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3
Food and Agriculture
T
wo panel presentations aimed to identify and to engender dialogue
among seemingly disparate organizations that may have common
ground related to addressing the calorie imbalance issue that is at
the heart of the obesity epidemic. Speakers for the two panels were cho-
sen based on their representation of movements and/or organizations that
the planning committee believed to have potential common ground with
organizations interested in obesity prevention. Tom Robinson, moderator
of the two panels, informed the audience that it was not necessary for all
stakeholders to adopt or believe in every objective of each organization
represented on the panels, but he encouraged participants to keep an open
mind as potential common ground was explored.
In the first of the two panel presentations, summarized in this chapter,
six speakers discussed how a wide variety of programs focused on food
and agriculture issues could help prevent childhood obesity (the second
panel presentation, on physical activity and the built environment, is sum-
marized in Chapter 4). In some cases, such as gardening or farm-to-school
programs, the connection is fairly direct. For other programs, such as those
focused on climate change or animal welfare, the connection is less direct
but can still be powerful.
OBESITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) does not work on any
projects focused directly on obesity. Nonetheless, most of its projects have
a strong link to obesity, according to EWG senior scientist Olga Naidenko,
11
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12 ALLIANCES FOR OBESITY PREVENTION
because she believes they are designed to motivate people to take steps that
will incidentally help support weight management. Naidenko described a
number of EWG projects and how they may have common ground with
obesity prevention.
For more than a decade, EWG has investigated the types of agriculture
and food products that farm subsidies support. Most of these subsidies
go not to small family farms but to large agribusinesses, said Naidenko.
Furthermore, according to an analysis done by the Physicians Committee
for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), most of this government aid supports
meat and dairy production, with less than 1 percent going to the produc-
tion of fruits and vegetables (PCRM, 2011). “If you want those fruits and
vegetables to be on plates and to be affordable, we might need to change
our subsidy patterns,” said Naidenko. This is a finding that also interests
fiscal conservatives, she added, who think the government should not be
supporting large agribusinesses when average Americans are struggling to
pay their bills.
EWG has undertaken many projects in environmental health, includ-
ing projects related to the use of synthetic chemicals in food. Establishing a
health link between trace amounts of pesticides or food packaging chemi-
cals and adverse health effects is much more difficult than establishing a
link between the fat content of food and obesity, Naidenko acknowledged.
But some groups of people care deeply about food chemicals and are natu-
ral allies in efforts to improve the nutritional value of food.
Climate change also has a relationship to obesity because the produc-
tion of some protein sources produces more carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gases than the production of others (Hamerschlag, 2011). Com-
bining the issues of food, health, and climate has resonated strongly with a
number of audiences, Naidenko observed.
Currently, EWG’s major concern is the upcoming renewal of the Farm
Bill,1 which authorizes the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Sup-
plemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)2 (formerly known as the
Food Stamp Program), agricultural subsidies, protection of water quality
from agricultural runoff, and many other major programs. EWG is recruit-
ing not only people interested in food but also fiscal conservatives to engage
in Farm Bill politics. The goal, said Naidenko, is to turn the Farm Bill into
the Food Bill. Naidenko believes that this and other channels she mentioned
represent an opportunity for the environmental movement to work toward
a social attitude and policies that accord well with obesity prevention.
1 For more information on the Farm Bill, see http://www.usda.gov/farmbill.
2 For more information on SNAP, see http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/.
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
THE ANIMAL CONNECTION
America is a nation of animal lovers, observed Michael Greger, director
of public health and animal agriculture at the Humane Society of the United
States.3 Seventy million people are active wildlife watchers, and Americans
own 160 million dogs and cats. This bond between animals and people can
be a powerful force for fighting obesity in the United States, Greger said.
An obvious example is dog walking. Cross-sectional data suggest that
dog walking is associated with meeting physical activity guidelines (Hoerster
et al., 2011). People feel a sense of obligation toward their dogs’ physical
and mental well-being, said Greger, which provides them with a sense of
purpose and motivation. Alluding to the concept of “stealth interventions”
(see Chapter 1), Greger noted, “This altruistic urge provides a kind of
stealth motivation to effect behavioral change.” Yet, one-third of dog own-
ers do not walk their dogs, so this can be a target for promoting physical
activity for tens of millions of people. In this way, Greger explained, a better
energy balance can be an unintended yet beneficial side effect of advocacy
for animal well-being.
