18
New York University / Steinhardt
Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health
FOOD-GE 2039 FOOD POLICY AND POLITICS: FALL 2014
30 hours: 3 points. Mondays 4:55 to 6:35 p.m. Silver 405
Instructor: Marion Nestle, Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health
Office hours: Usually from 3:30 to 4:30 on Mondays at Argo Tea on Washington Place (but check first), and by appointment. . Office: 411 Lafayette, 5th floor.
Blog: www.foodpolitics.com Twitter @marionnestle
Course Assistant: Kate Newburger Office hours: Mondays at Argo Tea, 6:45-7:45; and Tuesdays 5:45-6:45 at 411 Lafayette, 5th Floor, or by appointment.
Note: When sending e-mails, please put FPP14 in the subject line.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is based on the premise that rational and desirable policy goals for any society are to develop and maintain food systems that promote health, protect the environment, are sustainable, and support the livelihoods of participants, but that not everyone in society agrees with this premise. Hence: politics as well as policy.
The course deals with how governments—particularly that of the United States—design and implement policies and programs to foster social goals such as ensuring a sufficient, nutritionally adequate, safe, affordable, and sustainable food supply. It examines why and how governments do or do not decide to set policies; reviews how stakeholders in the food system use the political system to influence policy development; identifies the social, cultural, economic, and political factors that influence stakeholder and government positions on policy issues; and describes the ways in which these factors promote or act as barriers to policies aimed at promoting public health, agricultural sustainability, and environmental protection.
Throughout the course, students are encouraged to question assumptions and premises and to consider whether food choices should be matters of policy or should be left to individuals. Should governments have a role in food policy? If so, what should that role be?
The course emphasizes analysis of the:
· Research and other evidence used as a basis for food policy development.
· Context (nutritional, political, economic, cultural, etc.) in which food policies are developed.
· Processes through which stakeholders influence policy decisions.
· Methods through which government agencies translate policies into regulations and programs.
· Consequences (intended and unintended, positive and negative, measurable and not) of policies promoting healthful and sustainable food.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
· Define what is meant by policy, and explain how policies differ from programs.
· Describe the principal areas of domestic and international nutrition, food, and agriculture policy and current issues related to those policy areas.
· Identify the government agencies primarily responsible for each area of food and nutrition policy, explain their roles, and describe their principal policy goals and methods for achieving them.
· Explain what is meant by “food system,” the policy and political issues raised by this term, and the principal stakeholder groups and positions on food system issues.
· Identify the ways in which social, cultural, economic, commercial, and institutional factors promote or act as barriers to the design and implementation of agriculture, food, and nutrition policies and programs, and the ways in which these policies and programs affect health.
· Identify the principal health–related problems linked to food and nutrition. Explain how these problems, in both U.S. and international populations, may (or may not) be linked to domestic and international food policy.
· Identify and apply the methods by which stakeholder groups affect the design and implementation of agriculture, food, and nutrition policies.
· Describe arguments that support and counter the position that government should or should not be involved in the food choices of individuals.
· Demonstrate the ability to analyze the principle elements of food and nutrition policies: rationale, goal, implementation strategy, stakeholder positions, and politics.
Public health (GIPH) and public health nutrition objectives
· Identify the social, cultural, economic, environmental, and institutional factors that contribute to the risk of undernutrition and overnutrition among populations.
· Demonstrate the linkages between agriculture, food, nutrition, and public health.
· Promote policies to ensure the safe production, distribution, and consumption of food.
· Apply population-based research findings to the development and implementation of nutrition policies and programs in the United States and internationally.
COURSE READINGS
Required texts: available at the NYU Bookstore, online, and in the library on reserve.
· Nestle M. Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, UC Press, 2013.
· Poppendieck J. Free for All: Fixing School Food in America. UC Press, 2010.
· Nestle M. Safe Food: The Politics of Food Safety, UC Press, 2010.
· Imhoff D. Food Fight: The Citizen’s Guide to the Next Food and Farm Bill. Watershed Media, 2012.
· Freudenberg N. Lethal but Legal: Corporations, Consumption, and Protecting Public Health. Oxford University Press, 2014.
Additional course readings
These are listed in the course outline by category.
· Required readings—books, articles, reports—are indicated by this symbol:
· Background information and specific sources are listed under Browse.
· Add-ons: If especially relevant documents are released during the semester, these may be added as announced by e-mail and in class (but will be kept to a minimum).
