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There’s just so much buzz about Health care reform it’s crazy! Without a doubt it’s a huge problem. And even though I sheepishly admit that I know very little about what the reform bills include, I think it’s pretty stupid to try to put a band-aid on a leak in Hoover Dam without getting to the bottom of this issue. As most of you know, I’m all about getting to the root cause of things. It just doesn’t make any sense to me to just try to treat the symptoms because when you do that, it usually creates a whole other set of problems. So my question, just like Michael Pollan’s (my hero, author and food activist in the video above) is…How can we tackle Health care reform without dealing with this countries obesity epidemic first?
Even if they fixed all that is messed up with our current system and it was perfect, we would still be confronted with the rising tide of chronic preventable disease linked to diet.
That’s why I believe our success in bringing health care costs under control ultimately lies in prevention and one huge way to aid in that, is for Washington to focus its efforts on reforming a second even more powerful industry: the food industry. With that, I’m NOT saying that ultimately the responsibility doesn't lie with us individually, but I do think that the government can help us out in many other productive ways. Like getting rid of unnecessary subsidies (the corn industry) , dumping the “The Smart Choice Program” (thank goodness the FDA is seeing through that one!) and maybe helping out with school lunch programs to make them healthier.
Pollan says that it costs the U.S. health care system $147 billion each year to treat obesity and it costs another $116 billion to treat diabetes and hundreds of billions more to treat cardiovascular disease and cancer. All of which have been linked to the SAD diet (Standard American diet). According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) 75% of U.S. health care spending goes to treat “preventable chronic disease.” A recent study also pointed out that obesity is responsible for 30 percent of the increase in health care costs over the last 20 years.
Pollan also has mentioned in many interviews (like the one above) that food system reform is not yet present in the national conversation about health care reform. “To put it bluntly, the government is putting itself in the uncomfortable position of subsidizing both the costs of treating Type 2 diabetes and the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup.”
Another nutty misconception out there is that eating healthy is hard and complicated. As Pollan outlines in his new book "Food Rules" an eaters manual, all you have to do is eat “Real Food”. It's very simple. Just stay away from the pseudo food that usually comes in a box or bag. Remember, we vote with our forks when it come to the food choices we make. If you don’t buy it, they’ll quit making it!
What are your thoughts? Should the government help us out a little or do you think it’s all on us?
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