Food crisis

I feel ill equipped to offer solution to the global crisis in diet. Perhaps the first question is, what precisely is the crisis? If we are referring solely to the health crisis- rising rates of obesity, heart disease, cancer and diabetes- then the food crisis must be dealt with on several levels.

Certainly major food corporations should be accountable and take responsibility for what we are being fed [both in terms of nutrition and advertisement], but it seems to me that there are root issues that ought to be addressed as well. First, who is subsidizing the food products that are making us ill? Michael Pollan addresses government subsidies and our dependence on corn in The Omnivores Dilemma, and in numerous articles in The New York Times Magaizine.

Also, I would argue that the ability to be healthy is directly related to socio-economic status. In other words, it is a privilege to be healthy, to have access to nutritious foods, to have the time to prepare and to eat them.

Finally, what about health care? Sure, we would be better served to address our health/diet crisis through preventative measures- ie. providing the necessary resources for nutritional wellness. But since we're not there, part of coping with a global crisis in diet [obesity, heart disease, cancer and diabetes], entails addressing who has access to health care. I've written more about this in a paper on obesity and health care and will send it along soon.