Who’s Really Behind the Federal School Lunch Program? The USDA asserted its authority to set nutrition policy when it publicly declared that the purpose of the surplus food program was to dispose of surplus food and simultaneously raise the nutritional level of low-income consumers.8 The actual law putting USDA in charge of educating people on nutrition was the Smith-Lever Act of 1914,9 which established Cooperative Extensions in each state. These are still active today. One job of the extensions is to educate the public on nutrition under the guidance of the USDA. Besides the School Lunch Program, the USDA has been, or still is, involved with more than a dozen different food distribution programs. Such programs are basically designed to create a market for whatever foods farmers are growing a surplus of—NOT necessarily to distribute the healthiest foods to those who need it most. ChooseMyPlate.gov has a flyer summarizing the history of USDA food guides and nutritional guidance, which began nearly 100 years ago in 1916 with guidelines for how to select foods, with a focus on protective foods.10 This included 20 percent of daily calories from fatty foods, and only 10 percent of daily calories from sugars. The bulk of your diet was fresh fruits and vegetables. Today, the USDA’s MyPlate nutritional guidelines have removed virtually all fats from the equation—despite advances in nutritional science confirming that non-processed healthy fats are crucial for good health, while processed carbs and sugars are the main drivers of disease. Again, the real reason why grains are promoted as a major cornerstone of your (and your children’s) diet is because thats what farmers are paid to grow in the US. Theres a lot of it, and its inexpensive compared to healthier foods like vegetables and nuts... Meanwhile, the school lunch program is embroiled with conflicts of interest with the food industry. For example, the School Nutrition Association (SNA)11 is an association of food professionals who describe themselves as providing high-quality, low-cost meals to students across the country. So who are these food professionals exactly? Would it surprise you to learn that SNAs members include some of the largest junk food manufacturers? This includes: Coca-Cola Dominos Pizza General Mills Pizza Hut Sara Lee and others
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 07:25:07 +0000