[CitizensTruth] FW: WOW! - THIS IS BIG NEWS - Amer. Medical Assn. - resolution re: food system

[Robin Migalla]

Hello Everyone,

This is a significant step in a wonderful direction!

Cheers,
Robin

-----Original Message-----
From:	Debbie Hillman [SMTP:dlhillman at sbcglobal.net]
Sent:	Friday, June 26, 2009 09:27
To:	Illinois Local Food and Farms Coalition
Subject:	[Illinois Local Foods] Amer. Medical Assn. - resolution re:  food system

Thanks to Julia Leis of Fresh Taste (Good Food for All blog) for  
bringing this to people's attention in Chicago.     Below is the press  
release describing the resolution in which the AMA recognizes the  
correlation between the food system and people's health.

-- Debbie

Debbie Hillman, Coordinator	
Illinois Local & Organic Food & Farm Task Force
Co-chair, Evanston Food Policy Council
847/328-7175
DLHillman at sbcglobal.net



American Medical Association Passes Resolution Supporting Sustainable  
Food System

Health Care Role in Prevention and Food-Related Health Emphasized

CHICAGO, June 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Medical  
Association (AMA) has approved a new policy resolution in support of  
practices and policies within health care systems that promote and  
model a healthy and ecologically sustainable food system. The  
resolution also calls on the AMA to work with health care and public  
health organizations to educate the health care community and the  
public about the importance of healthy and ecologically sustainable  
food systems that "provide food and beverages of naturally high  
nutritional quality." The policy was approved today at the 158th  
annual meeting of the AMA in Chicago, IL.

"As our country wrestles with health care reform, the role of health  
care providers and facilities in providing education and leadership to  
help the population understand the link between the way we produce  
food and individual health is significant and cannot be overstated,"  
said Jamie Harvie, director of the Health Care Without Harm  
Sustainable Food Work Group. "Preventing disease is paramount in the  
provision of health care. Hospitals, physicians and nurses are ideal  
leaders and advocates for creating food environments that promote  
health. This policy is an important contribution to a prevention-based  
healthcare delivery system."

The AMA's new Sustainable Food policy builds on a report from its  
Council on Science and Public Health (http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/475/refcomd.pdf 
), which notes that locally produced and organic foods "reduce the use  
of fuel, decrease the need for packaging and resultant waste disposal,  
preserve farmland ... [and] the related reduced fuel emissions  
contribute to cleaner air and in turn, lower the incidence of asthma  
attacks and other respiratory problems." Industrial food production is  
a significant contributor to increased antibiotic resistance, climate  
change, and air and water pollution.

The new AMA policy states:

     * That our AMA support practices and policies in medical schools,  
hospitals, and other health care facilities that support and model a  
healthy and ecologically sustainable food system, which provides food  
and beverages of naturally high nutritional quality.
     * That our AMA encourage the development of a healthier food  
system through the US Farm Bill and other federal legislation.
     * That our AMA consider working with other health care and public  
health organizations to educate the health care community and the  
public about the importance of healthy and ecologically sustainable  
food systems.

"Physicians now recognize that one cannot easily separate the health  
of food from how healthfully that food is produced," said Dr. David  
Wallinga, an attendee at the meeting, the Wm. T. Grant Foundation  
Distinguished Fellow in Food Systems and Public Health at the  
University of Minnesota, and a member of Health Care Without Harm.  
"The profligate use of antibiotics and fossil fuels in today's food  
system, for example, is directly linked to climate change and to the  
epidemic of antibiotic resistant infections, in hospitals and in  
communities. "

President Obama, who spoke to the AMA meeting on June 15th, reiterated  
the importance of developing a sustainable healthcare system that  
leads to better patient outcomes. "If doctors have incentives to  
provide the best care instead of more care, we can help Americans  
avoid the unnecessary hospital stays, treatments, and tests that drive  
up costs," Obama stated. During his visit with AMA he spoke on the  
White House victory garden, which was planted to help educate children  
on the importance of fresh healthy food.

In addition to providing fresh, nutritious food choices, health care  
food services across the country are implementing new initiatives such  
as sourcing organic food and meat produced without the use of  
antibiotics, buying locally produced foods, and sponsoring farmers  
markets and food boxes for staff. More than 240 hospitals have signed  
the HCWH Healthy Food in Healthcare Pledge. Signers pledge to work  
toward developing sustainable food systems in their facilities. In  
Congress, Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) has introduced a "Blueprint for  
Health," legislation that calls for incentives to prevent chronic  
diseases, including investments in healthy and sustainable local and  
regional food systems.

HCWH is an international coalition of more than 430 organizations in  
52 countries, working to transform the health care industry worldwide,  
without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is  
ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public  
health and the environment. For more information on HCWH, see www.noharm.org 
.


SOURCE Health Care Without Harm

 
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