Subsidizing obesity
BY ROB HOTAKAINEN
McClatchy Newspapers
If you're feeling fat these days, blame Congress. That's just what the nation's doctors are doing, saying that federal lawmakers are responsible for the fact that a salad costs so much more than a Big Mac.
Hoping to produce thinner waistlines, many doctors --including the American Medical Association --- want Congress to stop subsidizing the production of foods that are high in fat and cholesterol and spend more to promote fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains that are not.
Farm Belt lawmakers are on the defensive.
"I agree that obesity and health are serious issues in America today," said Sen. Pat Roberts, R.-Kan., a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. "However, blaming the cause on the crops that we grow in Kansas and/or the U.S. farm program is overlooking the personal responsibility we all have in our daily lives and diets."
The debate is intensifying as the Senate prepares to vote on a new farm bill. On Thursday, the Senate Agriculture Committee approved a bill that would give a record $2 billion for specialty crops, which include fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits and nursery crops. That's at least four times as much as what Congress provided in 2002, when it approved the last farm bill.
The 2007 farm bill will determine which food industries get the most help from U.S. taxpayers over the next five years.
"The real scandal in Washington is the farm bill," said Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. "Senators take millions from corporations that produce bacon, burgers and other fatty foods. Then Congress buys up these unhealthy products and dumps them on our school lunch program. Companies get rich and kids get fat."
It is evolving into a sensitive and complicated debate. Some object to the use of the word "obese" to describe heavy children and adolescents.
"This is not a matter of political correctness," the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance said this month. "It is about the critical need to create environments in which children and adolescents do not feel shame or guilt about their bodies but, rather, are motivated to enjoy healthful eating and active living habits regardless of their body size, weight or shape."
Adding fruits and vegetables
Fruit and vegetable growers, who have long felt ignored on Capitol Hill, are trying to cash in on the debate this year. They want to convince Congress to broaden subsidies beyond traditional farm crops such as corn, wheat, rice and cotton.
"Our markets are highly volatile, yet we have never relied on traditional farm programs to sustain our industry," said Doug Krahmer, co-owner of Blue Horizon Farms in St. Paul, Ore. Testifying at a recent congressional field hearing, he said that future farm policy will not only support American agriculture but that "it will support and encourage the encourage the health and well-being of all Americans."
Krahmer noted that on any given day 45 percent of children eat no fruit at all, while 20 percent eat less than one serving of vegetables. All U.S. children would benefit if Congress offered subsidies to lower the prices that consumers pay for fruits and vegetables, he said.
Doctors join debate
And with the nation's obesity rates rising dramatically in recent years, doctors are jumping into the debate with increased fervor.
According to the physicians group, agribusiness political action committees (PACs) have given more than $5 million over the past four election cycles to members of the Senate Agriculture Committee.
And between 1995 and 2004, nearly three-quarters of Farm Bill agricultural subsidies for food, or more than $51 billion, went to producers of sugar, oil, meat, dairy, alcohol and feed crops used to feed cows and other farm animals. The group said that in 2005 alone, Tyson Foods, the nation's largest meat producer, received $46.6 million in USDA commodity contracts.
Physicians are alarmed, saying the high-fat, high-cholesterol foods subsidized by the farm bill then find their way into the national school lunch program, contributing to obesity.
Less than half of 1 percent subsidized fruit and vegetable production, according to the physicians.
Members of Congress have been hearing a similar message from many different quarters this year.
In September, Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, noted that since 1985, the actual price of fruits and vegetables has increased 40 percent, while the price of sugar and fats has declined by 14 percent. He said that "underserved communities cannot be denied access to the same healthy and affordable food that is available to more affluent Americans."
Even comedian Bill Maher chimed in, writing a letter to Sen. Tom Harkin, D.-Iowa, the head of the Senate Agriculture Committee, in which he blamed Congress for subsidizing high-fat foods "that clog our school lunch lines." In the name of supporting U.S. agriculture, Maher said, the federal government spent eight times more on beef, cheese and butter than on fruits and vegetables in 2005.
As the Senate prepares to vote on the farm bill, the physicians committee has been running a television advertisement that seeks to make the link between agribusiness corporations and Congress.
Called "Dirty Little Secret," the ad is a spoof of the legal troubles surrounding Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig, who was arrested and pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after allegedly soliciting sex from a male police officer in an airport bathroom stall. In the ad, a senator in a bathroom stall is seen tapping his foot to signal his willingness to receive political contributions from the pork industry.
The ad ends with an appeal for the public to call senators, including Roberts, who are "on the gravy train." According to the group, Roberts received more than $319,000 in contributions from agribusiness PACs from 2000 to 2006, ranking 11th among members of the Senate Agriculture Committee. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R.-Ga., topped the list, with contributions of more than $805,000.
Specialty crops
Barnard said that childhood obesity and the adult diseases associated with it have now reached "epidemic proportions," noting government projections that estimate children born in 2000 now have a one in three lifetime chance of developing diabetes. He said U.S. farm subsidies now ensure that high-fat foods, such as corn syrup and corn oil, are cheap and widely available while fruits, vegetables and healthier grains are not.
The lobbying appears to be paying off.
"We decided that specialty crops needed to be a priority," Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, who resigned Sept. 19, said in a speech to the United Fresh Produce Association last month. He told the group that the recently passed House farm bill includes $365 million in aid to expand block grants to states for specialty crops, which are defined as fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits and nursery crops. To pay for it, Johanns suggested eliminating subsidies for farmers who earn more than $200,000 per year.
Overall, the House's farm bill, approved in late July, would offer an estimated $1.7 billion for specialty crop programs. House Democrats say their farm bill would spend another $400 million for a fresh fruit and vegetable program for the school lunch program. It would expand a program that gives vouchers to low-income elderly people who are eligible for food stamps to buy fresh produce at roadside stands. And it would create a demonstration project to evaluate ways to address obesity among low-income groups.
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