Why Does A Salad Cost More Than A Big Mac?
A reader pointed me out to this current food pyramid subsidy model showing what the daily recommended servings are for each category of food compared with how the federal farm subsidy programs actually work against the goal of a healthy nation. You can click on the image to enlarge it and take a close look at how powerful lobby groups have become.
There is no reason why dairy and meat farmers should be getting 50 billion dollars in farm subsidies. And if we are playing the subsidy game (which I think is a fraud), why are vegetables, one of the most healthy things we can put in our mouth, getting slaughtered at the table of entitlement handouts?
It’s because of money in Washington, that’s why. Do you want your health care decisions being determined by a lawyer getting money from every which direction to stay in office. I certainly don’t. Look at where our government spends our money and ask yourself how the power of money won’t influence your health care needs. It does and it will. The question is, do you trust your representatives to do the right thing for you or for them. Before we spend 3 trillion dollars on a new health care entitlement program, how about we first stop spending $50 billion dollars on t-bone steaks. If you want real change and a real bending of the health care inflation curve, the solutions exist not within the health care finance system, but on its periphery. If we want a nation to eat from the current food pyramid, then we have to walk the walk . Unfortunately, the money is too powerful . Government subsidies are directly to blame, I suspect, for the fattening of our nation. This is what happens when money and power drives policy.
This current food pyramid subsidy says it all. $50 billion dollars to eat meat. What a waste. Health care won’t make you healthy. Vegetables will. Unfortunately, as the title of this picture says, a Big Mac costs less than a salad because your government makes it so. Perhaps having millions health care jobs taking care of sick people who become sick at the bad economic policies of Washington makes for a good jobs report, but it won’t do much for the long term health and economic sovereignty of our nation. Unless we can get our population to start eating more salads and less Big Macs, we are all heading for the slaughter house along with the zucchinis and tomatoes.
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
Return to article »