Barack Obama’s election, no doubt, gave new-found political power to young Americans. And now the youth have a chance to influence health care reform, the biggest issue of the day. They can make an impact not by putting pressure on insurance companies but by addressing the most fundamental cause of health problems in this country: our broken food system.

Big Midwestern farms, supported by government subsidies, produce huge amounts of grain and corn, which are then processed and distributed. These processed foods, since they tend to be higher in fat and refined carbohydrates, are the reason for the unacceptably high obesity rate among the youth.

Yet now we may be seeing an important shift. Students are emerging as leaders of the local food movement on their college campuses. Last week I spoke with four college students about locally-grown food, and they all hammered home a key point: Colleges, having to feed thousands of students each day, have tremendous influence to change the way we produce our food. The students I spoke with have succeeded in bringing locally-produced food into their schools’ dining halls. Locally-produced food has the dual advantage of bypassing food processors and increasing production of fruits and vegetables. That means a higher nutritional value of American diets and ultimately lower vulnerability to the illnesses responsible for the rise in health care costs. Just think: if we eat more healthfully, then we, as a nation, spend less on health care, enabling the government to finance its plan to extend coverage to the uninsured. 

I spoke to students from Williams College, in rural Massachusetts, and from the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. Their leadership reflects the reality that passionate young activists--not necessarily elected officials--may be the ones best positioned to confront American agribusiness. And for sure, those two schools have different surroundings. But both schools’ commitment to locally-grown food is evidence that this local food movement can take hold anywhere—in cities, in suburbs, and in rural areas.

Our take:

The biggest problem, as I can see from living in suburban Long Island, is complacency about our food security. Most people are unaware of where their food comes from, creating a disconnect between our agriculture system and our diets.

That’s why the idea of “community” is such an important agricultural value, as the Williams College Sustainable Food Program manager Lori van Handel, told me. What we need is a more personal connection to our food supply—a link that is a huge part of fighting obesity among the youth.