Below is an excerpt from a post I wrote for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Commission to Build a Healthier America Leadership Blog. To read the full post, click here.

The type of community we live in clearly has a tremendous impact on our health. That is why I am so excited and inspired to be a part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Commission to Build a Healthier America. By shining a light on the way our economic, social, and physical environments affect our health, the commission is helping to expand our national discussion on health beyond just health care.

Those key environmental effects are never more clear than in the neighborhoods loaded with unhealthier food options. In an era when we are acutely aware of the effect of our diets on our overall health, we are leaving millions of Americans adrift in neighborhoods where healthy eating is next to impossible. For many people, food “choices” are really nothing of the sort. People must first have a broad and healthy set of food options in order to be able to make healthy choices.

To learn more about the Commission and its mission, visit www.CommissionOnHealth.org