'An Eater's Manifesto'
Pollan speaks to UW crowd about his book on nutrition
Meghan Carpenter
Issue date: 10/7/09 Section: Entertainment
It's in this small word, "health," where Pollan believes the confusion came. At one point, Americans associated eating food with being healthy. When did food lose its presence in our culture, community or simply for our own pleasure? At one point, we were swayed by food industries to believe that we should scientifically alter food to make it as healthy as possible. We replaced food with nutrients, and now we're as unhealthy as ever.
Thankfully, there is hope. Pollan argued for farmers to stress diversity in farming, steering away from a monoculture, and also discussed alternatives and solutions to this food crisis. Agriculture, not agribusiness needs to move to the fore-front of the food production chain, and not only will we see resolve in a food crisis, but Pollan argued we could see beneficial consequences in health care, global climate change and the energy crisis.
But, ultimately, the emphasis lies in health care. Pollan said in an edition of the New York Times last month, "according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, three-quarters of health care spending now goes to treat preventable chronic diseases."
"We're spending $147 billion to treat obesity, $116 billion to treat diabetes and hundreds of billions more to treat cardiovascular disease and many types of cancer that have been linked to the so-called western diet. A recent study estimated that 30 percent of the increase in health care spending over the past 20 years could be attributed to the soaring rate of obesity, a condition that now accounts for nearly a tenth of all spending on health care," Pollan said.
With these kinds of unsettling statistics describing our eating habits, it makes you wonder why hasn't Washington taken some sort of action? Health care is one of the biggest political debates, but it hasn't been advertised clearly that we can save billions by simply changing our eating patterns.
Pollan comments, "...in the health care battle, the administration can count some powerful corporate interests on its side, like the large segment of the Fortune 500 that has concluded the current system is unsustainable. That is hardly the case when it comes to challenging agribusiness. Cheap food is going to be popular as long as the social and environmental costs of that food are charged to the future. There's lots of money to be made selling fast food and then treating the diseases that fast food causes. One of the leading products of the American food industry has become patients for the American health care industry."
Thankfully, there is hope. Pollan argued for farmers to stress diversity in farming, steering away from a monoculture, and also discussed alternatives and solutions to this food crisis. Agriculture, not agribusiness needs to move to the fore-front of the food production chain, and not only will we see resolve in a food crisis, but Pollan argued we could see beneficial consequences in health care, global climate change and the energy crisis.
But, ultimately, the emphasis lies in health care. Pollan said in an edition of the New York Times last month, "according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, three-quarters of health care spending now goes to treat preventable chronic diseases."
"We're spending $147 billion to treat obesity, $116 billion to treat diabetes and hundreds of billions more to treat cardiovascular disease and many types of cancer that have been linked to the so-called western diet. A recent study estimated that 30 percent of the increase in health care spending over the past 20 years could be attributed to the soaring rate of obesity, a condition that now accounts for nearly a tenth of all spending on health care," Pollan said.
With these kinds of unsettling statistics describing our eating habits, it makes you wonder why hasn't Washington taken some sort of action? Health care is one of the biggest political debates, but it hasn't been advertised clearly that we can save billions by simply changing our eating patterns.
Pollan comments, "...in the health care battle, the administration can count some powerful corporate interests on its side, like the large segment of the Fortune 500 that has concluded the current system is unsustainable. That is hardly the case when it comes to challenging agribusiness. Cheap food is going to be popular as long as the social and environmental costs of that food are charged to the future. There's lots of money to be made selling fast food and then treating the diseases that fast food causes. One of the leading products of the American food industry has become patients for the American health care industry."
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