Thoughts on cleaning up our food system
While I am extremely disturbed by the state of the food industry, I do think we need to approach the situation carefully and with attention to our country's foundation on freedom. Freedom of choice is something that I think we take for granted often. But, I think the freedom to make educated choices is even more important. We should have the right to know the effects of what we are consuming, for ourselves and for our children.
Our Right to Choose
Throughout each day we are making choices that could harm us or help us. Should I sleep in and get rest or should I wake up early and exercise? Should I drive to work or ride my bike? Should I eat an organic apple or a McDonald's apple pie? Should I have a glass of wine or should I drink water?
All of these choices could result in some pros and some cons. But, it is ultimately up to you which pros and which cons matter more to you. If you have ever had a "micro-manager" leaning over your shoulder at work telling you what to do and how to do it all the time, you know what it feels like to not have control over your life and your choices. Yeah, it sucks. If you were free to do things the way that work best for you, you're more likely to get your job done better and faster, not to mention free up the manager's time to get other work done. (Does this mean we could actually do something to make our government slightly efficient???)
Our Right to Knowledge
Now, have you ever been forced to make an uninformed choice and deal with the consequences? You wouldn't want to buy a house without getting several walk-throughs, inspections, and getting to know the neighborhood. A couple months or years down the road you may find that the foundation is faulty, the piping is messed up, and the neighbors leave trash all over the yard and blare music at all hours of the night. If you had been given the ability to do those walk throughs and inspections and if the previous owner had told you about the neighbors, you could have decided whether the pros outweighed the cons or not.
Our food system should follow this two-pronged process as well.
1. Allow people the freedom to choose what they consume.
2. Provide people with honest and detailed information about what they are consuming and the possible effects it could have.
Maybe you still want to buy that house because the size of the bedrooms and the price are more important to you than the fixes you'll have to make and the bothersome neighbors. What may seem like a stupid decision to most people may be what makes you happy. It doesn't mean that the government should come in and prohibit the previous owner from selling the house to you. Similarly, the government shouldn't prohibit certain food companies from marketing and selling junk food. But, they sure as heck should be required to let you know that it is junk and will cause you harm. Then it's up to you what you do to your body.
Honest Food Labeling
Then the issue of health care comes up. Our tax dollars are supposedly going towards health care. If people choose to consume these illness-causing junk foods, everyone ends up paying for it. This is where education and discouragement come in. All foods and beverages that have ingredients that are proven to increase risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer should be required to state that risk on the label. Just as alcohol and tobacco products have a surgeon general's warning, so should sodas and junk food containing HFCS, aspartame, and trans fats. We should also have educational programs in our schools and work places that explain to people the changes that have been made to our food system and why you need to read the ingredient labels of your food and not take each item for face value.
Tax the Crap
Mark Bittman suggests in this recent New York Times article, that we discourage the consumption of products like soda and overly-processed foods through taxation, just as is done with alcohol and tobacco. I think this is an excellent strategy for not only discouraging people from buying these foods, but also for raising awareness of the negative effects of these foods. People will have to ask themselves why it is taxed and then decide for themselves whether or not its worth it.
Accessibility
For us to have the freedom to choose what we eat, we need to make good choices accessible too. If farmers can't afford to produce foods without GMO seeds and pesticides, nor the certification to be labeled organic, then how will we have the freedom to choose to buy these foods? How about we subsidize organic and sustainable production of produce with the unhealthy food tax money? This would help make these healthy foods more accessible to the general population, encouraging the consumption of nutritious foods, and in turn decreasing the money we spend on health care. And, for the love of God, eliminate the subsidization of poisonous genetically modified, pesticide covered crops! Why on earth should our taxes be going towards something that is reducing our freedom to eat organic (aka normal) produce, increasing our costs in health care, and damaging our quality of life???
The organic food movement is not unreasonable or extreme. We just want the freedom to eat healthy if we want. We want to be able to go to a grocery store and buy a tomato free of chemicals and genetic modification for a normal price. And, we want our loved ones to not be lied to by corporate food companies about what is actually healthy and natural. Awareness and accessibility are what we need.
