April 9, 2011 9:01 AM

Isn't it about time we got real about our health care crisis?

All other swindlers upon earth are nothing to the self-swindlers, and with such pretences did I cheat myself. Surely a curious thing. That I should innocently take a bad half-crown of somebody else’s manufacture, is reasonable enough; but that I should knowingly reckon the spurious coin of my own make, as good money!

  • Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

Like most of us, I’ve listened to the verbal Sturm und Drang that passes for debate when it comes to health care reform. Some decry it as “Socialism” (though they clearly seem to have NO idea what Socialism actually is). Some abhor the loss of freedom (though how being free from having to worry about health care concerns could be defined as repressive seems to defy rational understanding). Some (like myself) demand a single payer system as the only sane, rational, fair, and human system for ensuring that ALL Americans have equal access to quality, affordable health care. These are but some of the positions inhabited by Americans when it comes to health care reform. What I rarely hear in this debate, though, is a serious and thoughtful discussion of the one aspect of our experience that truly impacts our collective health- our diet.

Let’s face it, y’all…our diet sucks. Collectively, we’re addicted to fast food, and we give little thought to what we put in our mouths beyond quieting our hunger. (I listened to a radio ad for Denny’s yesterday in which they were advertising a dessert featuring bacon and maple syrup on vanilla ice cream. WTF?)

We know little to nothing of how our food gets to our plate and even less about what actually goes into our food. Most Americans seem to think that hamburger comes from a shrink-wrapped styrofoam platter in their grocery store’s meat department. Even thinking about something as simple as the four basic food groups seems beyond the capabilities of most Americans. Meanwhile, our waistlines continue to expand, our rates of diabetes and other obesity-related diseases increase, and we actively ignore the connection between our health and what we put in our mouths.

It’s not a “red” or “blue” issue to discuss health care in these terms. Obesity is something that impacts both Americas. Food is a complicated, emotional issue for millons of Americans, and it’s the single biggest driver of adverse health effects in this country. Yet food is still not treated like the health care issue that it truly is. I’m not a doctor or a scientist, but I’d hazard a guess that if we could be honest about our relationship with food, we’d be well on the way to taking some positive steps in improving our collective health.

I’m not going to wax rhapsodic about the virtues and benefits of going vegetarian or vegan, but the positive health effects of both lifestyles are undeniable. What this should tell us is that there’s something to be gained by taking a critical look at what we put in our mouths. We- all of us- could benefit by looking at our diet and how it impacts our lives and our health. There’s no one solution, except perhaps greater awareness and knowledge of the food we eat. You don’t have to watch “Supersize Me” or “Fast Food Nation”) to understand the seriousness of this issue, but it should be about having enough respect for your body to at least think about what you’re putting into it.

If we can’t see our way clear to take a serious look at what we’re eating, no amount of debating about health care will make a difference in the end…because we’ll be too busy digging our graves with our teeth.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on April 9, 2011 9:01 AM.

This is why we're fat. Any questions? was the previous entry in this blog.

All Hail The Kittehs!! is the next entry in this blog.

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