That’s an ironic opening punch for a polemic on healthy eating, never mind one penned by a politician from one of the country’s biggest crop-producing states, but that’s how Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan begins his new book, The Real Food Revolution: Healthy Eating, Green Groceries, and the Return of the American Family Farm. And it’s how you know Ryan, once dubbed “Congressman Moonbeam” for pushing meditation on Capitol Hill, is far more human than talking head. Amusing nicknames aside, Ryan is one of clean eating’s strongest champions on the Hill—and he’s likely advocated for change that could affect you, like sponsoring bills for stricter labeling of gluten-free foods and for more nutrition education for future doctors. MORE: Meet The Kickstarter Of The Sustainable Food Movement Now, with The Real Food Revolution, Ryan proposes a takedown of the bad agricultural policy that has left Americans sick and farmland spent. He includes actionable strategy on how to increase GMO labeling, break the seed monopoly, drive antibiotics and hormones out of meat production, and, most importantly, motivate food enthusiasts to exercise their democratic muscle to leap into the political fray. We chatted with Ryan to learn more about the book and his proposed path forward. Why champion real food over thousands of other agendas? I’ve always had an interest in food, but it really started to stem from the last book I wrote, Mindful Nation. It was focused on stress reduction and how that practice could help make us healthier. As I was doing research for that book, I learned that it wasn’t just stress that’s responsible for how unhealthy we are as a society. It’s stress and diet—and the diet piece kept coming up. If we’re going to be competitive as a country, economically vibrant, and have a strong economy, we need to start with fundamentals like diet. Does your constituency care about real food? I’ve been hearing from Moms and even some dudes—you know, 30, 40, 50 year-old men—that want us to start focusing on the real issue that’s causing the problem: People aren’t healthy. I think most people don’t mind paying their fair share in taxes, but they want to see the money spent wisely. In this current system, the government subsidizes large-scale, industrial farms and the crops that go into the highly processed foods—we’ve spent $292 billion tax dollars on these subsidies since 1995. These highly processed foods are making us so unhealthy that half of Americans will have either prediabetes or diabetes by 2020. Then the taxpayer also has to contribute to the healthcare of the people who eat all this food that’s artificially cheap because of subsidies. It drives people crazy. In the book, you report that industry groups spent $150 million on lobbying the last time the Farm Bill was up for renewal (e.g., the Corn Refiner’s Association pushing to protect corn subsidies). Is it realistic to push for change when we know how much influence big food still has? We’ve always had issues in America where we stand back and say, ‘Boy, could this ever happen?’ because of powerful industry interests. For example, we didn’t have seatbelts in cars and the [auto] industry fought it for years. But the reality is that when people get engaged in the process, change happens. This is not an issue where you can stand on sidelines, cross your fingers, and hope that someone sprinkles fairy dust over the Capitol. You’ve got to petition members of Congress with signatures from people in their district and move them in the direction of healthier food. [The food industry] has the money. But if you can get the votes, you can make the change. MORE: Five Reasons To Buy Organic At Walmart (And Not Hate Yourself) A big part of your plan is to decrease subsidies on crops like corn and soy while increasing incentive to grow fruits and vegetables. But these subsidies are deeply embedded in our food system—they’ve been around since 1933. How can we tip the balance without upending the entire thing? We need to assure farmers that there will be markets for them to sell fresh fruits and vegetables—and there are a lot of markets that are untapped. Take Ohio, for example. Ohio State University has 60,000 students surrounded by farmland. We have a lot of prisons. We have 600-odd school districts. Those are each markets. And if Ohio State were to say, ‘We’re going to spend 2% of our food budget next year on locally sourced fresh foods. And then the next year it’s going to be 4%, the next year it’s going to be 6%, and the next year it’s going to be 8%…,’ then the farmers would see a market there and the risk of switching over from corn and soy slowly goes down. What do you think has been the food movement’s greatest victory in the past five years? I think the biggest victory I’ve seen is what Chick-fil-A is going to do with taking the antibiotics out of their chicken. I know the Food Babe has taken a lot of hits these days, but she spearheaded that petition, and it’s huge. A lot of chicken companies are going to have to shift their practices if they want to sell to Chick-fil-A. I’m really happy about that. What’s the biggest challenge going forward? I think the greatest challenge is making people understand that they have to be a part of the solution. If you want access to affordable, healthy, fresh foods, you need to get involved. And you can’t say, ‘Oh, I’m not going to get into politics.’ You’ve got to. You’re an American citizen. This is how things get done. Feeling fired up? Here is how Ryan says you can make change: • Educate yourself by checking out the Environmental Working Group’s list of key food policy issues. • Use this list to get involved with a food policy council in your state. These groups stay up to date on legislation, set up meetings with local and federal representatives, and put together petitions. • If you can’t find an active policy group, go solo. The University of Kansas Community Toolbox offers step-by-step guides to launch your own petitions, letter-writing campaigns, and more. • Shop at a farmers’ market or sign up for a CSA to help create the demand that farmers need in order to keep producing healthy food. • Vote. MORE: Yep, There’s Now a Kethcup ’n’ Fries Plant
