The "Politics" of Food, Health, and Health Insurance
Well, it's always hard to get back into the routine when one returns from vacation. This past week has been a whirlwind of getting laundry done and put away, getting back into household routines, and of course back to work. This includes blogging. Here is Sunday and I've almost been home a week already and I am just getting back to this.
It's nice to see that people are reading occasionally; it seems that I struck a cord by getting a little political in my post about childhood obesity. Seems some folks think that the government should not be responsible in any way for the country's obesity problem.
Well, lets take a look at the current effort that the government has made to educate the public about food and appropriate eating, namely the "My Pyramid" web site. Has anyone looked at this thing? I bet most of you have not, and if you have, you've walked away shaking your head, wondering how anyone thought that was actually going to help a person with a high school (or less) education learn to eat more healthily. How many people who need dietary instruction know that this educational tool exists or how to find it? How many have the computer access necessary to use it? How many get there and understand it?
Seems to me that it would be much more practical to get kids moving at school and provide them with access to healthy foods first. It's a fact that what many kids learn becomes an influence at home when the child says "let's find the healthy fast foods on the menu", or asks for a piece of fruit instead of chips. The government is already in there folks, and in my opinion they are not meeting people where they live.
One more point before I pass onto other subjects, if you think that the government is not involved in food and health, I strongly encourage you to read two books by Michael Pollan. The first, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, and the second, In Defense of Food, An Eater's Manifesto. The first traces how food policy has changed the way we grow and distribute food to the detriment of both the farm land and our health. The second, which I am about 1/3 of the way into, is breaking apart much of the "knowledge" that I was taught about food and health. It seems that we may have been sold a bill of goods when it comes to the idea of a low fat diet being good for our health. But more on that when I finish reading the book.
Finally, if you are following the candidate's plans for health care in the US after they are elected, then this article will likely be of interest. Seems that Hillary and Obama aren't too far off from one another with their plans, but McCain's taking the usual tact of his party: give people money to 'encourage them to purchase their own insurance.'
Yeah, and how many of you are going to pay bills with your "economic stimulus" money rather than purchase a new item to stimulate the economy? People are basic and pragmatic. They are getting behind in their bills due to the current recession and when that check comes, I'll bet at least 75% of them will use the money to pay off a looming bill. The rest will do the instant gratification thing and spend it on an item to make them happy; but they aren't saying to themselves, "Let me spend this money to stimulate the economy."
Same with health insurance. If they are given tax credits it's not like they'll ever see cash that they can spend on insurance. If they are given cash, do you think they will know where to turn to spend their money on health insurance? Do you think they can understand how to get it, what policy will provide their family with the best coverage for their dollar, and how to fill out the paper work? I'd guess not.
In fact, I think they'd spend the money on those bills that are piling up, because right now it works just fine for them to go to the ER when they need medical care. They get assistance there to fill out the paper work for free care, and in the end it never costs them a dime for that visit. Never mind that it's not a good way to get ongoing medical care or that hospital's are having a difficult time with budgeting for all this free care. People deal with what's right in front of them, the bills or the illness, not the best option for the long road ahead.
Take care.
~Laurie
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: politics, food, health, health insurance, Michael Pollan, heart disease
It's nice to see that people are reading occasionally; it seems that I struck a cord by getting a little political in my post about childhood obesity. Seems some folks think that the government should not be responsible in any way for the country's obesity problem.
Well, lets take a look at the current effort that the government has made to educate the public about food and appropriate eating, namely the "My Pyramid" web site. Has anyone looked at this thing? I bet most of you have not, and if you have, you've walked away shaking your head, wondering how anyone thought that was actually going to help a person with a high school (or less) education learn to eat more healthily. How many people who need dietary instruction know that this educational tool exists or how to find it? How many have the computer access necessary to use it? How many get there and understand it?
Seems to me that it would be much more practical to get kids moving at school and provide them with access to healthy foods first. It's a fact that what many kids learn becomes an influence at home when the child says "let's find the healthy fast foods on the menu", or asks for a piece of fruit instead of chips. The government is already in there folks, and in my opinion they are not meeting people where they live.
One more point before I pass onto other subjects, if you think that the government is not involved in food and health, I strongly encourage you to read two books by Michael Pollan. The first, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, and the second, In Defense of Food, An Eater's Manifesto. The first traces how food policy has changed the way we grow and distribute food to the detriment of both the farm land and our health. The second, which I am about 1/3 of the way into, is breaking apart much of the "knowledge" that I was taught about food and health. It seems that we may have been sold a bill of goods when it comes to the idea of a low fat diet being good for our health. But more on that when I finish reading the book.
Finally, if you are following the candidate's plans for health care in the US after they are elected, then this article will likely be of interest. Seems that Hillary and Obama aren't too far off from one another with their plans, but McCain's taking the usual tact of his party: give people money to 'encourage them to purchase their own insurance.'
Yeah, and how many of you are going to pay bills with your "economic stimulus" money rather than purchase a new item to stimulate the economy? People are basic and pragmatic. They are getting behind in their bills due to the current recession and when that check comes, I'll bet at least 75% of them will use the money to pay off a looming bill. The rest will do the instant gratification thing and spend it on an item to make them happy; but they aren't saying to themselves, "Let me spend this money to stimulate the economy."
Same with health insurance. If they are given tax credits it's not like they'll ever see cash that they can spend on insurance. If they are given cash, do you think they will know where to turn to spend their money on health insurance? Do you think they can understand how to get it, what policy will provide their family with the best coverage for their dollar, and how to fill out the paper work? I'd guess not.
In fact, I think they'd spend the money on those bills that are piling up, because right now it works just fine for them to go to the ER when they need medical care. They get assistance there to fill out the paper work for free care, and in the end it never costs them a dime for that visit. Never mind that it's not a good way to get ongoing medical care or that hospital's are having a difficult time with budgeting for all this free care. People deal with what's right in front of them, the bills or the illness, not the best option for the long road ahead.
Take care.
~Laurie
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: politics, food, health, health insurance, Michael Pollan, heart disease
1 Comments:
I couldn't agree with you more.
I just read an article that debunks the whole issue of 'low fat' diets. The whole 'low fat' deal was just marketing as far as I can tell.
I'd like to know if others have tried a more natural diet and done better than on a 'low fat' approach.
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