I don't agree with Matt Stoller's argumentthat the Health Care for America Now coalition should shift its focus to public health issues like sugar and fried foods. That's probably not the space where a coalition of progressive groups with a limited philanthropic grant to go to war against insurers will be most effective. And as a simple question of resources, they don't have near enough money to do both heath care reform and ag policy. But I take his broader point. We really do need someone lobbying Congress in favor of healthy policy (i.e, fewer sugar subsidies), rather than just health care policy. Happily, health is actually the sort of issue where the major -- and majorly rich -- foundations are willing to put real money, as they like getting involved in semi-nonpartisan issues like obesity and nutrition. The problem is most all their funding currently goes into "education" campaigns and the production of research about how fat everyone is getting. (When I was at the California Endowment, they had an art show on obesity.) Fairly little of it goes into aggressively attempting to change the policy context that have helped make bad nutritional decisions the cheapest, and thus most effortless, nutritional decisions. But better societal health will require a public health perspective in policymaking. And since there's no industry that cares enough to step in, the foundations are something of the last, best hope. But they need to realize -- or be convinced -- that educational campaigns alone won't do the trick.
