Michael Pollan Says Healthcare Reform Will Fail Unless We Change The Way We Eat

Grist:

First in The New York Times last week and then on NPR this weekend, Michael Pollan made that point that if we want to fix our health-care system, we have to fix our food system.

Read the whole story: Grist

Comments

[jmundstuk]

01:13 PM on 09/17/2009

Thanks, Michael. So helpful. Repeat after me: "Pres. Obama's health care reform effort is crucial to improving the health and security of Americans. I believe that we must also tackle the way we eat and the way our food is produced, also to improve the health and security of Americans."

[ResidualSelfImage]

12:21 PM on 09/16/2009

Eliminate the corn and soy and sugar subsidies.
Tom Monsanto Vilsack and kingkorn dems dont want to do that.

[Puffin16]

11:44 AM on 09/16/2009

The food industry is a giant drug pusher. They have the US population addicted to fat, sugar, and salt. One of the byproducts of this addiction is an inability to say "I've had enough," and stop eating. It causes people to finish the entire pizza, and to crave anything with the 3 addictive ingredients. Why do they put high fructose corn syrup in almost everything? How can they justify selling a triple hamburger with bacon that has over 100 grams of fat? Why do they sell fried butter at the fair?

[sixyfivepercentwater]

11:29 AM on 09/16/2009

The problem is there's no food that's really good for us. While it's obvious that if we eat things that are handed to us at drive-up windows we are damaging our health, there really isn't any healthy food out there.

It's possible to grow your own tomatoes and other produce, but you still grow it in soil that is contaminated with mercury (all soil is to some degree) and other toxins, and if you water supplementally you're pouring the chemicals, drugs and pesticides right on to your "organic" garden. So while staying away from junk foods as well as those containing MSG, high fructose corn syrup, aspartame and other unfoods is entirely doable, finding foods that won't kill us eventually is an impossible task.

[Ashley Flintoff]

09:15 AM on 09/16/2009

The food system in this country is so far off base it's no surprise that our health care system is also a mess. What boggles the mind is that while there is a tremendous uproar over health care reform, there is barely a peep in mainstream media regarding food production and food security in America. Even if we provide everyone with access to health care (and let's be straightforward, I'm a fan of this idea) if we do not address the causes of increased need for health care, we're simply entering into a viscious cycle that can't be broken. Pollan hits the nail on the head here with the seeminly simple concepts that we 1) are what we eat and 2) all the health care in the world cannot help the man/woman/child who doesn't have access to proper nutrition or even food! It's time we stood up and took control of our futures and it all begins with food.

[msbeal]

02:15 AM on 09/16/2009

Although eating well is certainly important there are problems with Michael's argument. It is well documented that 85% of all Medicare cost is expended within the last two weeks of life. It doesn't' matter if that last two weeks happen when you're a heavy 55 or a slim 85 year old.

There are 70 million aging baby boomers with a possible mortality bell curve centering around 10 to 15 years from now. It's certainly difficult talking about this and there are many thorny religious and ethical issues involved but it needs to be address. Some estimate this medical issue is a 40 trillion dollar unfunded liability for Medicare.

For me personally, as a boomer, if my parents belonged to the 'greatest generation' I believe I belong to the 'saddest' generation. For decade after decade we ignored or were indifferent to sloppy government and encouraged a credit card lifestyle of ME-ME-ME. I find very little to brag about that we have left our children.

My prayer is that we put emotions to the side and face with courage these tough ethical questions and find a way to bow out without dragging our country or our children into an abyss. I don't have any pat solutions but we need to stop poisoning the well of ideas with scare tactics or easy but impractical ideological mutterings.

[GeriNV]

03:01 AM on 09/16/2009

yes, just pray for a massive heart attack and have an advanced directive stating DNAR. Don't use up all of our future generation tax dollars sustaining our old declining useless lives in the last 2 weeks. Just eat more lipid laden food, stop taking cholesterol drugs, eat as much bad food as we can and then try to run a marathon. That should bring on a heart attack.

[msbeal]

12:32 PM on 09/16/2009

I understand your discomfort with the implication of these facts. I don't much care for it either. And yet, there it is staring us in the face. I understand you are being flippant but advancing heart attacks or mass DNRs do nothing to address this problem - the last two week problem still exists.

To put a 40 trillion dollar problem into perspective, that's 4.5 years of our entire GNP. In fact its so large that it would be safe to say no one is going to pay that bill. I doubt they could even if they wanted to.

The 'do nothing' route basically has instead of 50 people dying a day from lack of health care to say 5,000 people dying a day from lack of health care with some percentage of that group being denied several significant more years of life simply because there was no money to help them. Ironically, the ultimate 'death panel', Mother Nature. couldn't care less what we do.

