Michelle Obama Linking Food and Health

Via Obamafoodorama, the First Lady talks about food and health outcomes at the White House garden harvest celebration:

Michelle Obama: ... But unfortunately, for too many families, limited access to healthy fruits and vegetables is often a barrier to a healthier diet. In so many of our communities, particularly in poorer and more isolated communities, fresh, healthy food is simply out of reach. With few grocery stores in their neighborhoods, residents are forced to rely on convenience stores, fast food restaurants, liquor stores, drug stores and even gas stations for their groceries.

These food deserts leave too many families stranded and without enough choices when it comes to nourishing their loved ones. And sadly, this is the case in many large cities and rural communities all across this nation. So we need to do more to address the fact that so many of our citizens live in areas where access to healthy food, and thus a healthy future, is simply out of reach. ...

It's a resonant message, one that people across the country have been coming to independently, as evidenced by the spread of urban rooftop gardening and edible landscaping. (It's even spread beyond our borders, with Britain's Queen Elizabeth joining the kitchen garden movement.)

Even the American Medical Association, staunch opponents of serious health coverage reform otherwise, are saying that we need to reform food policy.

Indeed, money spent on good food policy now is far less expensive than treating diet-related diseases later.

We are what we eat, as much as we ever were. Why not take it seriously?