For far too long America’s farm-related policies have been designed with the goal of maximizing profits of corporate farmers. Today, I am calling for changes to the system that will allow America’s farm policy to trade in its love for corporations and begin supporting a healthier America.
The first thing we should do is end the unnecessary subsidies that go to large corporate farming companies. The money that is now going to line the pockets of millionaires should instead be used to create a government program that establishes a mechanism to deliver fresh produce to America’s inner cities and rural areas. There is little question that fresh produce is often very difficult to find in poor areas, and when it is available it is more expensive than the cheap junk food corporations want Americans buying.
Next, we must change advertising rules so that manufacturers and restaurants must tell people how much fat—especially trans fat—is present in the products they are advertising. In addition, they should have to tell us how many calories are in the products they are selling. If people want to advertise whatever health benefits they believe their food has they should be obligated to tell us the areas where their food is deficient.
Every restaurant should have to put the calories and the nutritional breakdown of each of the items on their menu below the description of each dish. Americans should be able to know exactly what they are eating when they go out to eat.
Lastly, stores that sell food should be required to have isles for all the foods that are high in fat and/or calories. In other words, all of the unhealthy food should be segregated and marked as being unhealthy. This way, it will be harder for Americans to say they didn’t know what they were eating was bad for their health.
I know some of what I am proposing will be considered radical. But our society is getting unhealthier by the day. The continued decrease in the number of healthy Americans is costing our nation much in terms of money and productivity. Besides, why have we allowed the corporate masters to train us into believing that we do not know how unhealthy much of what we eat really is?
