Lathe Poland: "The healthcare system doesn’t benefit from our being healthy."

Welcome to another installment of “10 Words or Less,” in which I ask brief questions of interesting people and request brief answers from them in return. Today’s participant is the co-producer, co-director, and writer of “Carb Loaded: A Culture Dying to Eat,”  a film that came out Oct. 1. We spoke on Oct. 3, and you can find a video version of our conversation here. Please remember: “10 words” is an intention, not a limit, so please, no counting. If you think it’s easy, let’s see you do it.

Lathe Poland, co-creator  of "Carb Loaded."Name Lathe Poland
Born when, where Carson City Nev., winter 1973
Where do yo live now? Fairfield County, Conn.
Occupation Filmmaker
Family composition "Married 17 years with amazing wife, just the two of us."
An early formative experience “Learning [in junior high school] that food could trigger migraines for me had a pretty big impact on my view on nutrition.”
Your first paying job “You’re going to love this one. I dotted chocolates at a chocolate factory [pause] which actually connects to the previous answer I gave you."
Wisdom you retain from that experience "Find work that you actually love to do."

Favorite book "The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov"
Favorite meal "A gorgeous grass-fed rib-eye steak with broccoli."
Do you eat fast food? “No."
A supporter outside your family whom you’re proud to have? “My business partner, Eric Carlsen."
A filmmaker who inspires you "Steven Soderbergh"
Why him? “He isn’t restricted by rules, and so he’s willing to go out on a limb and try new things.”
An inconvenient truth "The healthcare system doesn’t benefit from our being healthy."
Two things most people think are unconnected, but aren’t. "Diet and health."
When I say “sustainability,” you say… “Forethought."
Sustainability as an issue: Planetary or personal? "Personal. It starts with ourselves."
What sustains you? "My marriage."
An impediment to change "Our own comfort. When things work alright for us, and we’ve always done it that way, that can make us think that’s the way it should be."
A question I should have asked you? "What was it like to finance through Kickstarter?"
And the answer? "Amazing. It was a great opportunity to immediately meet your audience before you have a film to show them."
The one thing you wish everyone would just get right “Doctors are not responsible for our own individual health."
If they’re not, who is? "We are responsible for our own health. We often relegate our health and the symptoms of issues that we have to someone else, before considering that we might have to be our own advocate."


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