Is the USDA Governing Our Taste Buds?

David Katz, M.D.
Huffington Post

The New York Times has done a fine job pointing out the fishy thing about cheese: The same federal authorities charged with reducing its consumption to help fight the obesity epidemic, are directly involved in promoting its sales. In short, an entity called "Dairy Management" helped Domino's Pizza out of a slump by encouraging cheesier pies. Leaving aside questions about the need for an outside consultant to tell you people like cheese, the main issue is this: Dairy Management is a creation of, and accountable to, the USDA.

The very same USDA responsible for taking advice from a group of scientists, and turning it into the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. In fact, the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans are if anything overdue, and presumably imminent -- if not, they are destined to be the 2011 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Fans of Michael Pollan, who has long advocated for a food bill to replace our farm bill, and/or ofMarion Nestle, who spilled the beans on food politics long ago will likely find this matter no great surprise. But it clearly is of great concern that the pinnacle of public policy related to diet is directly involved in selling pizza.

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Leaked trade agreements and hidden dangers of S 510: Corporations plan to end normal farming

S. 510

M. Gardner
Food Freedom

Canada’s National Farmers Union wants the Canada-EU trade deal scrapped. US farmers face the same assault by agribusiness and the biotech industry under S 510.

Epoch Times noted: “Under provisions in CETA [Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement], using saved seed could result in a farmer’s land, equipment, and crops being seized for alleged infringement of intellectual property rights attached to plant varieties owned by corporations such as Monsanto, Dow, Syngenta, and Bayer.

“It includes the freezing of bank accounts too, so you couldn’t even defend yourself in court. And this is for alleged infringement,” says NFU president Terry Boehm . . . .

These are the most draconian measures possible and they would literally create a culture of fear in the farm population where, I think, that ultimately farmers would end up buying seeds every year for every acre just to avoid prosecution or the threat of prosecution.

The biotech industry is facing exposure of the health dangers of GMO/pesticide dependent crops, of attacks on scientists (even armed ones), and GMOs’ poor crop performance across different crops, public outrage at no labeling of GMOs, media scorn at its humiliatingly poor science, and falling stock value. Is the industry now attempting an end run around all this, by trying to criminalize and thus end normal (organic) farming – its increasingly sought after, healthy, higher-performing competition?

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