Jessica

Vozel

Read Jessica's bio and previous columns here

January 15, 2008

Healthy Food: A Primary Concern

Although every issue of importance in American politics affects someone somewhere, we are often inundated with discussion of issues that have little bearing on our daily, individual lives.  Then there are issues that affect all of us but are rarely discussed. Case in point: Most of the presidential candidates keep relatively quiet on one particular issue that profoundly affects the daily lives of every single American. Food. 

Perhaps this is because food can be considered a fragment within umbrella issues such as health care and the economy. Perhaps politicians recognize that people can get pretty defensive when it comes to the food they eat and are squeamish at the thought of too much government involvement with what ends up on their dinner plate. Whatever the reason, politicians – both aspiring and current – should pay more attention to the importance of food in America.

Last week, AlterNet published an insightful piece by Mark Winne, author of “Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty”, that dissects the disparity between how the economic classes in America eat. While those with the means to do so buy local, organic fare, including plenty of produce and meat products free of artificial hormones, those in poorer areas have no choice but to buy pre-packaged, grocery store products and have limited access to fresh – let alone organic – produce. That doesn’t even address the significant price difference between a meal prepared with organic ingredients and a trip to McDonald’s drive-thru. 

By now, most Americans are well aware of how the foods we consume affect our overall health.  A discouraging side effect of the low income sector’s lack of access to healthy food products is that its incidence of diseases related to poor diet, such as diabetes, is much higher than in those of the middle and upper classes. Combined with the lack of access to affordable health care, or any health care at all, such a disparity is dangerous. 

According to Winne, some recent public policies have helped to counterbalance this unfortunate trend. For example, The Farmers Market Nutrition Program offers vouchers to low income women, children and the elderly for their local farmers’ markets. Also, the Women, Infant and Children Program (WIC), which provides healthy food to women and children up to age five with nutritional concerns, will soon offer a fruit and vegetable program. Such initiatives will surely go a long way to alleviating the “nutritional gap” between economic groups. But more can certainly be done, including regulations for grocery stores to carry a certain amount of fresh produce, as well as other nationwide policies.

Campaigning politicians tend to stick to their hyperbolic talking points rather than explore how their grandiose ideas for change will actually happen. Maybe it would seem a cop-out if a presidential candidate were to answer a question about health care reform by discussing ways to promote easier access to healthy, affordable food. However, in the wake of an often-identified (especially by governmental agencies like the CDC) obesity epidemic in America, it seems that such a discussion should be put on the table (no pun intended). Sure, the CDC has plenty of suggestions for combating obesity – many of them hinging on the idea of eating healthy foods – but rarely is the cost of and access to such food products taken into consideration.

One presidential candidate in particular has, in fact, been vocal about problems in the American diet. Republican Mike Huckabee, a former 300-pound “foodaholic” who lost 120 pounds through healthy eating, considers holistic health a priority. He even acknowledges the tendency for those with strained finances to buy high-calorie, low-cost foods, including his own family as he was growing up.

But in true Republican fashion, Huckabee puts the impetus on the individual to eat more nutritious foods, as if simply wanting to eat healthfully makes it possible for everyone.  As governor of Arkansas, he introduced the “Healthy Arkansas” initiative, which gives state employees discounts on their health insurance – up to $20 a month – when they pass tests examining their lifestyle choices. Again, not much help to those who can’t afford any health insurance. But he does at least recognize the importance of what we put into our bodies.

While policy initiatives forcing Americans to eat healthy are problematic, having at least the option to do so should be a priority for local and national governments. 

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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