michael pollan's done it again

there he is, yet again, creeping within the remains of the orb of the national spotlight that was meant to shine elsewhere. he's sneaky, but dammit, he's doing just what it is that we need.

an op-ed piece in today's new york times by michael pollan picks right up on where the pulse of this country is beating so rampant:

"to listen to president obama’s speech on wednesday night, or to just about anyone else in the health care debate, you would think that the biggest problem with health care in america is the system itself — perverse incentives, inefficiencies, unnecessary tests and procedures, lack of competition, and greed."

his thesis, it seems, will cover what one would think a michael pollan piece would never cover. something other than food. well, yet again, that just wasn't the case.

pollan narrows the health care problem in our country down to one major catalyst. we're too damn fat. and you know what, he's right. we've all seen the numbers, and he repeats them: one in three americans born after the year 2000 will be inflicted with type 2 diabetes, which draws a direct correlation to obesity. and he than draws a correlation of this to the neo robber barons of today's health care system:

"as things stand, the health care industry finds it more profitable to treat chronic diseases than to prevent them. there’s more money in amputating the limbs of diabetics than in counseling them on diet and exercise.

i'm sorry, but that is disgusting. does reading that not fill you with rage? our health is the key to our longevity, but our health is the one thing that we have little control over. we haven't been trained, nor taught enough, to prevent disease, which is what grants us more control over own bodies. our longevity. so, as we stand, bad things will happen. and when they do, as pollan is so blatantly broadcasting, people are making money. a lot of it. which for me was a revelation, like pollan had lifted the veil from the dream that is the american way of life, and revealed a corrupt and plotting network of profiteering puppet masters, dancing their hands with strings attached while the puppets weave through a maze of cackling flames.

how many steps removed are we from a controlled society like the one drawn up by aldous huxley in a brave new world? you see, there's a fallacy that i'm realizing is true. money trees? they do exist. they're us. we are the money trees.

"as for the insurers, you would think preventing chronic diseases would be good business, but, at least under the current rules, it’s much better business simply to keep patients at risk for chronic disease out of your pool of customers, whether through lifetime caps on coverage or rules against pre-existing conditions or by figuring out ways to toss patients overboard when they become ill."

but, dare i say it, if things were to change. if the president were to succeed. if this government were to properly function... look at these numbers:

"a patient with type 2 diabetes incurs additional health care costs of more than $6,600 a year; over a lifetime, that can come to more than $400,000. insurers will quickly figure out that every case of type 2 diabetes they can prevent adds $400,000 to their bottom line. suddenly, every can of soda or happy meal or chicken nugget on a school lunch menu will look like a threat to future profits."

all of a sudden, our health becomes a premium for these guys.

if insurance companies no longer view a ban on sodas and fatty foods as a threat to future profits, then we're suddenly finding ourselves in a system where preventative measures of health are promoted. can you imagine a chicken nugget or a can of soda as a threat to these big insurance companies? and the persecution of that junky foodstuff that would follow? it'd be enough to rise senator mccarthy from his grave.

and most importantly i think to pollan, and so too for myself, he finds a way to link all of this, which is a topic far too large for the several hundred words he'd written or i am writing now, to the focus of our food consumption to a far more regional and local scale than the one that currently thrives:

"recently a team of designers from m.i.t. and columbia was asked by the foundation of the insurer unitedhealthcare to develop an innovative systems approach to tackling childhood obesity in america. their conclusion surprised the designers as much as their sponsor: they determined that promoting the concept of a 'foodshed'— a diversified, regional food economy — could be the key to improving the american diet."

can you believe that? childhood obesity, and the american diet, best combated by a regional food system? somehow, it's all coming full circle.