Last night, I didn’t just listen to one brilliant speech on healthcare, I enjoyed two! I attended a talk by Andrew Weil, MD at the 92nd St Y. After watching the first 15 minutes of President Obama’s healthcare speech, Dr. Weil launched into his vision how we can put health back into healthcare.

The root problem of our healthcare crisis? We pay so much and have so little to show for it. We’ve got to ask ourselves the question: how did healthcare get so darn expensive? The answer: we don’t focus on prevention and health promotion. Instead our energy goes to disease maintenance.

Note that prevention is NOT mammograms, coloscopys and PSA tests. That is secondary prevention or early detection. Real prevention is what both Andy and I have been talking about for all these years: Food and Lifestyle changes that create optimum health.

Our government needs to make it easier for Americans to be healthy. Real food in schools along with food based education would be a start. Investing in school gardens and fresh fruits and vegetables from local/ regional small farms in schools will create a higher Food IQ in schools.

The food industry has to be taught, led or forced to give us food that supports our health. No more bogus green checkmarks that proclaim “healthy choices” on boxes of Froot Loops. No more Vitamin Water and processed chemicalized food products in schools. Corn dogs and chicken nuggets are not part of this vision of healthcare!

Dr. Weil has put together a new Call to Action on how to put Health back into Healthcare. I urge you to read it and share it with your community. It contains many smart ideas that we as citizens can help to create. True healthcare reform won’t be coming from politicians, it will be coming from the grass roots: us.

His new book, Why Our Health Matters, is on my top 10 list of books to read this fall. Check it out!

Me and Andy: circa 2003