Years ago, I was talking to the mother of one of my patients in my pediatrics practice. As I was reviewing the latest nutritional guidelines for her child, she stopped me:
“I know what the guidance says. I know what to do,” she said. “But other than McDonald’s, where am I going to feed my family for ten dollars?”
I would recommend Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. want to ask that question while promoting his ‘Eat Real Food’ campaign. I totally agree with the message, but most people already know that we need to eat real food. The real problem is that slogans don’t help when you’re a parent trying to feed kids on a tight budget while grocery prices skyrocket. You expect government leaders to understand your circumstances and offer appropriate policy solutions.
But this administration is making it harder, not easier, for families to put real food on the table.
TRUMP ADMIN’S NEW DIETARY GUIDELINES FOCUS ON ULTRA-PROCESSED FOODS, FACILITATE RED MEAT AND SATURATED FATS
As a doctor and father, I join the millions of parents demanding healthier foods. Our nation’s food supply is awash with ultra-processed products filled with ingredients that belong in a chemical lab, not in our bodies. Food and beverage companies relentlessly market these products to children and rake in billions of dollars. At the same time, our children pay the price: on any given day, most children do not eat even one vegetable. Something is very wrong here. That’s why I welcome the movement to make our food supply healthier.
Secretary Kennedy has also embraced this movement, but not nearly as much as he would have you believe. For example, he talks a lot about the government’s new dietary guidelines for Americans. Some of the new guidelines are smart, including recommendations that Americans eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and fewer ultra-processed products. But if it’s too expensive to follow that advice, does it really mean anything? What good are words on paper if the administration makes it more difficult for you to pay your grocery bill?
Consider the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps more than 40 million Americans pay for groceries. During last year’s government shutdown, the administration ordered states to stop distributing SNAP benefits, then fought court rulings striking down that order. President Trump has signed a bill that will kick millions of people off SNAP, including families with children, veterans, people experiencing homelessness, and young adults previously in foster care. The government will soon propose even bigger cuts to the program.
How can all this make real food more affordable?
Or take the National School Lunch Program, which serves about 30 million children. No other federal nutrition program in the country reaches as many children. For many of them, a school lunch is their best chance for a healthy meal during the week. But the government has canceled programs that help schools buy healthy produce directly from local farmers and ranchers. The government has even proposed eliminating subsidies to help schools modernize their cafeterias. Without a working kitchen, schools cannot prepare, serve and store fresh food.
Does all this help children grow up or learn healthily in the classroom?
In no time, Trump was blamed for blocking food aid to low-income families
These policies make real food more expensive and less accessible. None of it makes sense.
When families cannot afford real, healthy food, the consequences are serious. I will never forget this four-year-old boy I cared for in Atlanta who was not growing properly. Tests showed no underlying disease, but there was clearly something wrong with his development; he looked much younger than he was. Our staff eventually discovered the cause: he wasn’t getting enough to eat because his family couldn’t afford it. He was literally starving in the richest country in the world. My “prescription” in this case was not medication, but connecting his family to a faith-based organization that ran a food bank. Now that he had more to eat, his health improved.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS ADVICE
Imagine how many more doctors are having this same conversation with families now, amid massive government cuts.
In medical terms, a child who is not growing properly is suffering from a ‘failure to thrive’. Our country is suffering a similar fate. Nearly 48 million Americans don’t get enough food. Charities are doing fantastic work across our country, but there’s no way they can make up for the massive cuts to federal programs: for every meal provided by a food bank, SNAP provides nine. So why scrap a program that clearly works?
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
If the government really believes in ‘Eat real food’, it should focus less on slogans and more on making real food more affordable. That means protecting programs that help families buy groceries, giving schools the ability to serve healthy meals to all children and ensuring that parents are never priced out of the real food selection at the grocery store.
Politicians are experts at talking about big things, but real leaders make a real difference in people’s lives. The next time Secretary Kennedy tells you to “eat real food,” ask yourself why the government is making it so difficult for families to actually do so. Ultimately, it’s an empty soundbite. And like an empty calorie, it doesn’t feed anyone.
CLICK HERE TO BY RICHARD BESSER
