Letter to Obama

Our current president appears to want to hear from us. I decided to act on that and thought it was only reasonable to share my thoughts with you. I hope you enjoy and share my feelings on the importance of our health.

Dear President Obama,

Thank you for accepting letters and for your consideration. I write to you today with solutions for tremendous improvement in the health of Americans which will greatly lower health care costs.

The suggestions listed below will cover two main areas. First, I believe Americans deserve to have healthy food available to them without having to educate themselves on toxic ingredients and poor methods of farming & manufacturing. Manufacturers and farmers have taken extreme measures for cutting costs and providing convenience without completely understanding the health ramifications to the consumers. Second, the pharmaceutical industry has unacceptable power and corruption in the US which greatly affects the health of Americans.

Please take a moment and read some of these solutions to a healthier America while considering the drastic reduction of health care costs this could achieve. 

Ban the overuse of pesticides and herbicides. Monsanto has gone over the top. His history of chemical use, pollution and harm to people's health is evident. Japan refused to buy wheat from the U.S. if we used roundup-ready genetically modified seeds. Countries refuse to buy food from us due to unethical, careless methods, yet we provide it to our own citizens (such as soy roundup-ready seeds).
 

Reward organic farming methods. In other words, provide tax breaks for organic farming methods which will result in reduced health care costs. 
 

Provide government subsidies for organically grown produce and reduce the subsidies for beef to save cost. Raising livestock may be one of the leading causes of greenhouse gases. 
 

- Ban the use of injecting hormones in livestock, poultry. Hormones make the animals plump, and consumption causes obesity. Obesity is one of the leading causes of heart disease not to mention the hormonal issues we suffer due to this practice. 
 

Ban the use of injecting antibiotics in livestock, poultry. Antibiotics are harmful to our liver and immune system function. This practice may also build resistance to antibiotics. 
 

Ban manufacturers from using certain ingredients such as: MSG, partially hydrogenated vegetable proteins, and high fructose corn syrup, among others. As we get educated on harmful ingredients, manufacturers come up with different names to hide them from us. Without regulations, large manufacturers have to stay competitive and offer cheaper solutions. Most Americans do not understand the health ramifications of the processed foods today. Instead of trying to slowly educate people; let's put a stop to it at the manufacturer level. Americans deserve to know the food they buy is not harmful. 
 

Require visibility and regulate processing methods. As an example, many people are unaware that most non-organic baby carrots are bleached for long shelf-life (not listed on the ingredients). Salt is often bleached and heated to high temperatures which remove essential minerals we need. Processing of dairy, wheat, grains are other examples that strip nutrients from our food. 
 

Regulate the cosmetic industry. There are 884 toxic chemicals in personal care products according to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. Most of what we put on our skin is absorbed into the blood stream adding additional toxins in our systems. As an example, baby shampoos that say "no more tears" have added anesthetics to prevent the child from feeling the burn. This leaves dangerous chemicals in the eyes longer than if they felt the burn. 
 

Ban the pharmaceutical industry from paying doctors for prescribing medications. Doctors receive about 50% of their revenues from the pharmaceutical industry. Doctors pay should not be based on the amount of medications prescribed. Liver function suffers with medication and causes chronic inflammation in our bodies. 
 

Ban the pharmaceutical industry from advertising. Allow the medical doctors to prescribe the medications. As one example, the pharmaceutical industry has threatened medical journals to not advertise with them if they publish clinical studies based on natural plant-type remedies. Americans have the right to all information, not just those endorsed by the pharmaceutical industry. 
 

Allow parents to make their own decisions regarding vaccinating their children. Many parents have to home school their children if they do not want to vaccinate them. Over 30 doses of vaccinations by the time children are 5/6yrs old is outrageous. The pharmaceutical industry gains monetarily from not only the vaccination costs, but for harming the health of our children long-term. 
 

Health insurance to allow the choice of using a naturopath or a medical doctor. It is a matter of choosing nutrition or choosing drugs to treat ourselves. Many people that want natural healthcare, continue to go to medical doctors due to insurance coverage.  

As more people get educated, manufacturers slowly offer healthier options. There is an easier way however, to get Americans healthy and reduce our health care costs. Americans deserve to have healthy non-toxic food available. In addition, the pharmaceutical industry has got to have serious regulations and a close eye to ensure Americans health is no longer put at risk due to greed and power.

I would love to discuss any of these in more detail and send you data on any points of interest.

Sincerest regards,
Linda J Curry

What areas are you most concerned with? I would love to hear your comments on this subject and/or information you may have to share. Please contribute to my blog and help spread the word.