Diet, Food, & Politics
Sustainable food once seen in activist circles is starting to gain acceptance as some norm. This week, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order hoping to turn vacant lots – basically any area that is city-owned but unused – into small gardens. The idea is to create a vibrant local economy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions produced from shipping food and reducing the dependence on mass-manufactured foods. The premium on fresh food is probably worth the
Recently, a California law requiring the disclosure of nutritional information at certain restaurants came into effect. You’d be amazed at how much people would deter towards eating certain foods when shown the nutritional information. Especially considering how many calories there are in many restaurant items. Coincidentally, an experiment done on monkeys showed that restricting your caloric intake could lead to a longer and healthier life.
It’s great that these necessary steps are being done to make consumers aware of what goes into their body. We often trust what is served to us on a plate just because there’s a sign in the front marked ‘A’ (the restaurant sanitation grade). Too much money is wasted on preventable diseases (read: obesity and diabetes). Information is a huge part of the reason why all of these things happen. Overall, they are great steps towards creating a healthier future. These new movements along with some type of universal health care are what will improve this country.