American Honey

Everything was so upside down. So many heavy people sat on the stoops of buildings. Some looked almost too heavy to walk. Back home, only the rich were fat, and yet this was obviously a poor part of New York City.

-Tracy Kidder Strength in What Remains

The problem in the United States, as I see it, is that as an incredibly wealthy country the poorest among us are those who are unhealthy, because they cannot afford to eat well. While, the richest among us have the means to keep their bodies healthy. This is the opposite of what it was like for Deo of Burundi in Tracy Kidder’s book Strength in what Remains. In Deo’s world, only the rich could afford to be fat. This says something to me about the state of our current system-clearly ii isn’t working. Food subsidies make things like high fructose corn syrup cheaper than dirt, which causes such diseases like diabetes in the popluations among us that are least able to pay for the medicine required to maintain their disease. Something must be done about our food industry here in American. Watch Food, Inc. and become enlightened.