Dear reader, this post may seem outlandish to you - or unrealistic. That's okay. Dreaming big is how the world changes. I'm aiming for the moon, but I'm overjoyed if I land even a bit closer to the stars.
Here's the things I propose, dream of, hope for, and am willing to work for. We are the grown ups in our own lives now - what are we waiting for?
Change our current structure of government subsidies that encourage and reward harmful industrial agricultural practices (i.e. monocrop agriculture) whose products are largely used to create ultra processed foods and raise sick livestock.
Farming commodity crops (corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, rice, peanuts, dairy, and sugar) results in significant payments to farmers through heavy reliance on government subsidies determined approximately every 5 years by the United States Farm Bill. Commodity crops, the types of crops insured by the Farm Bill, are grown for further refinement, not intended to be consumed in their harvested form. These commodity crops comprise the majority of ultra-processed foods (UPFs). Herein lies the connection between industrialized agriculture and our nation’s health crises. Additionally, this type of farming requires significant chemical and mechanical inputs which harm the soil and ecosystem for humans, plants, and animals alike. Payment models that incentivize the growth of these types of foods displace other more nutrient-dense crops that could otherwise be grown in these spaces if the incentives were equal for growing healthful foods. Our current subsidy model in farming encourages a centralized model, decreasing regional and local food security, decreasing biodiversity, and making it nearly impossible for small farmers to make a living wage.
Remove corporate food from our schools and hospitals, and replace it with thoughtfully prepared, locally sourced meals.
Corporate interests and profit are a big reason it is so hard to make this change; companies like Sysco have their talons deep in college campuses and hospital settings. But if we really wanted this, we could do it. Loma Linda does. Here is how the French feed their children at PUBLIC schools. At this wonderful school on the Rosebud Indian Reservation (my former home, and I used to teach yoga at this school!) food is prepared daily for a sit-down, family-style, lunchtime meal.
Create local and state programs that enable all families access to fresh, healthy foods and the skills to prepare them efficiently and deliciously.
The High Country Food Hub in Boone, my current home, does this beautifully with their state-funded program to double EBT dollars for families to spend on their fresh foods from NC farmers. They have delivery / pick up locations in several counties in Northwest NC, enabling access for more rural areas, too.
Creating local and state programs that financially support food sovereignty, on small, community scales.
A beautiful example of this is RedCo's work in the Sicangu Nation, a place that has faced innumerable systemic challenges to self-determination of their food supply - yet here they are, doing it. Here's another beautiful article, with ample photos of their efforts towards food sovereignty.
Support work and school schedules that prioritize built-in time for movement and food preparation into everyday life – and making this as normal as brushing your teeth.
Normalize leaving work at noon to go to your workout class, taking the stairs, creating infrastructure in your community that places bike and pedestrian culture over car culture, and having walking meetings. Normalize walking or biking with your children to school. Normalize work schedules that permit sacred family time in the morning and daily sit-down, relaxed, home-cooked dinners.
Normalize kitchens in workplaces where people can cook and eat food together: intentionally and slowly. Normalize eating fresh, seasonal produce and local meat and eggs, and calling a combination of that plus a real whole grain a meal.
Normalize not snacking. Normalize gagging at the contents of vending machines. Normalize getting hungry in between meals.
Movement and meal prep should not be something people are trying to pack in at 4am or 7pm (like I have done for most of my medical training thus far). Spoiler alert: working FEWER hours could accomplish this. And, we'd be more productive, alert, and energized for those hours worked.
Change the culture of medicine to focus on prevention and wellness, not harsh intervention at the middle or end of the disease progression.
This would involve a lot of change, starting with the interests of pharmaceutical companies and the way we worship surgeons and specialists in our current healthcare system by financially incentivizing these services. But it could start small with cultural shifts - by simply not ostracizing medical students and residents who want to heal their patients with food and lifestyle interventions. Or by supporting, instead of discouraging medical students and residents from taking the time and space they need to prophylactically engage in self-care regimens that prevent them from burning out, and set a beautiful example for patients and their communities about how to be well. (I've been in trouble for this before - like when I refused to work 14.5 hour days on my surgery rotation, and left after 12 hours to go to CrossFit, eat a nourishing dinner, and sleep at least 7 hours. I was shamed for this, and called "lazy". My attendings held their heads high as they drank high fructose corn syrup and ate ultra processed foods after operating on the blocked blood vessels of their metabolically sick patients. I remain to this day utterly confused at their inability to connect the dots, and their insistence that I was the crazy one. This is how sick our system is today.)
