The United States of America has some of the poorest health in the world.
I was doing a little research into ecotourism (a subject it's turns out I knew NOTHING about) and found a list of the top 10 healthiest countries in the world. That lead to a look into how they are ranked and there is no list that is exactly the same. Bloomberg does a list comprised of birth rates, disease and cancer, weight, and many more factors and get like 3 different lists so ill go with this general list I found on health friend magazine, because it was simple! But I will add still included all the same countries.
10. Australia (far down on the list because of skin cancer rates)
9. Austria
8. Denmark
7. Italy (I was there 7 weeks and never saw butter!)
6. France
5. Germany
4. Switzerland
3. Iceland
2. Sweden (even with those yummy meatballs!)
1. Japan (has some of the oldest people in the worlds diets high in fish and seaweed and government mandated exercise)
A number of years ago there was a Michael J Fox special called the adventures of the incurable optimist. He visited a Himalayan nation named Bhutan where there is government mandated joy, have you ever heard of such! People there take daily walks because it increased endorphins that make them happier people, amazing.
What do we do? We have chili cook offs to raise money for colon cancer... How did we get colon cancer to begin with? Red meats and spicy foods. Things need to change here, we could take a lot from a simple look into Eco tourism.
I may have ranted a bit, but I think through our influence as Landscape Architects, we can help get the people of our nation making better decisions. What is it we do exactly? No one really knows, but one definition of a landscape architect is to look out for the health, safety and welfare of people, I feel we barely touch our most simplified definition of our profession. I honestly had a revelation today, I hope my revelation is something that will guide me through my career.
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