Government
Government policy plays a key role in shaping our nation’s diet, eating patterns, and levels of physical activity. National and state regulations establish nutrition guidelines such as the Food Pyramid, and set policy on Food Stamps, the National School Lunch Program, and Head Start, among others. The food industry has undue influence on many of these federal programs, which are arguably flawed. Agriculture policy, such as the Farm Bill, has direct implications for food policy and obesity. The Rudd Center’s Roberta Friedman has prepared a synopsis of certain titles within the 2008 Farm Bill that address commodities, nutrition, research and organic agriculture.
Policy is needed to unite the many agencies involved in governing the United States’ food and nutrition landscape. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are among the numerous federal agencies overseeing the nation’s food supply. These agencies sometimes work at cross-purposes and, such as in the case of the USDA, there are clear conflicts of priorities within the agency itself. The USDA establishes national nutrition policy, but its more important aim is to help the agriculture industry be profitable by maximizing food sales.
The following are some examples of public policy changes that could be made in government to improve nutrition.
- Move nutrition policy and programs from the USDA to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The USDA is typically headed by someone from the food or agriculture industry and exists to promote the business of agriculture, which is to sell as much food as possible. This priority often conflicts with good health policy.
- Design agriculture policy (such as the Farm Bill) with health as a principal consideration.
- Change the fundamental economics of food. Create incentives that help consumers buy healthy food, instead of incentives that make the unhealthiest foods also the most affordable.