As a medical resident working in one of the poorest cities in the
country, I see firsthand how poverty can contribute to poor health.
The hospital where I work is filled with people suffering from
uncontrolled diabetes, high blood pressure, and other problems often
exacerbated by a lack of health insurance or income. These problems and
their origins are complex, of course. And millions of words have been
written about how to fix them. But there is one thing the government
could do right now that would make a tremendous difference to my
patients and to all the nation's poor: Reform the Farm Bill currently up for
reauthorization in Congress.
Wondering what the Farm Bill has to do with sick people? Despite its
name, the Farm Bill doesn't just affect farmers. It's a colossal piece
of legislation that to a large extent determines what foods are grown in
America, how much they end up costing, and what we end up eating. In
other words, it has a big impact on whether people have easy access to
the nutritious foods that will help them prevent diet-related diseases.
The Farm Bill's main influence stems from the enormous subsidies it
gives farmers-more than $70 billion between 1995 and 2005 for food
production alone. Unfortunately, more than 80 percent of this money goes
to producers of sugar, oil, alcohol, meat, dairy, and feed crops. Soy,
corn, and other feed crops are mostly used to fatten up cows and other
animals that get turned into cheeseburgers and other high-fat,
high-cholesterol products.
This subsidy system rewards farmers for growing foods that contribute to
high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and other diet-related
diseases I treat every day.
Wouldn't our taxes be more wisely spent promoting healthier foods such
as fruits and vegetables? That's exactly what could happen if our
lawmakers vote to pass a reform of the Farm Bill proposed by Sens.
Richard Lugar of Indiana and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey. The FRESH
Act would cut some of these outrageous subsidies and shift some of the
savings into promoting good nutrition.
The Act would improve access to healthy food for America's poor in two
important ways. First and foremost, the price of fresh fruits and
vegetables, always a sticking point for lower-income people, is likely
to drop. Without economic incentives in place favoring meat and other
unhealthy products, more farmers are likely to switch to growing
produce.
Secondly, the FRESH Act would increase funding for a wide array of smart
initiatives, including farm-to-school programs, farmers' markets, fruit
and vegetable promotion, and the Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program that
provides free, healthy snacks to school kids across around the country.
The act would also expand access to fresh fruits and vegetables for WIC
recipients and seniors and fund a pilot project for Food Stamp
recipients.
As a doctor and former cancer researcher, I know that the more we can do
to encourage healthy eating, the better off we'll all be-rich, poor, and
middle class alike. An impressive body of scientific literature shows
that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, and other
low-fat vegetarian foods would greatly reduce America's incidence of
heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers.
It's time to align federal food policy with good nutritional science.
Let's reform the Farm Bill so that it stops promoting disease and begins
promoting good health.