In the New York Times, Michael Pollan argues about the intersection of health policy and agriculture policy. Pollan says that America's health problems are largely due to diet. Americans eat too much and eat junk and get heart disease and obesity and diabetes. These chronic conditions cost more in health care terms than, say, cancer from smoking. So Americans' bad eating habits are a public health issue and a costly one at that.
Pollan argues that if the law creates widespread health insurance coverage and prohibits health insurance companies from dropping insured Americans, then there will be a battle over US food policy. The health insurance industry will fight the agriculture industry to promote more healthy eating in order to reduce those expensive chronic conditions. Right now, the interests which speak for public health are drowned out by the resources of big agriculture. It's an interesting and provocative article. We previously wrote about Pollan here.
