How Food Subsidies Keep Ultraprocessed Food Prices Low And Chronic Disease Rates High

This episode is brought to you by Rupa Health, InsideTracker, and
Essentia.   Subsidizing food has been a practice in the US
government for a very long time; we’ve subsidized sugar since 1790
and wheat, corn, and soy since 1933. All four of these foods, also
known as commodity crops, are mainstay ingredients found in the
ultra-processed foods driving chronic disease. And we taxpayers are
footing the bill. Something is wrong with this picture.   In
today’s episode, I talk with Dr. Robert Lustig, Ken Cook, and
Paulette Jordan about the impact of subsidized commodity crops on
food prices and our health. Dr. Robert Lustig is a
neuroendocrinologist with expertise in metabolism, obesity, and
nutrition. He’s the Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics in the
Division of Endocrinology and a member of the Institute for Health
Policy Studies at UCSF. He is also one of the leaders of the
current “anti-sugar” movement that is changing the food industry,
in part through his game-changing books. His latest work is
Metabolical: The Lure and the Lies of Processed Food, Nutrition,
and Modern Medicine. Ken Cook is the president and cofounder of the
Environmental Working Group (EWG). He is widely recognized as one
of the environmental community’s most prominent and influential
critics of industrial agriculture and the nation’s broken approach
to protecting families and children from toxic substances. Under
Cook’s leadership, the EWG has pioneered the use of digital
technologies to empower American families with easy-to-use,
science-driven tools to help reduce their exposure to potentially
harmful ingredients in food, drinking water, cosmetics, and other
household products. Paulette Jordan was the 2018 Democratic
gubernatorial nominee in Idaho, becoming the first woman nominated
to the position by a major party in the state and the first Native
American woman nominated for governor in US history. She is
recognized in Idaho and across the nation as an inspirational and
audacious leader. This episode is brought to you by Rupa Health,
InsideTracker, and Essentia.  Rupa Health is a place where
Functional Medicine practitioners can access more than 2,000
specialty lab tests from over 20 labs like DUTCH, Vibrant America,
Genova, and Great Plains. You can check out a free, live demo with
a Q&A or create an account at RupaHealth.com. InsideTracker is
a personalized health and wellness platform like no other. Right
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Full-length episodes of these interviews can be found here: Dr.
Robert Lustig Ken Cook Paulette Jordan