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Posted on Tuesday, July 31st, 2012 by Michele Simon
You probably heard by now that the U.S. Department of Agriculture got firmly put in its place last week by the National Cattleman’s Beef Association when a poor employee had the gall to suggest in an internal employee newsletter that coworkers consider taking up Meatless Mondays. Big Beef screamed and the feds jumped. (I was told it took less than 30 minutes for USDA to capitulate.) If you missed the coverage, check out Mark Bittman’s take, along with his attempt to ask a few questions of USDA. I tried myself and have yet to receive even the courtesy of a reply. Here is the message I sent Press Secretary Courtney Rowe in USDA’s Office of Communications last Thursday:
Hi Courtney,
I am writing about this matter for my blog. Can you please clarify the extent of USDA’s retraction?
Some are saying USDA’s action does not go far enough. See:
http://agwired.com/2012/07/25/usda-meatless-mondays-uproar/
My questions:
1) I understand the newsletter is no longer available online, but how was it distributed to employees in the first place?
2) Does USDA also retract the message contained within the newsletter regarding adopting Meatless Mondays?
3) Does USDA plan a more formal retraction in another issue of the newsletter, as AgWired suggests?
4) Has any action been taken with the employee who put it in the newsletter, also as AgWired suggests?
Many thanks for your help,
Michele
I guess I flummoxed them. Unlike the beef industry, whose message was received loud and clear.
Posted in Big Food | Tagged: National Cattleman's Beef Association, USDA | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (0)
Posted on Tuesday, July 31st, 2012 by Michele Simon
Grocery Manufacturers Association Long-time Obstructionist of Public Health
In case you had any doubt that California’s Prop 37—which would require labeling of food containing genetically-modified organisms (GMOs)—is a significant threat to industry, a top food lobby has now made it perfectly clear.
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Posted in Big Food, Food Policy | Tagged: California Prop 37, GMO labeling, Grocery Manufacturers Association, lobbying, trade groups, voluntary self-regulation | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (18)
Posted on Friday, July 13th, 2012 by Michele Simon
The United Fresh Produce Association Foundation says it’s “proud to be a Founding Partner of the Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools Initiative.” I thought the First Lady should know this trade group is responsible for killing a vital produce testing program that helps keep kids safe from infection.
Dear Mrs. Obama,
I am writing out of deep concern over Let’s Move’s partnerships with the United Fresh Produce Association and the Produce Marketing Association. These two groups have lobbied to kill a vital pathogen testing program. While the Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools program is to be applauded, its association with these trade groups is not.
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Posted in Big Food, Food Policy, Food Safety | Tagged: E.coli, FDA, food safety, Let's Move, listeria, Microbiological Data Program, Obama, school food policy, United Fresh Produce Association | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (3)
Posted on Monday, July 9th, 2012 by Michele Simon
As expected, the House version of the 2012 farm bill contains deep cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called food stamps). With its $16 billion proposed cut in this critical safety net, the House leadership is about three times as cruel as the Senate, which already approved a $4.5 billion reduction over 10 years. If the House gets its way, two-three million Americans could go hungry. In addition, 280,000 kids could get kicked off the school meal program because their families’ eligibility is tied to SNAP. And speaking of kids, almost half of all SNAP participants are children.
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Posted in Child Nutrition, Food Law | Tagged: farm bill, J.P. Morgan Chase, SNAP | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (3)
Posted on Thursday, July 5th, 2012 by Michele Simon
I admit this post is somewhat self-serving. But I am getting weary of so many lists (like this one) celebrating heroes of the food movement that leave out an entire category of professionals that deserve a little respect. They may not be as famous as Alice Waters but they are working just as hard, maybe even harder. So here, in no particular order, are ten lawyers doing critical work to improve how we eat.
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Posted in Public Health | Tagged: Center for Food Safety, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Food Integrity Campaign, Food Safety News, Government Accountability Project, Public Health Law Center | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (4)
Posted on Thursday, June 28th, 2012 by Michele Simon
Last week McDonald’s Canada posted a video on YouTube entitled, “Behind the scenes at a McDonald’s photo shoot,” which purports to answer a question from a customer on why McDonald’s food looks different in ads than it does in reality. So to answer this question, Hope Bagazzi, director of marketing for McDonald’s Canada takes us on a tour of how the food stylists with the company’s advertising firm prepare a cheeseburger and how that differs from what it really looks like. The idea, so it appears, is to be transparent and honest about how McDonald’s portrays its food in advertisements.
The video has gone viral, inching toward six million views. I even tweeted it myself. But one of my followers who lives in Vancouver, Anne Rosenberg was not fooled. She sent me the following email:
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Posted in Big Food | Tagged: advertising regulation, marketing practices, McDonald's, public relations | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (5)
Posted on Wednesday, June 20th, 2012 by Michele Simon
Last Tuesday, I released a report, Food Stamps, Follow the Money: Are Corporations Profiting From Hungry Americans? I am grateful to each of these media outlets for their coverage.
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Posted in Big Food | Tagged: Big Food, Eat Drink Politics, farm bill, food stamps, SNAP, USDA, Walmart | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (1)
Posted on Thursday, June 14th, 2012 by Michele Simon
On Tuesday, I published a report about how food companies and banks benefit from the $72 billion food stamp program. For those intimidated by 20 pages (it’s a good read), here is the visual short cut.
Posted in Big Food | Tagged: Big Food, Congress, Eat Drink Politics, farm bill, food stamps, J.P. Morgan Chase, SNAP, USDA, Walmart | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (2)
Posted on Tuesday, June 12th, 2012 by Michele Simon
As Congress proposes cuts to hungry families, my new report raises questions about how much food makers, retailers, and big banks profit from food stamps.
With the debate over the 2012 Farm Bill currently underway in the Senate, most of the media’s attention has been focused on how direct payments—subsidies doled out regardless of actual farming—are being replaced with crop insurance, in a classic shell game that Big Ag’s powerful lobby is likely to pull off.
Meanwhile, the Senate may hurt the less powerful by cutting $4.5 billion from the largest piece of the farm bill pie: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called food stamps). Reducing this lifeline for 46 million struggling Americans (more than 1 in 7—nearly half of them children) has become a sideshow in the farm bill circus, even though SNAP spending grew to $78 billion in 2011, and is projected to go higher if the economy does not improve.
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Posted in Big Food, Food Policy | Tagged: Big Food, Eat Drink Politics, farm bill, food stamps, J.P. Morgan Chase, SNAP, USDA, Walmart | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (18)
Posted on Tuesday, June 12th, 2012 by Michele Simon
Contact: Haven Bourque 415.505.3473 haven@havenbmedia.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
As 2012 Farm Bill debate rages in Congress, a new report demands SNAP program transparency
Oakland, CA, June 12, 2012 — Are food stamps lining the pockets of the nation’s wealthiest corporations instead of closing the hunger gap in the United States? Why does Walmart benefit from more than $200 million in annual food stamp purchases in Oklahoma alone? Why does one bank, J.P. Morgan Chase, hold exclusive contracts in 24 states to administer public benefits?
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Posted in Big Food, Food Policy | Tagged: Eat Drink Politics, farm bill, food stamps, J.P. Morgan Chase, SNAP, Walmart | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (5)
