Peaches Instead of Pills?

Instead of spending an estimated hundreds of billions of dollars annually treating obesity after it takes hold, wouldn’t it make sense to spend a fraction of that on education and providing access to better food?

Granted, almost every industry would be against such a plan—do you really think the drug companies want us eating quinoa and wild salmon instead of white rice and fish sticks?—but it’s nice to daydream.

Or we can start small, as, according to The New York Times, is happening in Massachusetts, where several health centers are giving out coupons usable at local farmers’ markets to at-risk patients.

A foundation called CAVU, for Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited, sponsors the clinics that are administering the veggie project. The Massachusetts Department of Agriculture and Wholesome Wave each contributed $10,000 in seed money. (Another arm of the program, at several health centers in Maine, is giving fresh produce vouchers to pregnant mothers.) The program is to run until the end of the farmers’ market season in late fall.

Hopefully the day will arrive soon when we are spending millions of dollars on such programs, not thousands.

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