From the Editors: March 2026

David

What will it take to make America healthy? Removing artificial dyes from food? Making less processed food easier to get and cheaper to purchase? Removing carcinogens from our farmlands? What it will actually take is deep governmental regulation of corporations – something this administration is transparently against.

There's been a lot of talk about our food systems in America lately. We've recently drawn up a new food (upside down) pyramid (because we paid such close attention to the old one, right?) that directly benefits the beef and dairy industries – you know, the top agricultural greenhouse gas contributors? So healthy!

And I know when I want nutritional advice, the first people who come to my mind are Mike Tyson and Kid Rock, of course. Fat shaming, flipping America off, drinking whole milk in jeans in a hot tub? These are all the most effective routes toward overall public health and wellness, and definitely the best use of our tax dollars, right?

A quote I think of a lot these days, which is most often attributed to Mark Twain, but is likely paraphrased: "It is easier to fool a man than to convince him he has been fooled."

My apologies to the MAHA crowd – but you've been had.

You were promised deep corporate regulation by an administration that is so transparently anti-regulation, it's surprising you didn't see that disappointment coming.

America is, at this moment, on track to become the least healthy we've ever been. Not only has the administration backed off its industry-wide ban on artificial dyes in our food supply, they've also doubled down on the use of probable carcinogens, poisoning our farmland and waterways. They've gutted programs that put fresh, unprocessed foods into the mouths of hungry children. They've canceled millions of dollars of cancer research program funding. Political appointees have taken the place of federal research staff at the National Institutes of Health. We have a wellness influencer who sells unregulated, costly supplements up for the job of surgeon general. We have a television doctor, telling us to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain – you misinterpreted his mixed messages on vaccines. He didn't actually mean that. He's sorry for all the measles.

Look. There is no denying that our food and healthcare systems in America are, in fact, broken. We rely on cheap, convenient, processed food – the priority in this country is and always has been fueling the corporate capitalist machine over our public health. We are not doing what's best for our bodies. On this we can nearly all agree. But thinking, for even one second, that what is happening in Washington is, in any way, going to make us healthier, is a delusion.

Admitting you were wrong is the first step.

The second step is voting in ways that actually help our planet, our food systems, and our public health. Public health goes WAY beyond removing the food dye from some Skittles. Public health means clean air and water (while the Trump administration guts the EPA), public health means affordable healthcare coverage for everyone (while Congress strips it away or makes it completely unaffordable for millions of Americans), public health means providing all children with healthy, fresh foods (as the Trump administration cuts supplemental nutrition assistance funding).

This issue of the Erie Reader is all about food, as you may have noticed. Part of it is encouraging people to take some amount of their food consumption into their own hands (in the case of sourdough and its myriad of applications in the kitchen), part of it is about supporting local restaurants and the folks working hard to make delicious, nutritious meals for us.

But being healthy isn't just about food. That is one piece of a complex puzzle. The other major players include widespread environmental health, well-functioning health care systems, supporting local farmers and the land in which they grow our food, providing housing security (how does one cook healthy food for themselves and their families without a safe, consistent place in which to do so?), dependable substance abuse and mental health services, research funding, participating in global health initiatives (we're all in this together) – so many parts of a public health ecosystem that are all being undermined by the administration that RFK Jr. supporters pulled the trigger for.

You were given a high-priced placebo instead of that snake oil supplement and your decision absolutely helped to get us to where we are now.

Own it, speak out, and vote against it.