On September 10, 2009, Michael Pollan's response to President Obama's speech on national health care was printed in the New York Times. In the Op-Ed article "Big Food vs. Big Insurance," Pollan suggests that the American way of eating has become the elephant in the room in the debate over health care.

Pollan, who is a New York Times best selling author of books such as The Omnivore's Dilemma, and In Defense of Food, as well as a regular New York Times Op-Ed contributor, points out that 75% of health care costs are for chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity that are linked to diet and are preventable.

"Our success in bringing health care costs under control ultimately depends on whether Washington can summon the political will to take on and reform a second, even more powerful industry: the food industry," writes Michael Pollan. "But so far, food system reform has not figured in the national conversation about health care."

Pollan further points out that the US government is now placing itself in the position to pay for health care costs that are caused by the very foods, such as high-fructose corn syrup, that it is subsidizing. Additionally,

"Are you pouring on the pounds?" In an effort to encourage New Yorkers to cut back on sugary beverages, the New York City Health Department is urging New Yorkers to think about the sugar-sweetened beverages they are drinking. The image used in the new public service campaign ad is a soda, sports drink or sweetened ice tea beverage that is turning to fat as it is being poured into glasses. The main message is, "Don't drink yourself fat." This campaign is another great effort by New York City to help improve the health of New Yorkers while sending a message to the world that it is a health conscious city. To read the recent August 31, 2009 press release click here.

Since 2002, New York City has consistently passed bills to improve the health of its city and is continuously working hard to show America what it takes to create a healthy city. In 2002, New York City became one of the first major cities to ban smoking in bars and in restaurants. Just four years later, with help from leaders in the field of nutrition such as Walter Willet, MD, PhD Chair, Department of Nutrition at Harvard University and the support and efforts by the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and its students and alumni, as well as the help from many others, the use of trans fats in food was pushed to the forefront of New York City's health agenda. In December 2006, New York City's board of health voted to ban the use of trans fats by restaurants and bakeries with the full ban on trans fats going into effect by 2008.

New York City is known as the first city to ban trans fats, but the small community of Tiburon in Northern California, just outside of San Francisco,

Last week while I was shopping at a book store, the cover of the latest August 31, 2009 edition of Time Magazine caught my eye. I couldn't help but notice it because there on the front cover is a large photo of a package of hamburger meat, one of the most dangerous products in our food system. In the middle of the package of hamburger meat is a warning label which reads, "WARNING: This hamburger may be hazardous to your health. Why the American food system is bad for our bodies, our economy and our environment - and what some visionaries are trying to do about it." The cover further implies through its title "The Real Cost of Cheap Food," that behind America's food system and corporate farming practices, there have been great costs at all levels, not only to the health of Americans but also to the health of our planet.

Seeing the subject of factory farming positioned on the cover of Time is a positive sign that people are now finally listening to these visionaries who have been out there on the front lines for years educating and warning the public of the consequences of industrialized farming practices that are not sustainable or honorable and that go against laws of nature. This article is further support for a small few who have been fighting a tough battle against very powerful industries, including our own government, in order to protect the health of people, our environment as well as the quality of life for livestock animals and to preserve the integrity of real food.

You might have thought that the quality of food would have been a priority and would have at least mattered to our policy makers in government,