believe people don't need to
die for the UK to maintain it's economic security.
I heard Alan Johnson MP speak yesterday at the RSA about the UK's
economic future. I asked
him about his commitment to the lives of the poorest and most disadvantaged.
He told me of reports since the 1970s which identified the health
inequalities and determinants of
illness. The poor are living much longer than in the 1970s but the
mortality gap is still widening.
The poor are dying much, much earlier than the rich. It's my opinion
that this situation will get
much worse with the welfare reforms and the CSR cuts.
I explained to him that one of the problems may be inferior goods.
People living above the poverty
line can afford a little choice in what they eat. The poor and the
disadvantaged don't have this
luxury. They have to buy the cheapest goods.
I'm talking about Tesco Value products and equivalent lines from other
members of the
supermarket oligarchy. These are foods with lots of chemicals and little
nutrition. They're all the
poorest people in society can afford and many more people will be buying
products as the 490,000
public sector workers are cut and another 500,000 private sector workers
will also lose their jobs
as a result of the public sector cuts (the estimate of the private
sector job losses was mentioned by
Mr Johnosn yesterday in his talk at the RSA and he cited the figure from
a Price Waterhouse
Cooper report).
The supermarkets oligarchy will react by raising the price of the
essential inferior goods as fewer
people buy their more profitable products. The result will be the
poorest can buy less food and
those who are poor will end up eating poor quality food. This will
contribute to increased illness
and death. The mortality gap will widen even more.
I'd politely suggest that perhaps the government ask the supermarket
industry to be the first to
take a leading role in Big Society. Ask them to keep the cost of
essentials low and fortify their
cheapest products with vitamins and minerals. Many people will no longer
be able to afford the
fresh fruit and vegetables that people like me and you are used to.
Ensuring the poorest and those
experiencing poverty for the first time because of the cuts and lack of
job creation scheme can get
the best nutrition.
A small government subsidy to pay for the vitamins and minerals may save
the NHS a
considerable amount in mental and physical healthcare in the short, long
and ultralong term.
Several World Health Organisation reports support this idea, from the
ones on pregnant mothers
and malnutrition to studies on babies and young children. I would guess
that the same result
applies to adults too.
People don't need to die and I feel this simple suggestion may be one
way to make sure that
doesn't happen.
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