper your wild exhortations about leaving the New World, and think about water. For us, as Americans, the idea that water is a human right is so obvious as to be a complete surprise that not many consider it to be as we do. The Great Lakes are our blessing, worth more than any treasure on the planet. More than Gold, more than Copper, more than Platinum. Sweet cold perfectly clean water.

Genetically Modified Food

Another point this CEO of Nestlé makes is a very wrong-headed argument that Nature is somehow out of balance and not good for us. He states that quite clearly, that he considers “Organic” food to be inferior to his processed food. He even goes so far as to claim that GMO food has had no ill health effects here in America where we consume it with abandon. I call bullshit. GMO food may not kill us after we eat it, but processed food, food with GMO ingredients, things that aren't wild produce and certified non-GMO protein sources are in fact killing us. This crap food is killing us slowly. Very slowly. Imperceptibly slowly. Look at what happened in the United States over the past 15 years. We have become sick! We're ill! We are obese, we're riddled with cancer, diabetes, if you open any random cupboard I bet you'll find pill bottles with medications designed to address our maladies like cholesterol, acid reflux, or diabetes. These maladies may or may not have a causal link to GMO foods, but one thing I can say is that I believe that they are linked, they certainly aren't doing us any good! I've screamed at people that a good healthy long life can be had if you avoid processed “cheap” foods like the plague! Yes, McDonalds is cheap, but is it really? Like GMO foods (yes, I link McDonalds and GMO together, not directly, but in the way that neither are good for you) and the cost of that food is cheap to acquire but devastatingly expensive when you consider the long-term effects of eating that food. Cheap to buy, expensive to overcome obesity, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, high triglycerides… on and on and on. So, when the CEO of Nestlé claims that nature is not good and his GMO processed foods are, my response can be only this, Sir, you are so full of bullshit that you can't walk properly!

So what is to be done? Teach children to cook! For the love of all that is good, learn to make your own food! Use wholesome ingredients, avoid processed food-shit, and if you can't afford to stuff yourself full, at least get a little something to get by! If we were serious about bettering our health and our happiness we would outlaw these processed food-shit items outright. They are not good for us and as a country, they could bankrupt us! Sure, McDonalds is cheap to buy and fills you up, but years later when you are riddled with cancers, obese, diabetic, and hypertensive the cost to keep your sorry body alive will be immense! What's the best thing that public policy can do to better our health? Ban GMO foods, ban processed foods, ban “fast food”. Ban this food-shit outright. If you did that, Americans would weigh less, we'd have less cancer, we'd live longer, we'd be regular, we wouldn't need insulin, and I bet we wouldn't need the handful of pills a day once we get to a ripe old age of 60!

But there is so much we can't risk, and that's really at the center of everything. We can't risk Big Agro and Big Pharma. If we did what we know we should we would have to tell all the drug companies and all the fast food joints to divest themselves in America and go elsewhere for their business. That's the trap at the center of all of this, we know that's the right way for us to go but we know we can't ever do it because it would upset the status quo. Ultimately my arguments can't be expected to survive in this harsh light when it comes to public policy matters, but I can make an argument to individuals and perhaps my arguments can make an impact there. If it's processed by a company, it's food-shit. Do you really want to eat food-shit? How much of your day do you spend eating food-shit? Minimally processed foods, produce, proteins, dairy – the things our grandparents and their grandparents considered as food is where we came from and where we should go back to! Learn to cook your own food! Can't cook? That's a bullshit argument and you know it. People who can't cook their own food are lazy and stupid and deserve their dark fate. If you hand the responsibility for eating well to some company, I wish you all the luck in the world. That company cares for your health about as much as a sea sponge does. Only those people who learn to cook care about their lives, the rest are just throwing it all away. Essentially if you eat this food-shit, and you are what you eat, then you are not made of anything good, you're made of shit.

So, what is best? Ignore this Eurotrash CEO and the wrong bullshit that he spouts. Take responsibility for your health and wellbeing. Take responsibility for your food! For the love of God, LEARN TO COOK.