New Book Hopes to Help Fix Food Culture

If you’re wondering how to grow, produce, and consume food to resolve the world’s health, environmental, social and economic crises, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Mark Hyman, MD, tries to answer that question in his new book, Food Fix.

Hyman points out in the book, “Our most powerful tool to reverse the global epidemic of chronic disease, heal the environment, reform politics, address social injustice and revive economies is food. What we eat has tremendous implications not just for our waistlines, but also for the planet, society and the global economy. What we do to our bodies, we do to the planet; and what we do to the planet, we do to our bodies.

Hyman explains how our food and agriculture policies are corrupted by money and lobbies that drive our biggest global crises: the spread of obesity and food-related chronic disease, climate change, poverty, violence, educational achievement gaps and more.

Pairing the latest developments in nutritional and environmental science with an unfl inching look at the dark realities of the global food system and the policies that make it possible, Food Fix is a hard-hitting manifesto that will change the way you think about – and eat – food forever, and will provide solutions for citizens, businesses and policy makers to create a healthier world, society and planet.

Among the major points presented in the book is Hyman’s claim that $95 trillion will be spent over the next 35 years on chronic disease caused by industrial diet and the loss of productivity because of it.

Perhaps one of the most troubling topics Hyman addresses is the obesity rate in children, which has tripled since the 1970s, and while Hyman blames what he calls “Big Food,” he also sees it as causing the same health issues by targeting minorities in its marketing.

The book also affi xes much of the blame for our country’s drop academically to what we feed our children and devotes space to the dangerous conditions farm and food workers face across the country and how we can best transform the food system to address climate issues.

Hyman stresses the need for people to support regenerative agriculture and sustainable food, grow more of their own food, and, of course, pay closer attention to their diets.

“This is the most important book I feel I have ever written,” said Dr. Hyman. “It’s about the single most important and overlooked issue of our time. My hope is that this book will contribute to a conversation around reimagining a food system that unburdens the economy from chronic disease, protects the environment, helps reverse climate change and creates a world of healthy children and citizens. Food Fix addresses the economic impact of our food system, how food choices can change our chronic disease epidemic, the web of Big Food and Big Ag, marketing junk food to children, the corruption of science, public health groups, the power of the food industry lobbyists, and so many more issues that need our focused attention.”