Current events
You are expected to read (in print or online) a national daily newspaper influential in policy matters—for example, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Politico, Yahoo, Huffington Post-- as a basis for discussion and analysis of food and nutrition policy events as they occur in real time.
EXPECTATIONS
· Class begins and ends on time; please adhere to schedule.
· Cell phones off; No unrelated Internet activity during class time.
· Complete assigned work on time; there will be penalties for late work (1/2 grade per day).
· Plan ahead: no incomplete grades are given (except in dire, documented emergencies).
· Your voice matters: Participate. Take responsibility for your own learning. If you don’t understand something, ask! If something isn’t working for you, please speak up and bring it to instructors’ attention immediately.
GRADING (details follow beginning on page 11)
· Participation: class discussion, weekly questions 10%
· 4 short assignments, 15% each 60%
· Group project 30%
FOOD POLICY AND POLITICS: READING & ASSIGNMENTS, FALL 2014
CLASS / DATE / FOOD POLICY TOPIC / ASSIGNMENTSReadings should be completed and ready to discuss by the indicated class date. Links are live. Papers on NYUClasses are under Resources.
1 / Sept 8 / Food policy and politics: Introduction / Food Politics: Foreword, Prefaces; Introduction; Appendix
Start reading the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
2 / Sept 15 / Policy: Dietary Guidelines
Problem: Diet-related disease
Purpose: Educate individuals / Food Politics: Part 1; Afterword pages 375-389.
The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
Selected messages for consumers
Dietary Guidelines 2015: Overview, go to Read Public Comments, Search for and read Comment ID #578 (browse others on other topics).
Browse:
· History of Dietary Guidelines
· The 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee report
· ChooseMyPlate home page
3 / Sept 22 / Policy: Healthy People 2020 (Nutrition, Weight)
Problem: Diet-related chronic disease
Purpose: Prevent obesity / Food Politics: Part 3; Afterword pages 389-412.
About Healthy People
Healthy People Framework
White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity. Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity within a Generation, May 2010. Read Intro, one or two sections, Conclusion. Browse recommendations.
Wilson D, Roberts J. Food fight: How Washington went soft on childhood obesity, Reuters special report, April 27, 2012.
Browse
· History, Healthy People process
· Nutrition and weight status objectives
· Let’s Move! site
· CDC site on adult obesity
· CDC site on childhood obesity
· WHO Controlling the global obesity epidemic
· WHO Fact sheet on obesity and overweight
4 / Sept 29 / Policy: Food labels
Problem: diet-related illnesses
Purpose: educate the public / Food Politics, Part 4
FDA's home page on proposed label revisions
Sugar Association’s comments on added sugar
Browse
· Public comments on Nutrition and Supplement Factspanels
· Public comments on standards for serving sizes
· FDA health claims rules, home page
· FDA menu and vending labeling proposed rules
· FDA Front-of-package initiative
· USDA Meat & Poultry labeling fact sheets
· European Union food labeling requirements
· European Union food health claim rules
5 / Oct 6 / Policy: Soda taxes and size caps
Problem: Obesity
Purpose: Regulate the food industry / PLoS series on Big Food, July 2012
· Editorial: The food industry is ripe for scrutiny
· Stuckler D, Nestle M. big food, food systems, and global health
Brownell KD, et al. The public health and economic benefits of taxing sugar-sweetened beverages. New England J Med 2009;361:1599-1605.Browse
· NYC Dep’t of Health Materials on sugary drinks (maximum size)
· New York State Supreme Court decision, 3-11-13
· Appeals court decision, 6-26-14
DUE: Policy analysis #1
DUE: Policy area of interest for final project
-- / Oct 13 / FALL RECESS
6 / Oct 20 / Politics: lobbying / Food Politics: Part 2, and Conclusion
Big business wins capitol food fights, Sacramento Bee, August 17, 2014
Fang L. Where have all the lobbyists gone? The Nation, March 10-17, 2014.
Browse
Congressional Research Service. The Federal Rulemaking Process: An Overview, June 17, 2013.
DUE: Lobbying analysis
Distributed: team assignments
7 / Oct 27 / Policy: The Farm Bill Problem: Maintaining an adequate food supply
Purpose: Support farmers / Imhoff, Food Fight: Intros, 1-6, 8-12, 16, 25 (browse the rest of the wedge issues)
The 2014 farm bill (reading instructions given in class)
Congressional Research Service: What Is the Farm Bill? July 23, 2014.
