What’s Up With the USDA?

About a year ago, Sonny Perdue became the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and boss of an agency with a $140 billion yearly budget. Among many other matters, the Dept. of Agriculture runs the country’s nutrition safety net, in the form of 15 assistance programs including SNAP (aka food stamps); school breakfasts and lunches; and WIC, which feeds women, infants, and children.

Previously, Perdue spent eight years as governor of Georgia. He has also filled other posts, like board member for the National Grain & Feed Association, and president of both the Georgia Feed and Grain Association and the Southeastern Feed and Grain Association — all of which constitute what are politely called “close industry ties,” the kind that almost inevitably lead to conflicts of interest.

While serving as governor, he did not divest from four farm-related family businesses, refused to put them in a blind trust, and even continued to help run them. During his occupancy of Georgia’s highest office, over a dozen official ethics complaints were filed against him, and he was actually fined by the State Ethics Commission.

Perdue retaliated by firing the head of the Commission, who had served under four governors. Then Perdue went on to get a special law passed, just for him, to reduce his own state tax bill by $100,000, and got all the fine money back plus considerably more.

When he was appointed by the president to the cabinet post, his confirmation was delayed by the federal Office of Government Ethics, but eventually went through. As newly appointed Ag Sec, Perdue told the press:

If kids aren’t eating the food, and it’s ending up in the trash, they aren’t getting any nutrition — thus undermining the intent of the program… A perfect example is in the south, where the schools want to serve grits. But the whole grain variety has little black flakes in it, and the kids won’t eat it. The school is compliant with the whole grain requirements, but no one is eating the grits. That doesn’t make any sense.

It’s hard to argue with such an assertion, and right out of the gate, Perdue announced that school lunch rules would have “greater flexibility” which basically meant undoing the Michelle Obama-inspired menu changes by restoring to local control the guidelines concerning salt, milk, and whole grains.

Meanwhile, the headline in another publication read, “Sonny Perdue changes school lunch rules, but says Obama standards for milk, grains remain.” Well, which is it?

Basically both, through the miracle of time extensions, which means in practical terms that some things will never happen. Cornell policy expert David Pelletier is quoted as saying:

He is not changing the standards per se, but he is allowing schools to not follow them. It’s a bit like saying the posted speed limits on the roads remain the same, but you can go as fast as you want.

In reaction, Rachna Govani of Foodstand published a letter reminding readers that for many kids, school lunch might be the only meal they get all day, so it needs to be nutritious. She warned that the deficit of whole grains and the excessive salt in the American diet are two causes of cardiovascular disease, and noted that a bad diet greatly outweighs the ability of any exercise to compensate for it. She says:

Yet physical activity has been used by big food, big soda and now Perdue as a red herring. His message about exercise promotion mirrors the debunked propaganda big soda promoted.

Govani refers to the sugar-sweetened beverage industry’s doctrine of personal responsibility, which claims that people who consume its products only get fat because they do not perform enough exercise to negate the calories. A big fan of the Coca-Cola Company, Perdue has accepted tens of thousands of dollars worth of its contributions, which could indicate that favors are owed in return.

Perdue’s ongoing task is reorganizing the USDA to concentrate on production and trade, while reducing food safety measures and giving scant attention to areas like rural development. All his policies favor agribusiness over family farms. He was responsible for the universally hated “Harvest Box” idea to replace SNAP’s current method of allowing people to choose their own food.

At one point he visited an elementary school lunchroom to announce his new regime, and created what might be his finest media moment. Perdue told the kids, “I wouldn’t be as big as I am today without chocolate milk.” Since no one would regard his bulky physique as that of a role model, in some quarters this was regarded as shocking.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Ethics Questions Dogged Agriculture Nominee as Georgia Governor,” NYTimes.com, 03/08/17
Source: “Sonny Perdue changes school lunch rules, but says Obama standards for milk, grains remain,” PolitiFact.com, 05/04/17
Source: “School lunches could lose nutritional value,” USAToday.com, 05/15/17
Source: “Sonny Perdue remakes USDA in Trump’s image,” FarmFutures.com, 03/16/18
Source: “Ag Secretary Perdue Moves to Make School Meals Great Again,” USDA.gov, 05/01/17
Photo credit: USDAgov on Visualhunt/CC BY

Scotland’s Ambition Leads U.K.

