I feel like writing an article tonight that lets the reader sort through some statements to determine if they are fact, fiction or sarcasm.
I recently listened to a speaker that stated we spend more money on diet related health care than we do on food. Think about that for a second. In the average person’s lifetime they will spend more to treat issues like obesity, diabetes, hypertension, well, no need to list everything, than they do on food. Assuming this is indeed a fact, it makes me think.
A. Perhaps food is too cheap. Higher costs could indeed make the cost-conscious consumer buy less or cheaper options.
B. Health care is too expensive. I guess that is not a news flash. Spiraling health costs was one of the incentives for the passing of the Affordable Care Act.
C. We tend to eat too much and make unhealthy decisions in what we eat.
D. In general, we have become an inactive society.
Perhaps it is a little bit of a, b, c, and d. It would be a lively discussion to put values on each of those to equal 100%. Of course, each person’s circumstances and opinions may be different. Let's start with food cost and what the cattle farmers are saying.
They have been quick to point out that it takes almost twice as many fat cattle ready for slaughter to buy a new John Deere round baler than it did only 15 years ago. Another claimed a crew cab pickup truck has increased in price the last 20 years well over the cost of inflation, much more than beef prices. Their argument is cattle prices are not keeping up with the rapid increase of their inputs. Alas, our president also said one of his priorities would be to quickly lower food costs. Perhaps he bit off more than he could chew!
The politicians in Cook County were not successful when they passed the “sugar tax” to curtail our passion for calories that provide endocrinologists a full waiting room. The public backlash was quick and severe, and the tax was rescinded. They only cared about their constituent’s health; any revenue was just a bonus to their budgets.
Perhaps the poultry farmers are behind the rhetoric of the price of beef, for their own benefit. The tables may turn if bird flu makes its annual return to their flocks this spring. One must wonder if there are any surprises in the pork industry.
It looks like Mother Nature has already unleashed a plethora of snow. Just think how much we could reverse our trend of inactivity if we had to shovel the white stuff 4x a week the rest of the winter. Maybe we can be lucky enough to shovel snow into April. Looks like a snow shovel is on my Christmas list; Mother Nature is only looking out for my health.
Some consumer activists believe that GMO’s and pesticides in our food have made us unhealthy. I must live with the guilty conscious knowing that the corn, soybeans and wheat that I have grown all my adult life has been processed into billions, if not trillions or more, of unhealthy calories in the ultra-processed foods that the nutritionist will tell you to avoid.
I know I have not addressed health care, that is topic so digested already there is no room left for dessert. Well, I guess we need to scratch dessert from the dinner menu, I mean supper menu. I digress to my last column, I hope you laughed. Now that I have finished this article, I guess I better go find some organic popcorn, delete the butter and salt, and pour my high fructose corn syrup pop down the drain.
I feel healthierrrrrr already. It looks like the R key on my keypad is stuck, perhaps a piece of my chocolate donut is still stuck under it. Classic, do as I say, not as I do; or am being sarcastic again for laughs?
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