Comment from Anonymous

I support this petition because the health of America is at a dangerous all-time low - and we only have ourselves to blame. As a mom and physician, I believe it is critical that we act now. I grew up eating Cocoa Krispies for breakfast and chicken nuggets for dinner. My parents had no idea these were bad for us. I now have two young girls of my own, and for the first few years of their lives I did the same for them - Cheerios for breakfast, Goldfish for snacks. It perplexed me as to why they would devour an entire bag of Goldfish and complain that they were still hungry. Then about a year ago I listened to Casey Means’ interview with Joe Rogan. It changed my life. I threw out every processed snack in my pantry. I started buying organic milk. My kids complained for a few days, but they quickly got over it. Now they are hungry for wholesome meals and finish their food. They can sit still and pay attention. They aren’t cranky. They try new foods and even admit that they like it. I still reward them with a small piece of chocolate or scoop of ice cream when they’ve finished their dinner, but it isn’t from the “kids” section, full of added sugars and bright colored dyes; they eat what I eat. As a plastic surgeon, I see multiple new patients a day in consultation for cosmetic or reconstructive surgery who have lost a lot of weight on GLP-1 medications. I am happy for them, but losing the weight is just the beginning. They are left with loose skin, stretch marks, sagging breasts, “bat wings” on their arms. They spend thousands of dollars on multiple cosmetic surgeries to remove this skin. When I operate on their tissues, they often appear sickly and malnourished; their skin and fat lacks turgor and vitality. While the plastic surgeon in me is grateful for the business, the doctor in me yearns to help prevent patients from even needing to see me in the first place. It starts with the food system - people are poisoning themselves, and the government is complicit. As a mom, a doctor and especially as an American, this is appalling. At the local Food Lion grocery, I watch moms load their carts with Cheetos, Kool Aid, Froot Loops - and pay for it with their SNAP card. This needs to end. We need to make whole foods affordable and put the Cheetos behind the counter with the cigarettes, heavily taxed and plastered with warnings. The average American needs incentives to change their diet. It is our government’s responsibility to lay bare the truth about ultra processed foods and force food companies to finally start offering us real food. The health and future of our nation depends on it.