Today’s Children Live Shorter Lives Than Their Parents?

 Because of unhealthy diets, 100 years of progress in improving public health and extending lifespan has been reversed. Today’s children are expected to live shorter lives than their parents. In large part, this is because a third of these children will develop Type 2 diabetes, formerly rare in children and a preventable disease that reduces life expectancy by several years. At the same time, our fossil-fuel-dependent food and agriculture system is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than any other sector of the economy but energy. And the exploitative labor practices of the farming and fast-food industries are responsible for much of the rise in income inequality in America.

There’s no doubt a national food policy in the U.S. and right here in Canada would be a great idea but we doubt that will see any traction anytime soon.

Too many interests converge around food and agriculture as this part of the Washington Post article discusses:

The contradictions of our government’s policies around food become clear as soon as you compare the federal recommendations for the American diet, known as MyPlate, with the administration’s agricultural policies. While MyPlate recommends a diet of 50 percent vegetables and fruits, the administration devotes less than 1 percent of farm subsidies to support the research, production and marketing of those foods. More than 60 percent of that funding subsidizes the production of corn and other grains — food that is mostly fed to animals, converted to fuel for cars or processed into precisely the sort of junk the first lady is urging us to avoid.

If we’re really harming the future life spans of children, which we believe we are, then it’s at least time to spread the message of good whole food far and wide.

It’s also time to share resources that teach us all how to eat well AND how to do it inexpensively.