Web Links
American Heart Association
http://www.americanheart.org/
presenter.jhtml?identifier=3026054
The American Heart Association presents information on the link between poverty and poor diet. In a article entitled “People on food stamps can’t afford heart-healthy meals,” the AHA discusses the limited effectiveness of food stamps in encouraging positive eating habits and examines the difficulty of low-income individuals to access quality, healthy foods.
American Obesity Association
http://obesity1.tempdomainname.com/
treatment/cost.shtml
This website, maintained by the American Obesity Association, exposes the costs of obesity to society. According to this summary, the World Bank has estimated the cost of obesity in the United States at 12% of the total national health care expenditure. The web site also offers a breakdown of the costs of obesity by individual health consequences and complications.
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee
This newsletter by the BlueCross BlueShield division of Tennessee cites a recent study which found that obesity increases health care costs more than smoking does. According to a Rand Corporation study, the costs for treating chronic conditions associated with obesity are $395 – far surpassing the costs of conditions associated with smoking ($230), drinking ($150), or aging 20 years ($225). According to the article on the web site, increased doctor visits, prescription drug usage, hospitalization, and surgeries all contribute to the higher costs.
Center for Food and Justice
http://departments.oxy.edu/uepi/publications/the_persistence_of.htm
The Center for Food and Justice presents this article, entitled, “The Persistence of LA’s grocery gap: The need for a new food policy and approach to market development.” The web site discusses the importance of supermarkets on health and diet and explains why supermarkets tend not to locate in low-income communities and, consequently, effect poorer health and diet in such areas.
Community Food Security Coalition
The Community Food Security Coalition is a non-profit organization committed to promoting local and sustainable food economies accessible and affordable to all.
Economic Research Service
The Economic Research Service provides information on a wide range of topics including food security, food trade, and tax policies.
Environmental Working Group
The Environmental Working Group is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to "using the power of information to protect human health and the environment." Their group of scientists, engineers, policy experts, and computer programmers review government documents, research studies, legal documents, and their own research to identify health and environmental threats and propose solutions.
Farm Service Agency Online
The Farm Service Agency is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Its mission is to: stabilize farm income, help farmers conserve land and water resources, provide credit to new or disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, and help farm operators recover from the effects of disaster.
Food and Agriculture Organization
The FAO is an agency within the United Nations with the aim of defeating hunger in both developing and developed countries. The FAO provides a forum for debate and negotiation of food policy and supplies information and statistics about agriculture worldwide. From the main page there is a section entitled “Economics, Nutrition, Food Safety and Statistics.”
Food First: Institute for Food and Development Policy
Food First researches the root causes of hunger and dispenses this information to scholars, activists, and the public
Health, Science & Environment
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/03340/248128.stm
On its web site, Health, Science & Environment documents the World Health Organization’s proposal that nations consider taxing junk foods to encourage people to make healthier food choices. According to the WHO report, several countries use fiscal measures to promote availability of and access to certain foods; others use taxes to increase or decrease consumption of food; and some use public funds and subsidies to promote access among poor communities to recreational and sporting facilities.
National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity
http://www.medialiteracy.net/pdfs/wallet-waistline.pdf#search='from%20wallet%20to%20waistline
The National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity presents this article, entitled “From Wallet to Waistline: The Hidden Costs of Super Sizing,” to show the nutritional costs of fast food “bargains.” This website offers a look at the financial and caloric costs of upgrading to larger portion sizes of single-serve foods at fast-food restaurants, convenience stores, and other retail food establishments, showing how value marketing profits the food industry while exacerbating the obesity epidemic in this country.
National Center for Policy Analysis
The National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization whose mission is to develop and promote private alternatives to government regulation and control and solve problems by relying on the private sector. One of the topics they cover is farm subsidies.
Nutrition Assistance Programs
http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/default.htm
This site provides a comprehensive list of national nutrition assistance programs including the Food Stamp Program, Women, Infants and Children, and the National School Lunch Program.
Obesity is Tax Deductible
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/04/02/health/main505183.shtml
The IRS has announced that the cost of weight-loss programs is tax deductible if used to treat obesity.
The Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington
http://depts.washington.edu/uwcphn/
The Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington works with members of the government, academic and public realms to promote partnerships in communities and further public health initiatives with a focus on obesity prevention and treatment.
The Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics
http://www.cfare.org/index.shtml
The Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics is a non-profit organization that seeks to involve agricultural economists in public and private decisions regarding agricultural, environmental and other issues pertinent food.
USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2004-12-01-obesity-edit_x.htm
This editorial piece in USAToday.com summarizes a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which alerted the public to an additional cost of obesity: airline debts. The author pushes for reconsideration of the so-called “twinkie tax” in order to curb rising airline costs, as passengers’ weight gain in the previous decade has caused airlines to spend an estimated additional $275 million to burn an extra 350 million gallons of fuel.
U.S. Department of Agriculture
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome
The USDA website has a section on Marketing and Trade that covers a great deal about agriculture trade policy, economics, etc. Statistics are available on a number of issues pertaining to agriculture and policy.
U.S. Food Policy (blog)
http://usfoodpolicy.blogspot.com/
The U.S. Food Policy website is a blog that discusses “U.S. food policy and economics from a public interest perspective.” The site also provides links to other relevant sites and blogs.