The Meatless Monday campaign,4 a public health initiative aimed
at reducing the risk of chronic disease, including obesity, offers another
example of how a bond with animals can be linked to obesity prevention.
The latest ad for the campaign does not show someone lying on a gurney
with crushing chest pain. Rather, it shows mistreated farm animals. The
gaze of a crated sow biting the bars of her cage bloody after months of
confinement “may provide transcendent, emotionally charged motivation”
that may have long-lasting impact, said Greger.
In general, media attention to animal welfare has significant negative
effects on U.S. meat demand (Tonsor and Olynk, 2011), Greger observed.
For example, when the media covered the use of food from animals that
were too sick or injured to walk, the consumption of meat fell, and regu-
lations were passed to force farmers to take better care of their animals.
Furthermore, the consumption of all meat fell, not just the meat highlighted
in the story (Tonsor and Olynk, 2011; Wald, 2008). “Just as human health
concerns ended up furthering animal welfare goals, animal welfare concerns
can end up furthering human health by decreasing meat consumption,”
said Greger.
Exposure to images of the plight of farm animals also may affect the
eating habits of youth, Greger continued. For example, the National Pork
3 For more information on the Humane Society of the United States, see http://www.
humanesociety.org.
4 For more information on the Meatless Monday campaign, see http://www.meatless
monday.com/.
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14 ALLIANCES FOR OBESITY PREVENTION
Board5 reported that one-third of 9- to 14-year-olds surveyed who reported
watching YouTube6 videos on animal care indicated that the videos affected
their meat-eating habits (Pork Checkoff, 2010). Also, a recent research
review suggests that the morality of the treatment of animals is a greater
motivation than health reasons for people who decide to become vegetar-
ians (Ruby, 2011). “One way to a person’s stomach may be through their
heart,” remarked Greger.
Although the Humane Society of the United States is not a vegetarian
organization, its efforts to ban the most egregious factory farming prac-
tices could lead to higher consumer prices and decrease meat consumption
in the same way that tobacco tax hikes have curbed smoking. “Anything
that increases production costs for these industries” may have beneficial
side effects for obesity prevention, Greger stated. For example, when the
Humane Society works with unions to slow line speeds at slaughter plants
to prevent worker injuries, or with environmental groups to effect better
manure management, or with public health groups to stop the feeding of
millions of pounds of antibiotics to farm animals, it is involved in cross-
movement alliances that can improve both animal and human welfare.
COMMUNITY FOOD SECURITY
The Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC)7 is a national non-
profit coalition of more than 500 organizations working from the local
to the international level to build community food security. Its member
organizations focus on issues ranging from hunger, to public health, to sus-
tainable agriculture, to community economic development. “Our work is
about building alliances and finding common ground,” said the coalition’s
policy director, Kathy Mulvey.
Mulvey highlighted several programs that have goals converging with
obesity prevention. In the area of anti-hunger and anti-poverty campaigns,
people and organizations in Detroit are reclaiming 100,000 vacant lots for
food production. For example, the Detroit Black Community Food Secu-
rity Network8 established a 4-acre organic farm in Rouge Park. As part
of this initiative, it led efforts with the Detroit City Council to approve a
food policy council and a food security policy, which affirmed the city’s
commitment to nurturing the development of a community in which all
members have easy access to adequate amounts of affordable, nutritious,
5 For more information on the National Pork Board, see http://www.pork.org/.
6 For more information on YouTube, see http://www.youtube.com.
7 For more information on the Community Food Security Coalition, see http://www.food
security.org.
8 For more information on the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network, see http://
detroitblackfoodsecurity.org/.
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
culturally appropriate food. The network also organized the Ujamaa Food
Cooperative Buying Club9 and provided leadership for combating racism
in the food system. “That is one community organization that is oriented
primarily toward hunger and poverty and is also helping to increase access
to healthy food for people around the city,” said Mulvey.
