Nourish Science

The Problem: Americans are living shorter, sicker lives due to our food. We have the shortest lifespans among wealthy nations, by a lot, and 1/3 of our children are sick with a food-caused chronic disease. Although our nutrition crisis began pre-Covid, it made Covid twice as severe because our food made us so vulnerable. Other countries have been galvanized to confront diet issues. The U.S. has been slow to respond. Will MAHA change that? Food-caused chronic diseases are the leading cause of poor health in the U.S, exacerbating health disparities and straining health care spending, worker productivity, and military readiness. It’s an alarming trend that keeps getting worse, without an effective response. Beyond effects on health, our food system is draining our natural resources and accelerating climate change. Our efforts to understand and decrease food-driven chronic health conditions are grossly inadequate. The scope and pace of nutrition science are insufficient to address the country’s pressing nutrition-related challenges. The federal government’s investment in nutrition research has remained flat or declined over several decades, even as diet-related conditions and their societal burdens have climbed. Paradoxically, nutrition research funding to prevent diet-related diseases is dwarfed by research funding to treat them.