« Older guys labor more and better | Home | Lots of loose ends… »
Fat content in America is the real health care debate
By Charles Martin | September 11, 2009
[editor's note - I like my In N Out burger once in a while too. My main point is that the real fast food cycle is supported by addicted users]
Michael Pollan brings up many good points in his op-ed for the NYT. Health care is costly mainly because we are a people spoiled on instant gratification and what the head of Johnson County Maryland’s Health Board called yesterday on NPR “an insatiable appetite for health care”. We’re doctor junkies and it’s because we eat too much.
Political opines aside, it’s really true. In fact, I’d go one further and say that if we could somehow stop purchases at fast food for one day a week (all closed Sundays just like Chik-fil-a), we’d probably see a dip in Diabetes, if not many other heart related maladies. Roll that up into some guidelines as to where these places can build and you’d see more drops. People plainly need to get out and exercise and eat half the calories they now intake.
When I began running as a hobby, I was amazed when I learned from a very astute coach (head of training for the LAPD) that the minimum daily caloric intake for someone like me running 30 miles a week was about 1500 calories. Most of the rest? — Stored. Wasted. Never used. Carried along until my body builds so many maladies I’m in City of Hope Cancer Center.
WASTEFUL NATION ::
The fast food nation — those that imbibe such empty calories on a daily if not many times a week basis — create more trash, more pollution and more food waste than other part of the food cycle. For every meal that is served at fast food establishments (defined as those restaurants with cheap ingredients with no long-term value usually festooned with a 24 hour drive-thru), there are copious amounts of trash that go along with the process, a gigantic amount of natural resources wasted, and of course the resulting health issues begin anew another cycle of discontent at hospitals, clinics and doctor’s offices. I am a trash Nazi and if you’re like me, you notice that what’s thrown out of cars in intersections is almost always fast food containers and bags. People that eat this stuff litter more than any other group out there. It’s true. Fast food companies should pay the cities to clean up their mess. If you’ve ever done a cleanup day for your local beach or town, you’ll also notice that cigarettes are the main ingredient in trash. The municipalities have figured out a way to tax people for smoking. Maybe we should do that for fast food eateries.
There’s no end in sight. Since the economy has tanked, the places like McDonalds have seen an increase in sales. What we don’t understand is that the savings is just a very small down payment on the resulting train wreck of health care issues.
I was recently conversing with a young man that was so in love with cruises. You know — the big ships that leave Florida and provide 24/7 entertainment and 24/7 food. He was amazed and delighted that, because he could try each and every option the massive buffet offered each hour, he could just “taste” different things on a whim. He spoke of how everyone brings a plate back with one steak, one chicken, one fish, a bunch of lobster, and then everyone just nibbles a few bites here and there. Average people in America — those that can cruise a week around the Caribbean for $500 — think they are Caligula. Really.
When he was waxing on, my first thought bubble was of the MASSIVE amounts of trash bags being taken off that ship in port just full of 1/10th eaten food. What a shame. Is this what we’ve become? A nation of overeating, bored out of our appetites kind of people? It sure seems that way. I’m not crying constantly for the unfed (which are an important part of this debate) but gosh, our place in the world sure would improve if we weren’t throwing away so much food.
I think Obama could prove his plan worthy if he added more work on helping American’s cut back on the things they really don’t love at all. This is the shot in the arm health care needs.
Topics: Big biz, Mind and Planet, politics | No Comments »