At the national level, other organizations are working to increase food
stamp redemption under SNAP at farmers’ markets. Fewer than one in five
farmers’ markets accepted SNAP benefits in 2010, and SNAP transactions
at farmers’ markets plummeted after the transition to electronic benefits.
“This is a really important area to help increase the access of low-income
people to healthy, local produce in their communities,” Mulvey observed.
In the area of job creation and economic development, 334 commu-
nity food projects created more than 2,500 jobs nationwide from 2005
to 2010 and created or strengthened more than 3,800 micro-enterprises
(CFSC, 2010). In 2010 alone, community food projects created 91 farmers’
markets, generating $1.7 million in sales. And according to a study by the
Union of Concerned Scientists (2011), approximately 13,500 jobs could
be created over a 5-year period with yearly public funding of 100 to 500
otherwise unsuccessful farmers’ markets. “Rebuilding local and regional
food systems and infrastructure, and reversing the consolidation of the food
system from production through distribution to retail, is good for people’s
health as well as for the economy in urban and rural areas,” Mulvey said.
Opportunities for small and midsized farmers are created by farm-
to-school programs and other institutional purchasing that can greatly
increase demand for local produce. In Portland, Maine, for example, the
Communities Putting Prevention to Work10 initiative has given every stu-
dent in the Portland public schools access to a fruit and vegetable bar or
a more traditional salad bar as part of the lunch program. According to
Mulvey, such initiatives not only increase fruit and vegetable consumption
but also create a demand for locally grown food, which supports small and
disadvantaged farmers. Indeed, farmers who participate in a community
food project report diversifying their farm products, increasing their num-
ber of customers, and increasing the size of their local markets.
Finally, improving democratic decision making about food and preserv-
ing cultural diversity can converge with obesity prevention goals. CFSC is
encouraging its members to provide input on priorities for the upcoming
Farm Bill and is seeing an unprecedented level of involvement, said Mulvey.
9 A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for
their mutual benefit. Food cooperatives enable members to save money by purchasing in bulk
and eliminating the overhead associated with most retail stores.
10 For more information on the Communities Putting Prevention to Work Initiative, see
http://www.cdc.gov/communitiesputtingpreventiontowork/.
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16 ALLIANCES FOR OBESITY PREVENTION
Food policy councils are booming at the local level, numbering more than
100 nationwide (CFSC, 2011). Provisions of the Farm Bill could have a
tremendous impact on the capacity of low-income people to access healthy
foods, for better or worse, said Mulvey. She emphasized that “there are
some real opportunities to mobilize new alliances and look at ways that
people can leverage their input into policy change.”
Mulvey issued cautions for organizations considering whether to enter
into an alliance. If alliances are to be sustainable, the groups involved must
have convergent long-term goals. Also important is to institute safeguards
against conflicts of interest, Mulvey noted.
A COMMERCIAL-FREE CHILDHOOD
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC)11 seeks to
support parents’ efforts to raise healthy families by limiting commercial
access to children and ending the practice of child-targeted marketing.
Based in Boston, CCFC started in 2000 with nine people and now has more
than 43,000 members. Its theory of action is based on four general strate-
gies: change public attitudes, change children’s environments, change how
children spend their time, and change rules. Most important, said Susan
Linn, director and co-founder of CCFC, the organization’s work builds on
evidence-based advocacy and an ongoing presence in the media.
For an organization with a name like Campaign for a Commercial-
Free Childhood, the active involvement of the media appears unlikely, Linn
acknowledged. In reality, she said, CCFC has a good relationship with the
press. “They take our actions seriously and write about them,” said Linn.
“We have a tiny staff and no marketing budget, so we rely on the press to
promote and publicize the things that we do as a way of raising awareness
and building the public will to foment change.”
