Kudos to Michael Pollan for having the %@$#s! to come out and say last Friday what most of us already know (if only we stopped to think about it). His New York Times op-ed, "Big Food vs. Big Insurance" is all about the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about during this health care debate...the role of the food industry. The industry subsidized by the government that pushes us to eat more processed crap—making us sick and driving the cost of health care with its contribution to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. (How many more products can they work cheap corn into?)
Fixing the food system—taking money away from industrialized ag and its emphasis on monocultures (like corn) and putting more money toward organic, local and real food production—could be the single biggest contribution to the health care crisis we can make. (Michael points out some interesting ironies as to how all of this may play out in the ‘market’ if reform does pass.)
This issue has been bugging me. A few weeks back, Howard Dean was a guest of mine on the show. He delivered a fantastic interview—making a great case for reform and the public health option. But when I asked him when the government was going to get the food industry lobbyists off of Capitol Hill, Dr. Dean effectively sidestepped the question.
That is what you have to love about Michael Pollan. He has a gentle, savvy, unrelenting way of making sure some of the most important issues of our time are exposed and do not go away. No sidestepping allowed.
This entry has been posted as part of Food Renegade's Fight Back Friday.
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My interviews with:
Michael Pollan
Howard Dean
Curt Ellis
Previous Fight Back Friday posts:
Do you own McDonald's?
Netflix this: "King Corn"
Food fight heats up
Real food rock stars
(And a special announcement, Michael will be coming to my home base of Madison, WI at the end of the month for three days of food, fun, and rabble rousing. Here’s more info if you want to join the festivities.)
