Eating real food

In today's edition of the paper of record, Mark Bittman makes the point the solution to the obesity crisis in America is to eat real food, not the hyper processed junk or foodlike substances so often passed off as edible.  Like most people, the lure of junk food occasionally overcomes me.   A juicy cheeseburger, fries and a coke are a guilty pleasure.  But not every day.   A diet heavy in fruits and vegetables as well as unprocessed grains and lean meat is a good foundation for lifetime health.  My newest son-in-law is into the "paleo" diet which touts what the originators fancy was the diet our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate in the supposedly Eden like conditions before the advent of agriculture.  He claims the heavy emphasis on meat and vegetables has given him much more energy.  Whether or not it does, he is avoiding processed foods.   In that at least, he is in agreement with Bittman and others who write about food and diet.  The problem for the majority of Americans is the power of the processed food industry.  With billions of advertising dollars to spend, the merchants of ersatz food bombard us with propaganda designed to entice us to eat empty calories.  The solution is not easy.  Banning advertising would be a start, but under present conditions a non-starter.  A soda tax is likewise a sensible alternative, but also not likely.  Education is the best alternative we have at this time.  Will it be enough to avoid the coming crisis of obesity and diabetes?