In an NYT op-ed piece from last week, Michael Pollan lays out his argument as to why we spend twice as much per citizen on healthcare than European countries. It’s not only because of our system’s inefficiencies, but because Americans are increasingly fatter. According to Pollan, “Even the most efficient health care system that the administration could hope to devise would still confront a rising tide of chronic disease linked to diet.” Out of the $2.3 trillion we spend on healthcare per year, we spend a staggering $147 billion on obesity, and $116 billion on diabetes. President Obama has made some allusions to addressing the problem, including the idea of a new local farm distribution center to get fresh vegetables to schools, and even a possible soda tax. In any case, I think Pollan is right. If we want to cut down our healthcare spending, we need to fix this country’s food system.
Read the article for yourself HERE
