It has always been the role of government to help solve problems

In a time when abundance has turned to excess and prosperity to peril, Richard J. Codey spoke with the voice of one who remembers the ancient duty of leadership: “It has always been the role of government to help solve problems, including and especially health crises. Obesity is a health epidemic across our country, and we have a responsibility as a government and a society to do all we can to promote good nutrition and healthy eating so we can reverse this alarming trend.” These words, though forged in the language of policy, bear the weight of moral conviction. They remind us that the governance of a people is not merely the making of laws, but the tending of life itself—the care of bodies, minds, and futures.

The origin of this saying lies in Codey’s service as both governor and advocate for public health. He spoke these words at a time when obesity—once a private concern—had grown into a national emergency, threatening millions with illness, despair, and early death. His declaration was not one of control but of compassion: a call for leaders to act as guardians, not merely administrators. In the ancient world, such responsibility was sacred. The rulers who failed to protect their people’s well-being were not seen as weak—they were seen as faithless to their purpose. For the health of the people has always been the foundation of the state, and a sick nation cannot long endure.

The ancients, too, knew that the welfare of the body mirrors the welfare of the soul. In Rome, the emperors built public baths not for luxury, but for the cleansing of their citizens. In Athens, the city fathers established gymnasia where exercise and philosophy walked hand in hand. Even the pharaohs of Egypt set aside granaries to protect their people from famine, understanding that the ruler’s first duty was not conquest, but preservation. Thus, when Codey declares that the role of government includes solving health crises, he speaks a truth as old as civilization itself—that governance without compassion is tyranny, and freedom without health is only a shadow of life.

When he warns of the epidemic of obesity, he speaks not only of flesh but of spirit. For this disease of the modern world is not born of gluttony alone, but of disconnection—from nature, from discipline, from one another. We live in an age where food is abundant but nourishment is scarce, where speed replaces patience, and artificial plenty conceals a slow decay. Codey’s call is therefore a call to awaken—a reminder that the crisis is not merely medical, but cultural. To heal the body of the nation, one must also heal its habits, its industries, and its values.

Consider the story of Japan, a nation that once faced its own battle with modern excess. In the late 20th century, as Western habits spread, the government launched a movement known as “Shokuiku”—the “education of eating.” Schools began teaching children not only what to eat, but why: the importance of balance, of gratitude, of sharing meals together. Through education and community effort, Japan reversed its rising obesity trend, reminding the world that health is not enforced by law, but nurtured through wisdom and culture. Their success embodies the spirit of Codey’s message—that government and society must work as partners, not adversaries, in the pursuit of well-being.

His words also remind us that responsibility does not rest solely in the hands of rulers. The society he speaks of includes every family, every school, every citizen who chooses what to plant, what to cook, what to teach their children. For the state may set the path, but it is the people who must walk it. Each meal becomes an act of citizenship; each choice of nourishment, a vote for the future. The promotion of good nutrition is not an act of restriction, but of liberation—from the fatigue and illness that dim the spirit and shorten the flame of life.

Thus, the lesson of Richard J. Codey’s words is this: that the care of health is the care of civilization itself. No empire can stand upon a foundation of sickness, no society can prosper when its people suffer quietly beneath the weight of neglect. To govern wisely is to see the human body as sacred ground, deserving of cultivation and protection. And to live wisely is to honor that same truth within oneself.

So let this be the teaching passed forward: Eat with awareness. Govern with compassion. Live with balance. For a nation that feeds its people well—body, mind, and soul—creates citizens strong enough to sustain its future. And when leaders and people labor together in the pursuit of health, they fulfill the oldest and noblest of human callings: to preserve the gift of life, and to make it flourish in all its strength and beauty.