Okay, this post doesn't deal directly with baking or bacon, but since I do speak about making food yourself instead of relying on processed, packaged shlock, I feel I should weigh in on this important, pressing national debate. I have long felt that a huge problem with the unhealthy health care system is the fact that there seems to be no incentive for anyone to improve their health on a personal level (other than that it feels better to be healthy). Or maybe I should state it this way: there is no deterrent for living an unhealthy lifestyle. Eat too much, don't exercise, ignore the little problems until they become big ones, whatever - there's a pill or surgery or other procedure that can fix it, right? Let's have some more Twinkies, wash them down with a mega-gulp-sized Coke, and watch some more TV.
I'm certainly not saying that those things shouldn't be available to people, or that I never indulge in any junk food, or that I don't veg out in front of the TV (Top Chef is on tonight!). But I do try to balance it with healthy eating for the most part, exercising nominally, and getting regular checkups. But my while my reward for this is tangible in that I'm pretty healthy, I'm also paying for all those who aren't doing anything for their health by ever-increasing insurance premiums and so forth. And nothing in the proposals that I have read discusses this problem.
However, Michael Pollan to the rescue! He wrote about this very issue albeit from a different perspective (I realize my perspective is an ego-centric "how does this affect ME?" not "I feel badly for people who aren't healthy"). Here is a link to the NY Times Op-Ed piece: Big Food vs. Big Insurance.
What do you think?
