Food is the cheapest it’s ever been – and we’re getting exactly what we paid for, said Chef Michael Smith.

Not only that, it’s killing us.

“In North America – and only in North America – we have the highest recorded rates in history of dietary-related diseases: diseases of the heart, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and a whole suite of diseases that are known around the world as the ‘western diseases’,” he said. He made special mention of diabetes and its sharp rise in the last 10-15 years, especially in children.

Chef Smith visited the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre in October 14 to talk about making healthier choices and buying locally-grown food. Perhaps best known from his TV shows on the Food Network and his cookbooks, Chef Smith is also the National Sustainability Advocate for Sodexo, which operates Food Services at the Health Sciences Centre including inpatient meals and the cafeteria.

During his presentation, Chef Smith stressed how something as simple as supporting local farmers is not just good for them, it is a healthier choice for us.

“We have lost our true connection with food, and it’s harming us,” he said.

There are many reasons for that, including an unrealistic view of what good food is.

“We have this expectation of consistency that is killing Canadian farmers,” Chef Smith said. “We have this idea that every tomato has got to be exactly like the one next to it. Where did that come from?”

Another big part of the problem is what Chef Smith calls “Big Food Inc.” – the corporations who manufacture our processed food diet.

“North America is producing twice as many calories as we need to survive,” he said. “We’ve got more salt than ever before in our food, more sugar, more refined starches – all of the things that we are not designed to eat. This is what’s making us sick.” “I’m not absolving you of responsibility, but I’m helping you understand that there is an enormous industry that does not have your best interests at heart. It’s aligned against us,” he said.

The facts are sobering: we are spending twice as much money on healthcare than on food, compared to the rest of the world where those numbers are flipped. In other words, if we spend more on our food today – and that means supporting the local farmer – we’ll be healthier and therefore spend less on our own healthcare tomorrow.

“We’re making ourselves sick,” he said. “It’s not our healthcare system being under-funded… our healthcare system is better funded than it’s ever been before. We’re making choices that are way, way overburdening our system.”

An easy way to make healthier choices is to buy local food where possible because it is fresher and is less processed.

“Without question, there’s a huge, huge interest in local food across Canada,” he said. “It’s beyond trend, it’s beyond fad – it’s the new norm and it’s not going anywhere.”

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