THE WAY FORWARD - Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America - page 188

We need to build the political power to force our elected officials and regulators to take action instead
of dragging their feet with talk of more studies and guidance to industry about what they might do volun-
tarily. Congress should pass the Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act, and FDA should
adopt regulations to end the nontherapeutic use in livestock of medically important antibiotics.
We also need a strong, well-funded grassroots campaign on a range of food safety issues. Ceding food
safety to the food industry is not acceptable, despite how popular this proposal has become in an era
where all sides of the political spectrum compete to shrink the role of government and regulations. Leaving
something as critical as food safety up to the industry to figure out leaves those eating the food without
anyone looking out for them. A wellrun government food safety program can look out for consumers and
make sure that food safety practices are not determined by the largest players in the industry and used as a
competitive advantage to push smaller players out of business.
This means reorienting the government food safety research agenda to look at the risks created by dif-
ferent types of food production and considering the best practices for preventing contamination, not just
treating it. It means adding the long-term health risks of chemical residues, genetic engineering, and other
food technologies to the list of what is considered under the umbrella of food safety. And it means devel-
oping regulations that are based on good information about the risks of food safety problems that work
for all types and scales of food production. Achieving a safe, smaller-scale food system requires enough
funding for government inspection and technical assistance, so access to these programs is not a barrier to
new players who want to rebuild regional food systems.
Getting Tough on Advertising
The recent flurry of activity on preventing obesity—from First Lady Michelle Obama's initiative to the
USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture research agenda—has failed to recognize the role of
advertising in the obesity epidemic, which is yet another symptom of our dysfunctional food system. At-
tempts to regulate advertising have met with strong industry resistance. In 2011 the Interagency Working
Group, comprising four federal agencies, attempted to set voluntary nutrition standards for foods allowed
to be marketed to kids. Their recommendations met so much industry blowback that the FTC's Bureau of
Consumer Protection backed down on the weak voluntary standards agreed upon by the group.
Prominent author and food activist Michele Simon notes, “Industry keeps right on lobbying; it's what
they do best. And for Congress, it's just business as usual. But the very real consequence of maintaining
the status quo is that children will continue to be exploited for their emotional vulnerability, while getting
lured into bad eating habits that can last a lifetime. Cost/benefit analysis? Industry benefits, while children
pay the cost.”
The role of advertising in affecting children's behavior is well known. In the 1970s Action for Chil-
dren's Television took on the battle of advertising to children, eventually culminating in the 1990 Chil-
dren's Television Act, which limits advertising time, but not which products are advertised. A 2007 Kaiser
Family Foundation study, the largest of its kind, documented how much food advertising children are ex-
posed to on television. Children ages two to seven see an average of twelve food ads a day—a total of
4,400 food ads annually, or nearly thirty hours of food advertising a year. Children ages eight to twelve see
an average of twenty-one food ads a day—7,600 food ads, or over fifty hours of food advertising a year.
And teenagers ages thirteen to seventeen see an average of seventeen food ads a day—more than 6,000
food ads, or over forty hours of food advertising a year. 7
Meanwhile, an abundance of research proves that children eat more junk food after seeing it advertised
on TV. Advertising is almost all geared toward unhealthy foods full of artificial coloring and flavoring, as
well as sugar, fat, and salt.