Many times while discussing bioethics we touch upon topics of public health. Things like stem cell research, immunizations, and technological implants are discussed at the angle of betterment of public health. We talk about how the pro's of one thing may outweigh the others or how this is just a natural evolution of societal acceptance. One thing that has always puzzled me is how many times we do what I refer to as picking the proverbial low hanging fruit of any problem. In the realm of public health we can take all the problems and throw them up on a tree and organize the problems by easy fixes to more intertwined complex issues. There is one public health issue that is on the low hanging side but we fail to pick it, instead we chose others. Why, why do we do these things, is it for the money, social issues, or just simple creed? The one thing I want talk about is preventing 8 of the top 15 leading causes of death in the U.S. What is this miracle cure, how much does it cost, why haven't we heard of this, when can we get this to market? These are all great questions. But we already have the answer. The answer is NUTRITION!

According to the CDC for the year 2012 the top leading causes of death can be largely be treated by simply eating better. CDC 2012 STATS. Over 63% of our population is overweight and this trend is rising. The problem is becoming epidemic as we are killing more and more people simply by not knowing what is in our food, or simply just not caring. We care when people are killed by violence (even though homicide accounts for less than 1% of annual deaths) but we sit by and watch our children become more and more over weight. Childhood obesity leads to juvenile and type 2 diabetics, high blood pressure, stroke, lower self esteem, and many other preventable conditions. Why do we allow this to happen? This generation is believed to not outlive their parents. The medical costs of obesity are staggering and climbing faster each year. So what has happened to allow this to become the medical emergency it is?

I believe the lack of proper nutritional education is one part of the equation but out side influences have to be factored in. The food industry spends a lot of money lobbying on looser regulations on labeling of their products, thus giving the public a feeling of the crap they put into their body is not as bad as it may seem. Big food also has lobbied to get their food included in the food stamp program food lobbying for food stamp inclusion, millions to lobby labels. Yes it is very nice to just pull up to a window and order something to eat and be done in 5 minutes. Many of us don't have the time or energy to prep food, prepare, then clean up a healthy meal every day. The cost of healthy food is higher than processed food also. Some ask why doesn't the Government offer subsidies for healthier food. Well the already give subsidies to the sugar industry and certain crops. Our tax monies are being used to kill us, like the frog in a slow boiling pot. The agency responsible for our public health is the FDA and it's off shoots. Here again the leadership appointed often comes from the wrong side or has little experience in this field. The current Commissioner is a Doctor with a public health background, hopefully she will get some of this back on track.

Below you will find a man that has taken this fight as his crusade. He is a British Chef that is trying to teach us about how we are killing ourselves and our children. He has had two televisions specials and is a TED winner.

His webpage, which I highly recommend you check out is here.
If you can do a search on Youtube for "jamie oliver food revolution", it is broken up into a couple episodes but well worth viewing.

(updates to follow)