The ag secretary discusses food as medicine. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack provides his views on the subject of “Food is Medicine” during a Health and Human Services Department summit of the same name.
“My point of view is, I think, somewhat couched by the fact that I lost my parents at a very early age from disease, which no doubt probably was indeed related to environmental and food issues. So, there’s a personal reason for being engaged in this. I think there’s also a recognition that as we learn more about the science behind food and its capacity to, in fact, be medicine we can indeed reduce the risk of chronic disease in this country, which obviously will have an impact on the individuals who will leave healthier lives,” he said. “It will also have an impact on our capacity to fund other aspects of our economy. We spend a great deal of government funding and frankly of our own individual finances on healthcare and healthcare insurance. To the extent that we can be a better consumer, if you will, reducing the risk of chronic disease, we can also, I think, free up resources that can then go into building a healthier and stronger country and world.”
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Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet News Hour and The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.