DEMOCRATIZING WELLNESS Healthy is the new wealthy, but the two are far from mutually exclusive. From clothing to food to hobby trends–
wellness is something to aspire to and is correlated to status. Whether it is sporting the newest athleisure brand,
trying the new diet fad that is organic, vegan, free of toxins, and packed with micro and macro nutrients, or paying upwards of $30 per workout class–being healthy is
elite. According to the Global Wellness Institute, wellness expenditures ($4.2 trillion) are now more than half as large
as total global health expenditures ($7.3 trillion), and businesses are catching on. They have capitalized off of
early trends, and the wellness industry has grown about 13% in a short two years from 2015-2017.
If you are familiar with basic economic principles and the rules of supply and demand, the increased popularity surrounding healthy foods sent prices flying high for
everyone involved, thus making them more exclusive. The issue with this is that access to healthy food should be a
basic right. Instead, it is cheaper to get a full meal from a
fast food stop than to have fresh vegetables at dinner. There is no shortage of food in the United States. 50% of produce is thrown away each year–that’s about 60 million tons (or
$160 billion) (The Atlantic). Yet 13% of the country’s
population lives in a food insecure household, meaning that
they do not have full access or ability to purchase healthy
foods. This leads to a large population experiencing malnutrition–whether that means hunger or obesity, it impacts more than just those directly involved.
Art by Sadie Paczosa
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