CCFC takes an activist approach. It looks to the civil rights movement,
the women’s movement, the gay rights movement, and the environmental
movement for inspiration on how to proceed. One strategy the organization
pursues is changing public attitudes so that marketing to children is seen
as socially irresponsible and unprofitable for corporations. Another strat-
egy involves changing the daily environments children experience. As an
example, Linn shared her perspective on a recent initiative in which CCFC
partnered with educational and environmental organizations to convince
Scholastic,12 through a letter-writing campaign, to stop offering teaching
materials underwritten by the coal industry. CCFC believed these materi-
als failed to address the environmental concerns surrounding coal. The
11 For more information on CCFC, see http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/.
12 For more information on Scholastic, see http://www.scholastic.com.
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
letter-writing campaign caught media attention. Subsequently, Linn said,
Scholastic stopped offering this curriculum and announced that it would
examine its other corporate-sponsored teaching materials.
CCFC works through every possible legal means to halt the commer-
cial exploitation of children. With parents and educators, for example, it
seeks to stop state legislation that would allow more marketing in schools.
CCFC also has engaged in a number of food-related campaigns. In 2007,
for example, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
announced that Shrek was going to be the “poster ogre” for health. CCFC
pointed out that the Shrek III movie was about to come out and that its
producers had partnered with more than 70 junk food companies to pro-
mote the movie and sell the companies’ food. The organization wrote a
public letter to HHS asking it to fire Shrek; the letter received voluminous
press coverage. “Being able to point out that kind of hypocrisy is very help-
ful for people to understand that there is a problem and that we need to do
something about it,” Linn explained.
Much marketing occurs under the radar, according to Linn, and CCFC
tries to help people understand the techniques being used and realize what
is happening. In 2006, CCFC partnered with the Center for Science in the
Public Interest13 to launch a lawsuit against the Kellogg Company14 for
marketing junk food to children under the age of 8. In that case, Kellogg’s
had a campaign to market Froot Loops in preschools by mailing packages
of the cereal to be used for art projects. “We got Kellogg’s to stop that pro-
gram, and also to say they wouldn’t be marketing in preschools.”
CCFC also launched a national campaign when children in Flor-
ida began bringing their report cards home in envelopes that advertised
McDonald’s fast food. The story received international press attention
before McDonald’s agreed to stop the program.
Finally, CCFC works against the marketing of videos for babies as edu-
cational. It convinced Disney15 to provide refunds on Baby Einstein videos
after the company marketed the videos as educational without any evidence
for the claim (Lewin, 2009). With the support of a grant from the David
Rockefeller Fund, CCFC is also conducting interviews with new mothers
to discover what messages will convince them not to put their babies in
front of screens and to limit screen time for older children. And it created
and promotes the annual Screen-Free Week16 in schools. Linn concluded
13 For more information on the Center for Science in the Public Interest, see http://www.
cspinet.org/.
14 For more information on the Kellogg Company, see http://www.kelloggs.com/en_US/
home.html.
15 For more information on Disney, see http://disney.go.com/index.
16 For more information on Screen-Free Week, see http://www.commercialfreechildhood.
org/screenfreeweek/.
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18 ALLIANCES FOR OBESITY PREVENTION
by suggesting that limiting screen time is an ideal focus for collaboration
because it is an area of general consensus.
FOOD AND GARDENING
Gardening has many positive effects on children, adults, and the com-
munity (Box 3-1), but its most enduring effects may be the least tangible.
“Go back to a time when you found yourself in a garden. What does that
bring to mind?” asked Mike Metallo, president and chief executive officer
of the National Gardening Association (NGA). “For me, it hits a reset
button. It helps me put everything in perspective. I have a sense of place. I
understand myself in relation to the world.”
Many children today, especially in the inner cities, lack opportunities to
experience a garden. They live in an environment of concrete, asphalt, and
maybe a few scraggly trees and other plants. “They are not experiencing
the benefits of having a connection with nature,” said Metallo.
Urban gardens can be any collection of plants with which children or
adults are engaged. It can be herbs in pots on a fire escape. It can be plants
in a raised bed indoors or outdoors. “There are all types of gardens, and
each garden has its place and its purpose and its uses,” said Metallo.