Adopting a European style single payer system at least cuts this problem in half. It's still a problem but that's a heck of a first step towards rational management.

Beyond awareness I'm not advocating anything.

[Tim303]

02:11 AM on 09/16/2009

Yeah, sure. But ideologically this is so easy to spin as another guilt trip. Surely saving people's lives will not be negated by the odd purchase from a shop that isn't remotely like Whole Foods?

[GeriNV]

02:58 AM on 09/16/2009

Huh? Maybe you don't understand. Americans are living too long regardless of what they are eating. McDonalds, BK, KFC, Organic, Pesticides - whatever. They are living way too long... look at the numbers. The increasing life expectancy ... the growing aging population. I would say, eat more cholesterol and fat. If we all had a massive heart attack and died at 65, that would be effective health care. No life prolonging chronic illnesses sustained by 20 different drugs.... we are only increasing morbidity. Let's all just die in a massive heart attack. Don't draw it out. It costs the system too much. Think about the contribution we would all have for the greater good of society if we just died quickly in a day instead of having prolonged slow deaths with functional decline or dementia. I just want a massive heart attack that takes me when it is time. Don't let me use up all of the future generation's tax dollars in my last 2 weeks of life. That is my donation to society.

[sixyfivepercentwater]

11:32 AM on 09/16/2009

"If we all had a massive heart attack and died at 65, that would be effective health care."

sense. making. not.

You'll sing an entirely different tune when you're in the middle of a heart attack, my friend.

[GeriNV]

01:51 AM on 09/16/2009

Look, I don't care what people are eating or what they are doing. Facts are facts. CDC reports on life expectancy and we are living longer than ever. Too long...
The aging population + increases in human life expectancy = rising healthcare cost, bankrupt social security, more nursing homes

More aging people = higher costs to society.

[FormerReaganite]

12:44 AM on 09/16/2009

Yes we do eat badly. But what about tobacco and alcohol? There are far more hospital beds occupied by the results of those consumptions than that of bad food choices...

[GeriNV]

01:16 AM on 09/16/2009

obesity is a growing epidemic. obesity = health problems.

[Gasparilla]

09:07 PM on 09/15/2009

He's exactly right. And you always hear the excuse that it's too expensive to eat well. How about the people spending 6 dollars for the supersize fast food meal. They could bring a couple sandwiches of lean turkey on whole wheat and an apple to lunch for a quarter of that. There's always an excuse when you're looking for it.

[shockaslim]

12:40 AM on 09/16/2009

There are plenty of studies that show that many low income families have the poorest diet because unfortunately the worst food for you just happens to be the cheapest. Lean turkey may be better for you, but that massive pack of bologna is gonna feed the kids more.

[GeriNV]

01:18 AM on 09/16/2009

poor families should eat less. less calories = less obesity. I was on welfare, I had no money, I hardly ate, I was thin. It is ridiculous to blame poverty for obesity. Look at thirdworld countries - are they obese in ethiopia?

[Gasparilla]

10:13 AM on 09/16/2009

There are plenty of cheap things that are also good for you. Potatoes, rice,chicken. If you shop carefully, there are plenty of things that are buy one, get one and other sales. If you weigh three hundred pounds you're obviously spending enough on food. You can afford to eat a little better.

[LemonMeringue]

07:33 PM on 09/15/2009

The government has for a long time put the emphasis on quantity of food and low cost of food and completely ignored quality of food.

[spikeykitten]

08:52 PM on 09/15/2009

What does the FDA do then?

[jsarets]

10:38 PM on 09/15/2009

They can only ban foods that aren't safe to consume in any significant quantity. Junk food is safe to consume in moderation. The FDA doesn't have any policy tools to reduce the consumption of certain foods without prohibiting them altogether.

[HeWhoReads]

10:44 PM on 09/15/2009

Rolls over for Monsanto and laughs at people who take dietary supplements.

[LemonMeringue]

07:33 PM on 09/15/2009

He is changing the subject.

But health care reform - real reform that we need, which is single payer - would include lots of prevention and education on healthy living habits.

Our culture is based on greed, and that includes gluttony.