Scotland is part of the United Kingdom, but engages in a great deal of self-governance. Although the country boasts many hardy athletes, people don’t seem to pursue very much physical exertion. The weather is often vile, and many Scots enjoy sedentary indoor pursuits.

The national diet is notorious for sugar, salt and fat. And historically, according to Dr. Marisa Wilson of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland’s relationship with sugar has been “intense.”

The level of economic deprivation is high, which generally implies more exposure to fast food takeout joints, and less availability of healthful fresh produce. Journalist Vicky Allan writes:

Even today sugar-intake among children is higher amongst those in deprived areas. A 2008 study in Scotland found children in the most deprived areas of society ate 12 per cent more sugar than those in the least…

As previously mentioned, the Westminster Food and Nutrition Forum conference in April brought participants from all over the United Kingdom to discuss policy. Heather Peace, of Food Standards Scotland (FSS), divulged that her country’s obesity plan would hopefully include some healthy regulation of how supermarkets sell processed foods.

The group is very unhappy with in-store promotions that emphasize sugar- and salt-laden products. Professor Leigh Sparks, who authored a major FSS report, joins other academics in throwing shade on the industry’s half-hearted self-policing efforts. Apparently, while stores may go a little farther toward promoting healthful options, their good faith is called into question when promotion for unhealthful products still predominates.

The Scottish Grocers’ Federation points to the government-supported Healthy Living Programme in which more than 200 retail outlets participate. But the anti-obesity forces are not impressed by the examples of self-regulation they have seen so far, and, strangely, the Scottish Retail Consortium (the industry mouthpiece) agrees.

Spokesperson Ewan MacDonald-Russell told the press:

Any measures on pricing and promotions will have to be done through regulation or legislation; it’s not feasible, or legal, to ask retailers to voluntarily take collective measures in this area.

Scotland is aware that it has a serious obesity problem, and that education has not been effective. Vicky Allan consulted experts who see the need for a change in the food supply or “food culture,” and wrote:

By and large, it’s considered that since sugary drinks offer no nutritional value they represent a straightforward, fairly uncontroversial target. Where there is controversy however, is over whether they will result in any significant reduction in obesity, and whether, even, sugar really is the problem.

Of course the current trend is to absolve fat, especially since the discovery that, several decades ago, crooked science let sugar off the hook as the main obesity villain. But some experts still believe that sugar is unjustly demonized. Some do not even acknowledge any link between sugar and diabetes.

One quoted viewpoint is from the University of Glasgow’s Professor Mike Lean:

The problem linking sugar and overeating is not the sugar itself, or the calories in the sugar specifically, but the relentless exposure to extreme sweetness, which alters taste perceptions and leads to people to choose more sweet snacks between meals.

Many Scots are concerned that leaving the European Union will, because of different rules and new trade agreements, lead to the replacement of sugar with high fructose corn syrup, which is even worse. Meanwhile, Food Standards Scotland would like to see a reduction of portion sizes, and more extensive calorie information on menus.

There is also talk of extending the soda tax to cover sugary food products, without waiting for Great Britain to take the lead. Allan writes:

Some believe that the UK’s adoption of such a tax could be a tipping point, the start of a wave that spreads across the world, in the same way that the smoking ban did…

And Scotland could be the trim tab that affects the rudder that turns the ship.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Can a sugar tax help save us from obesity?,” HeraldScotland.com, 04/08/17
Source: “UK sugar debate becoming more measured,” Just-food.com, 05/01/17
Source: “Scottish food watchdog wants ‘revolution’ on food sales,” BBC.com, 06/16/17
Photo via Visualhunt