NGA, a leading authority and resource for gardeners of all ages, has
a grant program through which it works with corporate donors to install
gardens in schools. The observed effects of these gardens are increased
fruit and vegetable consumption, increased physical activity, and decreased
sedentary behavior. Children also learn more about the sources of the foods
they eat. “People don’t understand where their food is coming from because
they don’t live in an environment where [unprocessed] food is easily acces-
sible,” Metallo said. “It comes to them packaged, it comes to them in cans,
it comes to them sorted out. But they have no idea what happened to get it
there. And that is a serious issue.”
Besides its demonstrated potential to increase fruit and vegetable con-
sumption and boost physical activity (see Box 3-1), gardening changes
the relationships among children, parents, and the community. In this
way, gardening contributes to a variety of social, cultural, and educational
goals. For example, NGA has developed a curriculum that uses gardening
to teach the academic content specified in education standards so teachers
can achieve the same outcomes as they would using their usual curriculum.
Data compiled from educator observations of NGA’s garden grant
program point to a variety of benefits, including better attitudes toward
school, greater self-confidence, and improved social skills. Two of the atti-
tude changes cited most frequently are in attitudes toward nutrition and the
environment. “The children didn’t mean to learn about nutrition this way,
but they did, just by engaging in the experience,” Metallo said. He ended by
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
BOX 3-1
Research Supporting Positive Effects of Garden-Based
Education and Gardening
Children
• ncreased fruit and vegetable consumption (Lautenschlager and Smith, 2007;
I
McAleese and Rankin, 2007)
• ncreased moderate to intense physical activity (Domenghini, 2011)
I
• ncreased knowledge about food systems (Lautenschlager and Smith, 2007)
I
• ncreased nutrition knowledge (Morris and Zidenberg-Cherr, 2002; Parmer et
I
al., 2009)
• ncreased preference for and better attitude toward vegetables (Lineberger and
I
Zajicek, 2000; Morris and Zidenberg-Cherr, 2002)
• ncreased willingness to try vegetables (Morris et al., 2001)
I
• mproved science achievement (Klemmer et al., 2005; Smith and Motsenbocker,
I
2005)
• ncreased life skills—working with groups and self-understanding (Robinson
I
and Zajicek, 2005)
• ncreased self-efficacy for gardening (Domenghini, 2011; Poston et al., 2005)
I
• ncrease in asking for fruits and vegetables to be made available at home
I
(Heim et al., 2011)
• ore positive environmental attitudes (Waliczek and Zajicek, 1999)
M
• kill development and increased empowerment (Bhatia et al., 2001)
S
Parents/Guardians
• ncreased home availability and accessibility of fruits and vegetables (Heim et
I
al., 2011)
• ncrease in perceived parental value of fruit and vegetable consumption (Heim
I
et al., 2011)
• ncreased parental involvement as children share their gardening experiences
I
with parents (Alexander et al., 1995)
• igher job satisfaction when green space is visible from one’s office desk
H
(Kaplan, 1993)
• oderate form of physical activity for older adults (Park et al., 2008)
M
Community
• I
mproved food security (Corrigan, 2011)
• I
ncreased social networking (Sullivan et al., 2004)
• F
ewer crimes and instances of graffiti (Kuo and Sullivan, 2001)
• I
ncreased fruit and vegetable consumption (Alaimo et al., 2008)
• I
ncreased property values (EPA, 2011)
• I
mprovement in psychological well-being (Barnicle and Midden, 2003)
• B
etter understanding of food systems (Corrigan, 2011)
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20 ALLIANCES FOR OBESITY PREVENTION
mentioning NGA’s initiative “A Garden in Every School,”17 a manifestation
of the organization’s belief that school gardens are a component of positive
change that will lead to achieving positive outcomes, such as a reduction
in obesity.
FOOD RETAILERS AND OBESITY PREVENTION
As the nation’s largest food retailer, Walmart was invited to the work-
shop to speak about how the private sector can be an ally for obesity
prevention. The 140 million people who shop at Walmart stores in the
United States each week must make difficult choices, said Andrea Thomas,
Walmart’s senior vice president of sustainability. They want more infor-
mation because they are confused—walking up and down the aisles, they
get mixed messages about health and nutrition. They have limited time,
spending on average less than 25 minutes in the store. And they have tight
budgets. Thomas explained, “We see trends at the beginning of the month,
around paydays, and at the end of the month, showing that many of our
customers are living paycheck to paycheck and actually run out of money
before they get that next paycheck.”