[allenosuno]

06:59 PM on 09/15/2009

Healhcare reform will fail unless we stop being a nation of two tiered hypocrites and stop spending more money on war and giveaways to the rich than we do on fixing the problems of our country. Obesity is directly tied to poverty, among other things. Yet those who preach the loudest do the least to help people caught in a trap of impoverished areas with few good food stores, and too little income to buy nutritious food, and no de-programming centers like there is for drug addicts to deal with food addiction, and no reining in of the mega corporations that cut corners on ingredients and push high profit junk food that lards people who get used to it. Television has constant junk food ads. So in short there is a lot of 'do as I say' but the same anti-fat preachers won't touch the burden that poor people face with one of their little fingers. They just self-righteouly preach. Physical correctness is the new political correctness. Until you're willing to be part of the solution, don't preach to others about how they're costing the country too much while we waste trillions on foreign wars and windfalls to the rich.

[GeriNV]

01:23 AM on 09/16/2009

Obesity does not equal poverty. Poverty is relative. True poverty exists globally in third world countries. Seen any obese Ethiopians?
It is not the junk food, it is the amount of junk food. It is the total caloric intake for your metabolism. People should be truly poor, then they would eat less = thin.

[JShep]

06:36 PM on 09/15/2009

According to the CDC, over 30% of the costs for medicare and medicaid are due to problems resulting to obesity. Most likely, there are similar costs in private insurance also. Over 30% of the US is obese. Another 30% overweight. Anyone who can't see the enormous burden on our healthcare system due to poor eating habits must be mentally blind. What ever happened to personal responsibility?? The worst problem with our healthcare system is that people don't care about their health.

[TigersEye]

06:42 PM on 09/15/2009

Many people want to be able to eat whatever they want and then have free healthcare when their body starts paying the price for their bad food choices. There needs to be some accountability, people need to start taking responsibility for poor food choices instead of expecting physicians to wave a magic wand after years of bad nutrition. It doesn't work that way.

[Twopennygal]

07:10 PM on 09/15/2009

What about bad food advice? I have always taken responsibility for what I eat. I have always tried to eat "right." But it wasn't until I was in my 40s that I found out what the right food choices really are.

[Twopennygal]

07:08 PM on 09/15/2009

For years and years my doctors told me that all I had to do was to lose weight and I'd be "fine." Well, I'd lose weight and I wouldn't be fine. And then I'd put the weight back on following those fool doctors' ideas of what a healthy diet is. Finally, when I was in my middle 40s, I found out that my problem was not my weight, my weight was just one of the many symptoms of insulin resistance. When I finally got that under control, I finally started getting "fine." Although, unfortunately, some irreverisble damage had already been done for which I'm now in cancer treatment.

I am so tired of people saying that obesity is the problem. What about all the sick thin people? Obesity is just one of the many symptoms of insulin resistance, which is caused by eating the wrong foods. And those foods are pushed by the diet, agribusiness, and fastfood industries.

And I have ALWAYS cared about my health.

[Gasparilla]

09:03 PM on 09/15/2009

It's a proven fact that obesity is a major player in illness. To pretend it's not a big "problem" is just more excuse making.

[HeWhoReads]

11:01 PM on 09/15/2009

Doctors don't know much about nutrition. It is unfortunate that everyone trusts them in that regard. They take maybe one nutrition class in college and that is it. If you want to talk to someone who know their stuff, talk to a registered dietician. Note, dieticians and nutritionists are NOT the same thing. One requires a degree, and the other does not.

[SouthJerseySteve]

06:13 PM on 09/15/2009

Forget Health Care Reform (which we need too) -- we need FARMING REFORM! I've read stories how our produce lacks any nutrients because the grounds are ruined by over farming. Beyond this, ALL of our farms should be organic.

[TigersEye]

06:38 PM on 09/15/2009

Farming reform, GM food reform, you name it. Do we really need fish in our strawberries? I buy organic as often as I can.

[Twopennygal]

06:42 PM on 09/15/2009

And agribusiness focuses on big cash crops like corn, soy, and wheat, rather than the varied foods we really need.

I shop the local farmers market. And I realized recently that the farmers have started selling a much wider variety of produce than they did a few years ago. I can now even get things like locally grown fresh shitake and oyster mushrooms. the produce they sell is what's locally in season and very fresh. Right now they have great berries, lettuces, a wide variety of tomatoes and peppers, cucumbers, summer squash, jicama, and all sorts of other vegetables.

We need smaller farms with more invested in good food and sustainability rather than how much they can bleed out of the ground.

[little old lady]

12:43 AM on 09/16/2009

Yes, I don't think we have a clue how important small farms will be in the near future. With the cost of oil rising and supply declining (needed for transporting food, running farm machinery, making fertilizer, etc.) we need to have small Local farms and gardens.

We need to save the farm land we have and not build subdivisions on it. Over the years, I watched the very fertile Central Valley of California lose farmland to subdivisions (until I fled the state). Some of our best farmland, gone.