A Letter To Our Public Officials:

Every time I pick up a newspaper, the headline seems to be the same. Every time I turn on the television news, the story is the same. Every time I listen to my radio, the hosts are talking about the same thing.
Health care is on everybody’s mind right now. It is THE issue in the United States, and for good reasons. Providing everyone with the opportunity to live healthy lives is obviously as important as ensuring everyone equal rights and freedom of religion. But, I feel that with so much focus on the financial side of staying healthy we are ignoring the root of America’s problem. We cannot focus solely on healthcare. We also need to focus on “EATCARE.”
My heart breaks dozens of times a day and my blood boils an equal number of times.
Every time I see obese children I want to weep. I want to weep because I know it is not their fault. They don’t know enough about dieting and exercise to know why they are obese. I want to weep because I am aware that they will live a life plagued by health problems caused by their obesity – diabetes, breast and colon cancer, cardiovascular disease, gall bladder problems, high blood pressure. And I weep because I know that many of these obese children will not live long enough to see their grandchildren born. In fact, many of these obese children may not live long enough to see their own children grow into adults.
And every time I see these children my blood boils with anger. This is child abuse, plain and simple. The parents are killing their children by allowing them to get so obese. But recently my anger has spread to others besides the parents. It has spread to the drug dealers. No, not the type of drug dealers we see hocking cocaine and crack on corners in the low income areas. I’m talking about the drug dealers who sell the poison to America that is causing these obesity problems. I’m talking about the fast food restaurants. I’m talking about the soda companies. I’m talking about the food companies that fill their food with preservatives. I’m talking about the professional athletes who promote this garbage to the kids who look up to them, all in the name of the almighty dollar.
The obesity statistics are startling.
Those born between 1935 and 1955 were only five pounds heavier on average than the previous generation. Between 1955 and 1975, 10 pounds. Between 1975 and today, 80 – 100 pounds! If this trend keeps up, children born after 2015 will die between the ages of 23 and 35 from obesity-related diseases!
There are 58 million overweight Americans, 40 million obese and three million morbidly obese. Eight out of 10 Americans over the age of 25 are obese. In 1982, only 4 percent of American children were overweight. Today, almost one third of all American children are overweight. Look at the next school bus that drives by you. The majority of those children will die as young adults due to obesity-related problems.
If 58 million Americans were addicted to crack, surely this would be a front page issue! If one-third of all children were addicted to crack, surely this would be the major story on every television and radio news program! If eight out of 10 Americans were addicted to crack, surely the public would cry out for the government to do even more to eradicate the drug problem! When I moved to Tampa in 1975, there were maybe four fast food restaurants in the entire city. Today, there seems to be four on every corner! If we had four crack dealers on every corner, would the public put up with this?! NO! So why do we allow drugs dealers on every corner who are feeding our children to death? Why? Because of you, the public official! You are also a drug dealer because you allow these drugs to be sold in your community!
When the Sierra Club began to tell the nation why it was so important to save the trees, we listened, and for good reason – without trees our world would die. BUT, ask yourself, why do we worry more about trees than human beings? Why do we allow human beings to eat themselves to death, yet pass legislation to save bark and leaves? What is wrong with us? Why do we care so little about human health? If we continue to ignore the obesity problem plaguing our nation, we are going to have a nation of children to fat to climb trees!
I know what you are thinking, “What am I supposed to do? Ban fast food, soda and preservatives?” The answer is yes! Would it be a difficult process to wean our economy off this corrupt money? Of course. But there are always two roads we can take – the long and the short. The long road leads to sweat. The short road leads to blood. In America we always seem to take the short road and this country is bleeding to death because of it.
But I am a realist. I know that no government official has the guts to do what is right. So what can we do? How about Public Service Announcements (PSAs) on television and the radio and in newspapers warning people that fast food, soda and preservatives are killing them? We have PSAs on gun control, drunk driving, flu shots and more. Obesity is just as large a problem. We need to warn the public that the three most dangerous things in their home are their refrigerator, oven and kitchen table. America is eating itself to death!
I have been serving food in Tampa for over 30 years. I could sell food loaded in fat, sugar and preservatives – food that is cheaper for me to buy and prepare, thus turn a larger profit – but I chose the long road. I choose to sweat. I chose to serve healthy, freshly made food and earn less money. I love people and I see everyone who dines at my establishment as a friend. I don’t want to kill my friends.
