University of Baltimore's Obesity Scorecard for the States

Released today by Ann Cotton, Kenneth Stanton, and Zoltan Acs at the University of Baltimore.

Chicago Tribune's Andrew Martin on USDA subsidies

The Chicago Tribune's headline today is, "USDA's subsidies ignore its own dietary advice." Andrew Martin explains how the new Dietary Guidelines encourage more fruits and vegetables, while farm subsidy programs favor soybeans and grain crops used in oils, animal feeds, and sweeteners. He writes:

That disparity points out an awkward truth about the USDA: what it urges people to eat to remain healthy does not match what it pays farmers to grow.

In fact, fruit and vegetable farmers receive no subsidies from the government, though fruits and vegetables should make up the largest share of Americans' diets, according to the new pyramid.

"We're pleased that they continue to say that fruits and vegetables in general are important," said Robert Guenther, vice president of public policy for the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association, who would like federal help with marketing produce rather than subsidies for growing it. "But what we're saying to [the Agriculture Department] and others in Congress is you can't just issue these reports and this new pyramid and walk away. You need to get behind it."

Nutrition rarely, if ever, has entered the debate in Congress over the merits of farm subsidies, authorities say. Rather, inertia, farm-state politics and changing trends in foreign trade generally dictate how much is allocated to different commodities.

Martin also raises -- and quotes me about -- the contrast between the message of the Dietary Guidelines and the message of the USDA-sponsored commodity promotion or "checkoff" programs ("Beef. It's What's for Dinner" and so forth).

AAEA Food Safety and Nutrition Section

The Food Safety and Nutrition Section of the American Agricultural Economics Association has a new website. The section has organized an excellent upcoming "track," or collection of conference sessions, for the upcoming annual meeting of the full AAEA in Providence, RI, July 24-27. At the suggestion of Noah at Four Seasons, some section members may be interested to visit the Providence farmers' market for lunch on Monday, July 25.

Sunday sermonettes from Effect Measure

Try not to read the Sunday sermonette from Effect Measure, or the ensuing comments. No, I said don't follow the link, please. No, wait... Stop..... Arrggh.... It's hopeless. The weblog is too interesting.

Thomas Jefferson on food

The Marginal Revolution's Tyler Cowen, in a comment on Will Wilkinson, doesn't much like Thomas Jefferson's politics -- a little too much revolution for Cowen's taste, I think. But the Marginal Revolution does link approvingly to a fine website (notwithstanding typos) about Jefferson's interests in food.

When it came to food, Jefferson road the leading edge. He introduced the work of French chefs into his home, even before he lived in France. He imported oil from Italy and mustard from France, introduced vanilla and macaroni to the U.S. and owned the first ice cream freezer on record. He enjoyed his vegetables so much, many would ask if he were a vegetarian. Jefferson’s response was “[I eat meat] “as a condiment to the vegetables which constitute my principal diet.” One of his distinctive dining room rules was guests would serve themselves from dining room dumbwaiters, away from slaves, so their sparkling conversations might not be overheard or interrupted. In the words of one guest at a lavish occasion, “Never before had such dinners been served in the President’s House.”

Seeing pizza slices in the new My Pyramid

The Eclectic Econoclast and What do I know? both link to Freshman 44's obeservation about the new dietary guidance graphic: "I'm pretty sure this means, as I've long suspected, that pizza is the perfect food. See? There's even a little delivery guy coming up the porch steps." The pizza connection was also noted by Wet Canvas Dreams.

But satire can't compete with the real world. Consider the USDA-sponsored and dairy-industry-administered promotional campaign from a couple years ago, pushing Pizza Hut products in a "Summer of Cheese." You can get the history from Informed Eating or an excellent article in the Chicago Tribune (sorry, registration required).

Did I say "history from a couple years ago"? I mean "current practice." See a recent Dairy Board announcement in which the checkoff program -- which is officially considered USDA's "government speech" -- promotes Pizza Hut's new Dippin Strips pizza. Pizza Hut does post its nutrition facts online. For example, the "Meat Lover's" Dippin Strips, under this promotion, have 370 calories of which half are from fat, including 7 grams of saturated fat, plus another 85 calories listed for a marinara sauce. Is it make-believe to see those Dippin Strips in the new Pyramid?

More MyPyramid cartoons

... from Slate's Daryl Cagle.