The Politics of Fat: People, Power and Food and Nutrition Policy: People, Power and Food and Nutrition Policy

by Sims,Laura S.

• ISBN13: 9780765601933
• ISBN10: 0765601931
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-11-30
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Politics pervades every link in the food chain from the farm to the fork. It influences what foods we eat, how much they cost, what we know about them, and how safe they are. This book brings the point home by focusing on the vexing issue of dietary fat content -- known to be a health menace but also an ingredient in many or most of our best-loved foods. Through this prism. Dr. Sims explores the politics of food assistance programs (with a case study of the National School Lunch program); agricultural policy (for example, the price premium paid to farmers for milk with high butterfat content); food content (with case studies of food labeling and the approval process for fat substitutes); and dietary change (with a case study of nutrition education programs). The book concludes with consideration of the costs and benefits of government intervention and nonintervention in food policy from the supply side to the demand side and its consequences for human health (and happiness).

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures	ix	(2)
Preface	xi	(2)
Acknowledgments	xiii
PART I. OVERVIEW AND APPROACH	1	(42)
Chapter 1. Dietary Fat as a Public Policy Issue	3	(19)
Chapter 2. Policy Making--The Art of Sausage Making	22	(21)
PART II. PUBLIC POLICY IN THE FOOD SYSTEM	43	(50)
Chapter 3. Public Policy and Bureaucracy in the Food System	45	(48)
Case Study 1. Reinventing School Lunch: Attempts to Transform a Food Policy into a Nutrition Policy	67	(26)
PART III. IMPLEMENTING PUBLIC POLICY IN THE FOOD SYSTEM	93	(164)
Chapter 4. The Production of Fat Down on the Farm: How Much Do Federal Agricultural Policies Really Matter?	99	(31)
For Further Consideration: The Tropical Oils "Wars"	127	(3)
Chapter 5. Government's Role in Food Processing: Regulating Fat as a Food Ingredient	130	(28)
Case Study 2. "Olestra": Regulatory Approval of the "Nonfat" Fat	135	(23)
Chapter 6. Government's Role in Food Marketing: Regulatory Approvals in the Food System	158	(55)
Case Study 3. Food Labeling Reform: Dismantling the "Tower of Babel"	179	(34)
Chapter 7. Government as a Provider of Dietary Advice	213	(44)
For Further Consideration: Commodity Promotion Programs	222	(7)
Case Study 4. Dietary Guidelines	229	(14)
Case Study 5. The Politics of the Pyramid	243	(14)
PART IV. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS	257	(18)
Chapter 8. The Politics of Fat: What Have We Learned and Where Should We Be Headed?	259	(16)
Notes	275	(24)
Selected Bibliography	299	(4)
Index	303