Walmart has established a 5-year goal of making it easier for its cus-
tomers to be healthy by bringing better nutrition to dining room tables.
Thomas discussed the five commitments that Walmart established in Janu-
ary 2011 to achieve that goal:
1. Reformulate thousands of packaged foods, such as by reduc-
ing sodium and added sugars in selected Great Value products.
Walmart is reformulating its own Great Value products and expects
the national brands it sells to be reformulated as well. The com-
pany has committed to reducing sodium by 25 percent and added
sugars by 10 percent and to eliminating all remaining industrially
produced trans fats over the next 5 years. Its focus is on the food
categories that are the largest contributors of dietary sodium and
added sugars, weighted by sales. An online survey will collect infor-
mation on these substances from suppliers of those food categories,
with the results to be published in an annual report.
2. Save customers $1 billion per year on healthier items, includ-
ing reduced prices for produce. As the chief executive officer of
Walmart’s U.S. operations, Bill Simon, said in announcing the
initiative, “No family should have to choose between foods that
are healthier for them and foods that they can afford.” Walmart is
17 For more information about the National Gardening Association (NGA) and the “A
Garden in Every School” program, see http://assoc.garden.org/.
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
taking several steps to provide healthier food, including reducing
costs of fresh produce by doing more local sourcing and increas-
ing supply chain efficiency and working with suppliers to ensure
that healthier versions of foods do not cost more than the base
versions. In some cases, the healthier versions use more expensive
ingredients, while in other cases, said Thomas, “it is because they
can get away with it.”
3. Develop a simple front-of-package seal that will debut on selected
products in 2012, making it easier to identify healthier foods.
Walmart is rolling out a food icon on its Great Value products that
meet the nutrition criteria developed in consultation with nutri-
tion and health stakeholders. The icon is not meant to rate every
product, and it will appear only on qualifying foods, directly on
the packaging. Unlike a shelf label tag, said Thomas, the icon will
stay with the food and continue to provide guidance for a family
once the product has entered the home’s pantry.
4. Open between 275 and 300 stores in urban and rural food deserts
by 2016 to increase residents’ access to fresh, healthier foods.
These stores will provide access to groceries for more than 800,000
people in both urban and rural areas, as well as about 40,000 jobs.
Walmart also is working with growers who are within 400 miles of
its 42 distribution centers so the supply chain is shorter, the food is
fresher, and smaller farmers have the ability to work with Walmart
at the local level. Walmart informs its customers when a product
is locally sourced, and that program is growing. Also, through a
program called Heritage Agriculture, the company is putting crops
back into communities where they were traditionally grown, which
will reduce costs and promote sustainability.
5. Increase charitable support for nutrition education programs
through Walmart Foundation donations. For example, the Walmart
Foundation has donated more than $2 million to the Sesame Street
Workshop program to educate children, including those from low-
income families that are experiencing food insecurity, about healthy
food choices. It also has partnered with the American Heart Asso-
ciation on Simple Cooking with Heart, a program that encourages
Americans to cook low-cost, heart-healthy meals at home.
“This is a 5-year commitment, so it is going to take us some time to
accomplish everything, but we are making really good progress,” Thomas
concluded. “We want to be held accountable.”
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22 ALLIANCES FOR OBESITY PREVENTION
DISCUSSION
Joseph Thompson, surgeon general for the State of Arkansas, director
of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, associate professor at the
University of Arkansas, and a member of the workshop planning commit-
tee, opened the discussion period by asking the panelists how the infrastruc-
ture needed to get local products into food distribution systems can be built.
