02/25/2020
What Mark Hyman MD would say to our current president
(or anybody else) if he had 5 minutes to do so.
1 We're going to go bankrupt if we don’t change the food system. Our federal government has multiple agencies governing various aspects of food and agriculture, all acting independently, mostly without coordination, supporting a food and agricultural system that creates disease and endless human suffering and is bankrupting our economy. The direct health care costs of chronic health conditions were 1.1 trillion in 2016 or 5.8% of our US gross domestic product (GDP). The indirect costs, including lost income, reduced productivity, and impact on caregivers, but not including the impact of our food system on the environment, were another $2.6 trillion. The combined direct and indirect costs are $3.7 trillion, or one in five dollars of our whole economy. Every year!
2 Let’s put nutrition back in SNAP. If our policymakers really care about reforming SNAP (the food stamp program), we really have to create more access to healthy foods and limit access to junk. 70% of foods purchased on SNAP are junk foods. We need to eliminate sugary drinks from the list of items that can be purchased with SNAP benefits. We also need to strengthen incentives for purchasing fruits and vegetables. We need to authorize funding for USDA to launch new pilot programs that encourage users to purchase more fruits and vegetables. And we need to align SNAP and Medicaid.
3 Fixing our food system can protect our environment. Whether or not you think climate change is a hoax, we have to take steps to improve the health of our planet. Here’s the truth: everything that we do to improve our climate is actually going to shift our food system and vice versa. If we work toward reversing climate change, we improve the food system, create more access to healthy food, protect our oceans, our soil, our land, and animals. It’s a win-win-win-win-win-win situation for all. You don’t have to believe in climate change to want to make the planet better. If you care about your own health and the health of your family, that’s enough to take action.
4 Food affects behavior. At the state of the union, the President talked about criminal justice reform. I would tell him that if we really wanted to reduce recidivism rates, we need to change food access in prisons. Violent prison crime can be dramatically reduced by providing a healthy diet to prisoners. One study of 3,000 incarcerated youth replaced snack foods with healthier options and dramatically reduced refined and sugary foods. Over the twelve-month follow-up there was a 21 percent reduction in antisocial behavior, a 25 percent reduction in assaults, and a 75 percent reduction in the use of restraints.
5 Washington takes payoffs that hurt our health. Big Food and Big Ag should not be allowed to pay government officials. The top players in the food industry have what the vast majority of Americans do not: deep pockets and access to the highest levels of government. And they use those to capture the agencies and lawmakers that are supposed to regulate them. How are we supposed to trust policymakers if they are being paid by people who are invested in profit and not the health of this country?
Revolutionizing the food industry is THE most important issue right now. If we overhaul the food system we can save our economy, our planet, and our health. We can reduce violent crimes, chronic disease, and we can work toward a world where everyone has access to real, whole, nutrient-dense foods.
If this is important to you too, help me spread the word. My new book Food Fix offers a prescription to get us out of this mess.
If you want to help me transform the world, order Food Fix today, and let’s get started by taking back our own health, the health of our families, and communities.
Let’s do this together.