Smith B. Don’t let your children grow up to be farmers. NY Times, August 8, 2014. Salatin J. Response, NY Times, August 15, 2014.
Browse
· USDA Commodity program summary, July 2014
· USDA’s implementation of the farm bill
· Food & Water Watch. Do Farm Subsidies Cause Obesity?
8 / Nov 3 / Policy: The Farm Bill: Title III Trade and Aid
Problems: Foreign relations; international food insecurity
Purposes: Protect U.S. agricultural interests; feed the hungry / Imhoff, Food Fight 13, 14
USDA Foreign Agricultural Service trade agreements
Love P, Lattimore R. International Trade, 2009. Read
Introduction (8-14), Chapter 4 (54-75), Chapter 5 (76-91).
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. Trade above all, July 25, 2014.
Jamie Oliver on TTIP, August 16, 2014
USAID fact sheet on US food aid reform, 2014
Loewenberg S. Multiple crises overwhelm emergency food relief agencies. Lancet 2014;384:482-483.
OXFAM infographic on food aid reform, May 5, 2014
Browse
· Title III in the 2014 farm bill
· World Trade Organization (WTO) home page
· WTO Agriculture negotiations
· US State Department trade policies
· FDA Imports and exports home page
· Codex Alimentarius (international food safety standards) home page
Due: team problem topic
9 / Nov 10 / Policy: The farm bill: Title IV SNAP
Problem: food insecurity
Purpose: alleviate food insecurity / Imhoff, Food Fight 7
USDA SNAP home page
USDA SNAP data home page
Center for Study of the Presidency and Congress. SNAP to Health: A Fresh Approach to Strengthening the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, 2012.
Simon M. Food stamps: follow the money, 2012.
Browse
· Title IV, Subtitle A, in the 2014 farm bill
· USDA Food insecurity measurement page
· USDA food assistance home page
· FAO hunger home page
· World Food Programme home page
DUE: Policy problem analysis
10 / Nov 17 / Policy: Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010
Problem: childhood food insecurity
Purposes: feed children; prevent childhood obesity / Poppendieck, Free for All
Browse
· Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010
· USDA home page for HHFKA
· Appropriations Act, 2012: Section 743 (pizza as vegetable)
· School Nutrition Association press releases
Guest lecture: Kate Adamick, Cook for America
DUE: Final team topic
11 / Nov 24 / Policy: Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011
Problem: Foodborne illness
Purpose: Prevent unsafe food / Nestle, Safe Food: Prefaces; Introduction; Part I (Chapters 1-4); Epilogue 281-298
Browse
· FDA Food Safety Modernization Act home page
· FDA recall announcements
· USDA recall announcements
· CDC outbreak surveillance
· CDC Multistate outbreak investigations
· Attorney Bill Marler’s blog
12 / Dec 1 / Policy: Label GMOs Problem: Regulating emerging food technologies
Purpose: Transparency / Nestle, Safe Food: Part II (Chapters 5-8); Epilogue 277-281. Browse: Appendix on the science of plant biotechnology.
Wines M. Invader batters rural America, shrugging off herbicides. NY Times, August 11, 2014.
Browse
· Just Label It state initiatives
· FDA completed consultations on bioengineered foods
· FDA home page on genetically engineered salmon
· FDA nanotechnology home page
· FDA animal cloning home page
DUE: Policy analysis #2
13 / Dec 8 / Politics: corporate influence / Freudenberg, Lethal but Legal
Guest lecture: Prof. Nick Freudenberg.
14 / Dec 10 / Politics: Advocacy
Dec 17
5:00 p.m. / DUE: Team policy analysis paper
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
International food policy
· Pinstrup-Anderson P, Watson DD. Food Policy for Developing Countries: The Role of Government in Global, National, and Local Food Systems, 2011
· Fan S, Pandya-Lorch R, eds. Reshaping Agriculture for Nutrition and Health. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Blogs focusing on nutrition and food policy
· Marion Nestle: http://www.foodpolitics.com
· Michele Simon: http://www.eatdrinkpolitics.com/
· Parke Wilde: http://usfoodpolicy.blogspot.com
· AGree http://www.foodandagpolicy.org/blog
Advocacy organizations, nutrition and food policies
· Agriculture and Food Policy Center at Texas A&M
· California Food Policy Advocates
· Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI): nutrition policy
· Food First policy publications
· Food Water Watch: policy briefs
· Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity: obesity policy