SETTING THE STAGE FOR A SEA CHANGE
Health and healthcare get national attention
SUMMARY: Two congressional events in September 2024 called on lawmakers to fix America’s food and medical systems. Still, government alone cannot make us healthy.
On 9/18/23, the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health convened a hearing, “Investing in a Healthier America: Chronic Disease Prevention and Treatment”. Among the speakers:
Senator Bill Frist, MD: “FIM (Food is Medicine) is a medical therapy, not a social program. But it also helps address important social determinants of health like food insecurity and poverty.”
Mark Hyman, MD, Founder and Senior Advisor to the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine: “Ultra-processed foods … account for about 80% of all the food products sold in grocery stores, and 73% of our total food supply. … 93.2% of Americans are metabolically unhealthy.”
Ashley Gearhardt, PhD, Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan: “Ultra-processed (food) products exhibit characteristics similar to those of well-recognized addictive substances.”
Others spoke on the rising rates of obesity, diabetes, and chronic disease, incentivizing health and prevention over sickness, and addressing the needs of the elderly with upfront interventions and home-based care.
On 9/23/24, a Roundtable on “American Health and Nutrition” was moderated by Senator Ron Johnson. Medical doctors, food activists, patients, parents, and politicians gave personal experiences and professional opinions on the failures in both our food and medical systems that require change.
Living Well Locally applauds these national-level efforts to raise awareness about the causes of chronic disease and to consider the policy changes needed to reverse Americans’ poor health. This won’t be easy, and industry will not take kindly to impacts on its bottom line, but federal policy changes are essential to addressing what is needed in food, agriculture, and medicine.
Still, government alone cannot make us healthy. It will also take the actions of families in homes and kitchens, regenerative farmers in fields, and lifestyle-based doctors in clinics across America to be the change we need. Everyone, at all levels and of all political persuasions, working together, will be needed to #Make America Healthy Again.