The Politics of Fat: People, Power and Food and Nutrition Policy: People, Power and Food and Nutrition Policy

Politics pervades every link in the food chain from the farm to the fork. It influences what foods we eat, how much they cost, what we know about them, and how safe they are. This book brings the point home by focusing on the vexing issue of dietary fat content -- known to be a health menace but also an ingredient in many or most of our best-loved foods. Through this prism. Dr. Sims explores the politics of food assistance programs (with a case study of the National School Lunch program); agricultural policy (for example, the price premium paid to farmers for milk with high butterfat content); food content (with case studies of food labeling and the approval process for fat substitutes); and dietary change (with a case study of nutrition education programs). The book concludes with consideration of the costs and benefits of government intervention and nonintervention in food policy from the supply side to the demand side and its consequences for human health (and happiness).