Filed under: News, Notes | Tags: health care, obama, Politics, president
Amid the utter chaos that is the health care debate, I recently read op-eds that voiced an aspect of this issue I believe needs much more attention: health. Take a look at the unhealthy trends and increasing obesity in our society, and you’ll see my point. How can you furiously argue over health care reform when you don’t take care of your own health? Can you really oppose rising health care costs when you are also contributing to them?
In a Sept. 9 New York Times op-ed, Michael Pollan cites a study that explains why the US spends twice as much per person as most European countries on health care: we’re fatter. He writes: “Even the most efficient health care system that the administration could hope to devise would still confront a rising tide of chronic disease linked to diet.” This is an relevant, crucial point, yet one that goes largely ignored.
Wasteful spending has become a catchphrase in Washington, and politics in general, yet the media doesn’t make a fuss about how three-quarters of health care spending goes to treat “preventable chronic diseases”–most of which are related to diet. There’s a big problem here. So, why don’t I recall Obama discussing the food industry during his speeches?
Though I don’t agree with Bill Maher on all fronts, he does get it right in his Sept. 18 post on the Huffington Post. He writes: “President Obama has identified all the problems with the health care system, but there’s one tiny issue he refuses to tackle, and that’s our actual health.” Until that issue comes up, until the food industry and diet problems are dealt with, health care will continue spending large sums of money that could just as easily be saved.
By focusing on the big insurance companies with high premiums and unaffordable policies, we’re tackling part of the problem, but not the heart of it. They are symptoms of the more deeply-rooted societal problem of diet, lifestyle and the country’s food industry.
With the relatively recent trend toward becoming “ecofriendly,” bottled water often becomes a topic of interest. Simply put, bottled water = waste. In fact, it produces up to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste annually. Furthermore, producing that plastic requires up to 47 million gallons of oil per year. And in the end, 80 percent of these plastic bottles are thrown away–not recycled (though, the actual process of recycling requires large amounts of energy). The likely prospect of a future in which majority of the plastic produced is still drifting around somewhere does not paint a pretty picture.
Yet, I think many people are indeed aware that bottled water is not environmentally friendly (whether they choose to act upon that awareness is, of course, a different story). But how many people realize how much a bottled water company can affect its local citizens and communities?
In a recent issue of Mother Jones magazine, Anna Lenzer looks into FIJI Water and the story behind its elitist, “untouched” water. Lenzer touches upon the contrast between the brand’s image and the conditions in Fiji: “‘We are Fiji,’ declare Fiji Water posters across the island, and the slogan is almost eerily accurate: The reality of Fiji, the country, has been eclipsed by the glistening brand of Fiji, the water.”
She goes on to discuss the water problems that face the island, which include:
…crumbling pipes, a lack of adequate wells, dysfunctional or flooded water treatment plants, and droughts that are expected to get worse with climate change. Half the country has at times relied on emergency water supplies, with rations as low as four gallons a week per family; dirty water has led to outbreaks of typhoid and parasitic infections. Patients have reportedly had to cart their own water to hospitals, and schoolchildren complain about their pipes spewing shells, leaves, and frogs. Some Fijians have taken to smashing open fire hydrants and bribing water truck drivers for a regular supply.
FIJI Water responded to Lenzer’s article stating, “We strongly disagree with the author’s premise that because we are in business in Fiji somehow that legitimizes a military dictatorship…As an active member of the Fiji community, FIJI Water is committed to enabling positive change by means of social investment, capacity building, and sustainable development.”
Though Lenzer lauds FIJI’s donations to water access projects, she says the military regime “clearly benefits from the company’s global branding campaign characterizing Fiji as a ‘paradise’ where there is ‘no word for stress.’” In fact, Fiji’s tourism campaigns use the bottled water in their promotions.
I found it quite interesting to see how closely intertwined the bottled water company and military regime are. And how much this one company affects Fiji’s economy.
New York magazine came out with their Reasons to Love New York 2008 a while ago. So naturally, I proceeded to go through the whole list–and I loved it. They also posted a list of reasons readers sent in.
A couple readers’ reasons I particularly liked:
-”Because people act surprised when you hold doors for them.”
-”Because it’s best place to earn one- sentence stories to amuse friends and family back home. Like: ‘I was at a hipster dance party and some flailing NYU student accidentally punched me in the eye.’”
What’s your reason to love New York?
I was on New York magazine’s website and I came across this article. They basically went up on strangers with laptops in Starbucks and asked them for the sentence they were currently working on. I thought this was really cool.
I’m always wondering about things like that when I’m in a public place–what they’re working on, what music they’re listening to, what book they’re reading, if that’s actually a work email they’re typing on a BlackBerry, etc. The coffee-shop exercise would also be a fun one to do with music (”Hey, I don’t know you, but what song are you listening to?”)