Mulvey replied that strengthening local and regional food systems and
infrastructure is the greatest priority emerging from CFSC’s survey of its
members and constituents regarding the most important gains that should
be made in reauthorizing the Farm Bill. The growth of farm-to-school
programs in recent years, now encompassing all 50 states, has helped cre-
ate some of this infrastructure. Mulvey cited the example of the last Farm
Bill,18 which included important provisions regarding geographic prefer-
ences for school meals, and said additional changes could help build local
infrastructure. An example would be to facilitate the growth of regional
food hubs, as they provide a way to aggregate products at the regional
level. Thomas also responded to this question, saying that Walmart can
contribute to this infrastructure by working with local farmers to provide
them with a market for their products.
Kumanyika asked Naidenko how EWG is able to get groups with very
different agendas to work together on issues on which their interests over-
lap. Naidenko replied that this question certainly applies to some of the
groups with which EWG works, whether staunch vegetarians or fiscal con-
servatives. EWG is pragmatic, she said. “We know that we will not agree on
every single issue with all the groups and multiple coalitions.” Nonetheless,
EWG seeks to build coalitions and urges groups to publish reports jointly
on issues on which they have common ground. “Yes, we have issues where
we disagree, but if that is what we were thinking about, we would not be
able to work together,” observed Naidenko.
William Dietz, Director of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity,
and Obesity at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, asked each
of the six panelists which obesity-related organizations they would be inter-
ested in aligning with. Naidenko said EWG’s first priority is the Farm Bill,
so it would align with those members of the food movement associated with
that legislation. Greger agreed that a focus on the Farm Bill would help
eliminate subsidies that artificially lower the prices of foods tied to obesity.
Mulvey also said the Farm Bill is a priority, especially given the emphasis
on deficit reduction in Congress and the potential for the Farm Bill to create
jobs and grow the economy. Metallo said NGA would align with any orga-
18 For more information on the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (the formal
short title for the Farm Bill), see http://www.usda.gov/documents/Bill_6124.pdf.
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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
nization that believes in its goals and is interested in funding its programs
because “for us, the limitations of our ability to help [achieve these goals]
are pretty much financial.” Linn observed that CCFC accepts no corporate
funding and is very interested in reducing screen time for children, and
would work with health, education, environmental, or other organizations
that share the same goal. And Thomas said Walmart is interested in work-
ing with organizations that can take advantage of the size and scale of the
corporation to give its customers access to healthy, affordable food.
Russell Pate, associate vice president for health sciences and profes-
sor of exercise science at the University of South Carolina, observed that
many of the food and agriculture panelists had mentioned physical activ-
ity. He added that another theme of the presentations was that children
are more likely to be physically active if they are outdoors rather than
indoors. Metallo responded that getting schoolchildren outdoors is always
a challenge, especially with a major part of the school year falling during
the winter. Nevertheless, he said outstanding indoor gardening programs
are available, even if they do not provide as much exercise as outdoor
programs would. Even indoors, children can move around the classroom,
explore plants, and learn about plant systems. Also, most schools can offer
a short outdoor program in the fall and in the spring. Linn observed that
when children are outside, they are away from screens, so outside play is
an important issue for CCFC.
The final question in the discussion period was asked by Amy Dawson
Taggart, national director of Mission: Readiness, about how the corpo-
rate culture can be shifted toward the marketing of high-quality, healthy
foods, especially in marketing to children. Linn responded that drawing
nutritional lines around food marketing to children does not make sense.
“What we need to do is to stop marketing food to children altogether,” she
said. “We should be marketing food to parents. If we were marketing food
to parents, companies would be marketing more around nutrition than
around characters or exploiting children’s developmental vulnerabilities
around peer pressure.” Marketing to children is unfair and deceptive, she
said, and it harms their relationship to food “because what they are learn-
ing is to choose food based on who is on the box, or based on how it will
advance them socially.” Linn ended by saying that banning food marketing
to children would provide a level playing field for companies so they would
not have to market to children to be competitive. “I understand that our
position isn’t politically popular at the moment. But . . . that’s what we
need to do. Kids don’t benefit from any kind of food marketing. If all of the
marketing were cleared away, parents could be the gatekeepers and choose
food without being pressured by corporations,” she concluded.
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