Information about the Aspen Ideas Festival is here. I am scheduled for a session, The American Wellness Paradox, currently scheduled from 11:00-11:50 a.m., at the East Lawn Tent. This will be a discussion with senior HHS policy advisor, Calley Means. Here’s the blurb on it: “Americans are spending more than ever on healthcare, supplements, wellness trends, and “clean eating,” yet rates of chronic disease and metabolic illness continue to climb. As skepticism fuels the rise of movements like MAHA, debates over what Americans should eat have become deeply cultural, political, and economic. Two influential voices with sharply different perspectives on nutrition and food science explore how food systems, farming practices, consumer culture, and the wellness industry collided to create one of the defining public health debates of our time.”
World food crisis: implications for U.S. agriculture
The intrepid economists at USDA* have published an analysis of what the current rise in food prices means for U.S. agriculture. Their report provides a broad overview of the causes and effects of higher food prices. The bottom line: the long-term effects are still uncertain but they will surely be worse for farmers in developing countries than for our own farmers.
But shouldn’t the USDA also be concerned about what’ will happen to Third World farmers? If we are part of a global food system, don’t we have some global responsibility?
*The USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) has produced an interactive report summarizing the kinds of research it does. See if you agree with me that the ERS does invaluable work and performs a great public service.
