If I had to describe the state of America’s food policies in one word, it would be this: chaos! If I got a second word, it would be: disaster.
Eight agencies oversee the government’s food-related policies, and they largely work in silos. They rarely coordinate with one another to achieve a common goal, which makes their policies confused and conflicted. In many cases, they directly contradict one another.
“The biggest challenge is that everything is so fractured,” says Congressman Tim Ryan from Ohio, who is passionate about fixing our food system. “So, you have people who are involved in the food movement. You have people that are involved in health care. You have people that are involved in education. You have people that are really concerned about the national debt. You’ve got people that are concerned about government spending. Yet none of these issues are seen as interconnected.”
On top of that, most of our food and agriculture policies undermine public health, harm the environment, and increase private profits.
I’ll show you how Big Food is playing a big role in this mess. Through its corporate lobbying efforts, the food industry hijacked some of our most important food programs. It profits from sickness and disease and environmental malfeasance—and then it sticks you, the taxpayer, with the bill.
Big Food companies claim to be good stewards of public health. They argue that obesity is a complex issue and that they have an important role to play in addressing it. Engaging government agencies and working on policy issues is a critical part of this effort, they say. But food companies have a much more insidious motive. The real reason they spend so much money in Washington is so they can block policies that hurt their bottom lines and promote policies that make them money. Food corporations have to answer to their shareholders. They have a fiduciary responsibility to maximize shareholder profits, and they pursue this mission zealously—regardless of whether the outcomes are harmful to society and the environment or not. The good news is that due to grassroots efforts, and the undeniability of the harm our food system causes to human health, our environment, and our climate, many Big Food and Ag companies are focused on solutions including healthy product development and regenerative agriculture.
Our nation’s disjointed food policies are driving a disease-creating economy (not to mention climate change, social inequities, and a host of other bad consequences), and most people have no idea.