What are your thoughts?
Our Right to Choose
Throughout each day we are making choices that could harm us or help us. Should I sleep in and get rest or should I wake up early and exercise? Should I drive to work or ride my bike? Should I eat an organic apple or a McDonald's apple pie? Should I have a glass of wine or should I drink water?
All of these choices could result in some pros and some cons. But, it is ultimately up to you which pros and which cons matter more to you. If you have ever had a "micro-manager" leaning over your shoulder at work telling you what to do and how to do it all the time, you know what it feels like to not have control over your life and your choices. Yeah, it sucks. If you were free to do things the way that work best for you, you're more likely to get your job done better and faster, not to mention free up the manager's time to get other work done. (Does this mean we could actually do something to make our government slightly efficient???)
Our Right to Knowledge
Now, have you ever been forced to make an uninformed choice and deal with the consequences? You wouldn't want to buy a house without getting several walk-throughs, inspections, and getting to know the neighborhood. A couple months or years down the road you may find that the foundation is faulty, the piping is messed up, and the neighbors leave trash all over the yard and blare music at all hours of the night. If you had been given the ability to do those walk throughs and inspections and if the previous owner had told you about the neighbors, you could have decided whether the pros outweighed the cons or not.
Our food system should follow this two-pronged process as well.
1. Allow people the freedom to choose what they consume.
2. Provide people with honest and detailed information about what they are consuming and the possible effects it could have.
Maybe you still want to buy that house because the size of the bedrooms and the price are more important to you than the fixes you'll have to make and the bothersome neighbors. What may seem like a stupid decision to most people may be what makes you happy. It doesn't mean that the government should come in and prohibit the previous owner from selling the house to you. Similarly, the government shouldn't prohibit certain food companies from marketing and selling junk food. But, they sure as heck should be required to let you know that it is junk and will cause you harm. Then it's up to you what you do to your body.
Honest Food Labeling
Then the issue of health care comes up. Our tax dollars are supposedly going towards health care. If people choose to consume these illness-causing junk foods, everyone ends up paying for it. This is where education and discouragement come in. All foods and beverages that have ingredients that are proven to increase risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer should be required to state that risk on the label. Just as alcohol and tobacco products have a surgeon general's warning, so should sodas and junk food containing HFCS, aspartame, and trans fats. We should also have educational programs in our schools and work places that explain to people the changes that have been made to our food system and why you need to read the ingredient labels of your food and not take each item for face value.
Tax the Crap
Mark Bittman suggests in this recent New York Times article, that we discourage the consumption of products like soda and overly-processed foods through taxation, just as is done with alcohol and tobacco. I think this is an excellent strategy for not only discouraging people from buying these foods, but also for raising awareness of the negative effects of these foods. People will have to ask themselves why it is taxed and then decide for themselves whether or not its worth it.
Accessibility
For us to have the freedom to choose what we eat, we need to make good choices accessible too. If farmers can't afford to produce foods without GMO seeds and pesticides, nor the certification to be labeled organic, then how will we have the freedom to choose to buy these foods? How about we subsidize organic and sustainable production of produce with the unhealthy food tax money? This would help make these healthy foods more accessible to the general population, encouraging the consumption of nutritious foods, and in turn decreasing the money we spend on health care. And, for the love of God, eliminate the subsidization of poisonous genetically modified, pesticide covered crops! Why on earth should our taxes be going towards something that is reducing our freedom to eat organic (aka normal) produce, increasing our costs in health care, and damaging our quality of life???
The organic food movement is not unreasonable or extreme. We just want the freedom to eat healthy if we want. We want to be able to go to a grocery store and buy a tomato free of chemicals and genetic modification for a normal price. And, we want our loved ones to not be lied to by corporate food companies about what is actually healthy and natural. Awareness and accessibility are what we need.
What are your thoughts?
0 Response to "Thoughts on cleaning up our food system"
Post a Comment