Episode Details

I recently read a book that frankly, pardon the language, pissed me off.

The book, entitled "Food Fix: How to Save Our Health, Our Economy, Our Communities, and Our Planet--One Bite at a Time" is the brand new release from Dr. Mark Hyman.

Dr. Hyman strongly believes that the most powerful tool to reverse the global epidemic of chronic disease, heal the environment, reform politics, and revive economies is food. His new book explains that we eat has tremendous implications not just for our waistlines, but also for the planet, society, and the global economy.

In Food Fix, #1 bestselling author Dr. Mark 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 unflinching 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 changed the way I think about food forever, and it provides practical solutions for citizens, businesses, and policy makers to create a healthier world, society, and planet.

Dr. Hyman is a physician and New York Times best-selling author. He is the founder and medical director of The UltraWellness Center, a proponent of functional medicine and, the board president of clinical affairs of the Institute for Functional Medicine.

He's the bestselling author of multiple books, including the brand new title we discuss on this show: "Food Fix: How to Save Our Health, Our Economy, Our Communities, and Our Planet--One Bite at a Time".

During our discussion, you'll discover: -What prompted Dr. Hyman to write his new book...7:04

• Saw many patients w/ the same condition as a result of the food they're eating
• Food system is the main driver behind the problem
• Food policies make up the system
• Food industry is behind the policies; biggest lobby group in Washington is food and agriculture industries
• A handful of companies are the leading culprits
• $15 trillion industry; makes up ~17% of the global economy
• Employs over 20 million workers just in the U.S.
• The way food is produced is a major contributor to climate change
• Children w/ healthy diets vs. children w/ unhealthy show dramatic differences in brain size and IQ
  • Processed food is a contributing factor to mental health issues
  • CDC study: Health and Academic Achievement

-Why the true cost of food is not what you see at the store...13:58

• Take into account the cost of the entire life cycle of the food: production, storage, eating, waste, etc.
• Massive environmental destruction
• Who pays for deforestation, chemicals that destroy soil, climate change that results?
• Methods used for modern farming are killing the soil
• Obesity, chronic disease
• Food stamp recipients buy processed food and soda predominantly
• We pay for it via medicaid and medicare
• The companies who cause the damage don't pay for their actions
• Regenerative farming is a sustainable farming method
• Farmland LP invests in conventional farms and converts to sustainable farms

-How food stamp programs contribute to the problem...20:33

• Food and farm workers are not paid a livable wage; they can't afford he