Green Time TV

Can We Build a Healthy Future?

by Don Fitz

People across the globe are seeking ways to improve health – from breastfeeding to controlling genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food to redesigning health care. December Green Time episodes delve into some of these efforts in Missouri, the US and Denmark.

What is happening in St. Louis to promote and support breastfeeding mothers and babies? What are the resources for breastfeeding mothers in the St. Louis region, including the “St. Louis Breastfeeding Coalition” and “I AM: Breastfeeding?” In the first December Green Time, host Don Fitz and guests Erin O’Reilly of “La Leche League” and Denecia Billups of “Women, Infants and Children” discuss the increase of breastfeeding rates in St. Louis and businesses that support breastfeeding moms in the St. Louis region. They explore the development of a milk bank in St. Louis, laws protecting breastfeeding mothers and babies and the “Multicultural Breastfeeding Photo Project.”

What health dangers do crops with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) pose, both from the GMOs themselves and from pesticides that most are created to withstand? During the second December Green Time, host Don Fitz and guest Daniel Romano of GMO-Free Midwest look at the sinking stature of the industry which is caused largely by the distrust and hostility it has generated. They explore social and economic problems of GMOs, such as the impoverishment of farmers across the globe. “Authoritarian technic” is a term used to describe a technology which is inherently top-down and used to subjugate people. They discuss how the concept applies to GMOs.

Differences between health care in Denmark and the US could hardly be more stark. In the third December Green Time, host Don Fitz and guests Mimi Signor of Missourians for Single Payer and Dr. Johan Andersen, Department of Occupational Medicine, Aarhus University, Herning, Denmark (Visiting Professor at Washington University), discuss the connection between health care and the larger social welfare system in Denmark. The cost of Danish health care is much less than in the US and its citizens live longer.

How does it affect health care workers to have seriously ill patients talk about whether their families would have less financial distress if they died? The fourth December Greentime has host Don Fitz and guests Mimi Signor and Dr. Pamella Gronemeyer, a physician and small business owner, discussing “best practices” standards of care and how private insurance impacts professional ethics.

Why does health care cost so much more in the US than in other industrialized countries? During the final December Green Time show, host Don Fitz and guests Mimi Signor and Dr. Pamella Gronemeyer discuss allocation of health care resources according to people’s insurance status. Americans who want health insurance are often unable to get it, or else they can have it and lose it.

December shows include the movies Greening the Revolution and Fix It.

Green Time appears at noon on Saturdays in St. Louis on Channel 24-1 and at 8 pm on Mondays in St. Louis on Channel 24-2, Springfield on Channel 39, Joplin on Channel 36 and Marshfield on Channel 17. Green Time programs air on these dates:

• December 3 & 5: “Breastfeeding for All in St. Louis,”
• December 10 & 12: “Biotech Consolidation: An Industry in Decline,”
• December 17 & 19: “Socialized Medicine in Denmark.”
• December 24 & 26: “Broken System: Effects on Health Care Workers.”
• December 31 & January 2: “Broken Health Care: Patients and Families.”

“Like” Gateway Greens on Facebook and click “Get notifications.” Also see Green Time on greentime.tv. To help produce Green Time TV call 314-727-8554 or email [email protected]

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