You are what you eat.

The Green Party has long tried to draw attention to the link between the environment and health. In the last election campaign here in Newmarket-Aurora, we even used this as our slogan by accepting the mantle of “single issue party.” Yes, we said, our single issue was health.

The link should come as no surprise. After all, we are what we eat, drink and breathe.

But we also contend that ill health results from a number of other factors which are high on the Green Party policy agenda. Poverty, urban sprawl, lack of exercise, a car dependent society, lack of public transit, improper labelling laws are all contributing factors.

Sometimes it’s hard to explain why spending on public transit, or a new urban planning policy to encourage walkable neighbourhoods with all the services one needs daily, would be actually be an investment in preventative health care.  But the links are all there if you look.

I think that this report from Global News, about a new study listing certain low income neighbourhoods in Toronto which have high rates of diabetes, makes the point quite clearly.