Course Goals, Introduction and Chapter One: From "Eat More" to "Eat Less," 1900-1990

COURSE GOALS

The most important thing I hope to gain from this class is confidence when approaching politics and policy situations. Right now it seems to me that everything involving politics is extremely convoluted and hard to follow, and involves laundry lists of organizations, committees, and law names. I would like to be able to follow the structure and organization of the policy process.
Professionally, I don't intend at the moment to become a policy activist. I do, however, intend to become involved in health care--a position in which I will often make use of nutritional policy. I hope that this class will help me look past the political bias of a policy, and make recommendations to my patients based on their best interests. For example, I would explain to my patients that strict following of the food guide pyramid is not the only road to nutritional health. Personally, I'm a vegetarian, and very close to vegan, and I have never had any nutritional deficiencies. The recommendation of three servings of dairy per day, while an acceptable way to get all the calcium one requires, is not the only way.

INTRO AND CHAPTER ONE

I’m not sure how to summarize my thoughts on Food Politics without an overdramatic rant. My take-home message from the first two chapters was that everything really is about money, and that the USDA is in place to protect the American economy as much the state of American nutrition. Because of the shackles that corporations have on the nutritional policymaking process, I think America is a very hard place to have a healthy relationship with food. The cycle of villianizing and glorifying single nutrients unfailingly leads to fad diets, which have been proven ineffective, and even detrimental to weight control and overall health. The USDA stresses personal responsibility in food choices, while at the same time creating policy that allows corporations to create a toxic environment for the American consumer. Remaining healthful in this environment feels a lot like swimming upstream, and once one responsible decision is made, there is always another temptation to follow.
Reading Food Politics reminded me of the 2005 change from the USDA Food Pyramid to the MyPyramid. This change, which I used to assume was for the betterment of American nutrition, now seems to embody the very things I dislike about USDA policy. First, the change from the pyramid scheme to the less suggestive triangular pie chart, seems to put all of the food groups on a more equal level. This removes some of the visual reinforcement of the idea that grains, fruits, and vegetables should form the base of the American diet. I now have little doubt that the meat industry influenced this, as an attempt to decrease the current stigma of meat products. Also, the “My” in MyPyramid stresses the idea personal responsibility, and suggests that a failure to maintain your nutritional health is your fault entirely. Overall, I’m feeling more than a little bit disillusioned when it comes to government motivations and support for my health, but better equipped to see through it all, and decide which guidelines work for me.