Calories are cheap. Nutrition is expensive.

The Wall Street Journal’s interview with Tom Colicchio (Top Chef) emphasized his commitment to food and preparing it well.

“What he really wants to do now is change the way people eat. With his nonprofit Food Policy Action, he’s hoping to persuade Americans that food policy should be more prominent in politics. “The idea is, how do you raise the idea of food up to a level of the Second Amendment and reproductive rights?” he says. The problem, he adds, is that “calories are cheap. Nutrition is expensive.”

His goal is to have the government make policy changes that direct farm subsidies away from commodity crops like corn (which often goes into processed food) and toward more fruits and vegetables, to make produce less expensive for consumers. Other changes he’d like to see are healthier school lunches and labels for foods that contain genetically modified ingredients.”

I applaud Colicchio and would like to continue the conversation to include remediating food deserts in our cities and prohibiting junk food advertising. Tony the Tiger should join the Marlboro man in the advertising hall of shame.