Besides fresh and healthy food, I also sell aloe shakes. Yes, you read that correctly – aloe shakes. You can drink aloe and I believe that getting the word out of the benefits of drinking aloe is step two to eradicating America’s obesity problem.
Aloe improves your immune system and circulation. It’s natural insulin. It’s a natural enzyme, which cleans your body. It’s also a natural anti-inflammatory, which helps your body drain all the mucus from your system. It’s the best Vitamin E and C you can put in your body. Most importantly, it is internal soap. It cleans and detoxes your body and makes you use your small intestine. It digests all that unused food sitting in your body, which gives you more energy and helps you lose weight. If digested food is not turned into energy, it should be released from your body. Unfortunately, most Americans cannot release this food and it then turns into fat. And, if you eat the poisonous food that is corrupting America, now you are not only storing more fat, but also storing poison. This poison will lead to illness down the line. People who drink aloe regularly don’t store food or poison and don’t gain more fat. People who drink aloe AND eat right live long and healthy lives.
I am not a doctor. I don’t have thesis-sized medical studies to back up my points. But, I have eyes. For over 30 years I have seen my way of life change others’ lives for the better. I have seen men and women who eat right and drink aloe lose over 100 pounds in a few months. I have seen people cured of high blood pressure. I have seen diabetics taken off their insulin. If you don’t believe me, I welcome you to come to my establishment – Cephas Hot Shop, 1704 E. Fourth Avenue – and talk to my regulars. They will tell you their stories. They will tell you how their lives have gotten better since they began drinking aloe and since I got them off the drugs that these food companies sell.
Sure, some people will say I am writing this letter to increase my own business. But those who know me know better. I am not a businessman. I am a public servant. I believe in God and believe we all have a duty to serve our fellow man. You do not have to buy food from me or buy aloe from me. BUT, I do want you to buy it. I want people to better their diets and better their lives. I want people to live long enough to see their GREAT grandchildren born. I want to live in a world in which sadness does not overcome me when I look at children and anger does not boil over within me when I look at parents. I want to live in a world in which the drug dealers, the companies serving poison food to our people, are punished for their crimes.
You, as a public servant, have the ability to do something. Please, stop sitting by and allowing your constituents to eat themselves to death. You are charged with protecting your constituents. Do it. Do what is right.
I mean no disrespect to you. I do not believe you are purposely allowing your constituents to eat themselves to death. I believe you are allowing it because you have grown up in a world in which these things – preservatives, fatty foods, fast food, etc. – seem like a normal part of life. I hope that my letter opened your eyes and you will now see the world clearly and see that we are at war. I am not talking about our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I am talking about the war on obesity. It is a war being fought right here in our own country. And it is a war in which no one needs to die. If we win this war, everyone lives longer and healthier lives.
Visit my websites for more information on proper diet and the benefits of aloe - www.cephashotshop.com and www.aloeveraforhealth.com.

Your constituent,
Cephas Gilbert

 Reply from the office of Governor Crist:

FamilyHealthServices@doh.state.fl.us 
show details Apr 13
Dear Mr. Gilbert:

Thank you for your email to Governor Crist regarding childhood obesity. Your email was forwarded to the Department of Health, Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion for response. A major goal of the Bureau is to improve individual and community health by preventing and reducing the impact of chronic diseases and disabling conditions. We appreciate your dedication and interest towards combating childhood obesity; however, the department can not endorse or promote any program that is not evidence-based.

Until recently, the Department of Health worked under a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to implement an Obesity Prevention Program in the state of Florida. This program was challenged to promote environmental and policy changes that positively impacted lifelong physical activity, healthy nutrition, breastfeeding, and a reduction in screen time for both adults and youth. Although the funding for this program is no longer available, the department still promotes obesity prevention programs with nationally-recognized research results documenting their effectiveness
(evidence based). The Florida Department of Health specifically promotes worksite wellness, physical activity promotion and nutrition education.

Again, thank you for sharing this information and we wish you well in your endeavor. The Department of Health remains committed to promoting the health and safety of all Florida citizens.

Sincerely,
Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion