Posted on 11/07/2010 1:30:27 PM PST by nickcarraway
The U.S. government is in the position of convincing Americans to eat more cheese while trying to fight obesity at the same time, observers say.
Dairy Management is a marketing creation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, helping companies such as Domino's Pizza and Taco Bell promote and sell more cheese, while the USDA is also responsible for a federal anti-obesity campaign aimed at discouraging Americans from eating obesity-causing foods -- like cheese, the food Dairy Management is vigorously promoting, The New York Times reported Sunday.
Government warnings about saturated fat have pushed Americans to low-fat milk for decades, creating surpluses of whole milk and milk fat.
Now the government, in creating Dairy Management, is attempting to get those dairy surpluses back into Americans' diets, primarily through cheese.
In a statement, the USDA said dairy promotion was intended to bolster farmers and rural economies.
But some health experts see it as a classic conflict of interest.
"The USDA should not be involved in these programs that are promoting foods that we are consuming too much of already," says Dr. Walter C. Willett, chairman of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health.
"A small amount of good-flavored cheese can be compatible with a healthy diet, but consumption in the U.S. is enormous and way beyond what is optimally healthy," he said.
How about we stop spending money on any of this?
Obesity Campaign: One of the reasons the Democrat’s lost Wisconsin (the cheese capital of America).
It's not the oil in the fries that's killing you but the starch in the bun on your burger! The potato starch is also contributing.
Nobody better touch my cheese.
Why on earth is the government spending taxpayer’s money doing corporate welfare on behalf of Domino’s Pizza and Taco Bell?
They’re perfectly capable of doing it themselves.
“”A small amount of good-flavored cheese can be compatible with a healthy diet, but consumption in the U.S. is enormous and way beyond what is optimally healthy,” he said.”
That small amount of good cheese is a king’s ransom and eaten in small amounts.
The flavored and colored mass produced glue that adheres to the cellophane is cheap and nourishing.
What the heck do these people do besides hector everyone?
We could probably fire 98% of the bureaucrats in the USDA and add on-site inspectors to the factory meat and dairy companies and come out better.
“...consumption in the U.S. is enormous and way beyond what is optimally healthy,” he said.”
Uh, Greece’s cheese consumption is twice that of the US. The Scandinavians eat more cheese than we do. At least 12 countries have higher per capita consumption.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheese#World_production_and_consumption
If they aren't they shouldn't be in business.
Yeah you notice they are always pushing fruit on the kids. Like it’s some sort of aphrodisiac. Fructose Sugar anyone.
Use a grading system for milk the way gasoline is priced:
Low-fat milk = premium gas (i.e, highest price milk).
Medium-fat milk = mid-grade gas (i.e., mid-priced milk).
Whole milk = regular gas (i.e., lowest price milk.)
Lower the price of whole milk and more people will buy it, regardless.
As government grows, there will be plenty of examples of one arm pushing something and another arm pushing against it. The taxpayers pay and the bureaucracy benefits.
How about they just mind their own d*mn business and stop trying to tell people what they may or may not eat?
Since when is this the USDA’s responsibility? How about they get back to a focus on making sure the prescription drugs we take are safe? I am so sick of lawyer ads for lawsuits involving prescription meds that were supposedly approved as safe by the USDA...
NO - instead they want to waste money fighting within itself...
My personal opinion - the #1 threat via food in this nation is not fats (trans or otherwise)... it is the corn-based sweeteners - HFCS in all its varieties are a bane.
The most healthy and best I have ever felt in my life= when I was on a low carb, high protein (particularly meats and cheeses). My blood tests were great, my cholesterol exactly right, and my weight was coming off.
Any doubts about HFCS? Try this test (find you a solid diabetic - type2 works best).
Have them do a short fast - then test their blood sugar.
Then give them a 12 oz soft drink containing HFCS (most do). Check blood sugar levels after.
Now - repeat the test after another fast - this time, give them the equivalent oz of a soft drink sweetened with “real” sugar - aka - cane sugar. At the same interval - check blood sugar.
What you will find in most cases (as best as I have been able to tell with family members who have done this test) - the HFCS causes a much more dramatic spike in blood sugar levels, followed by a more pronounced “crash”.
This theoretically holds up with HFCS foods as well, though a bit more difficult to test - HFCS is now put into a bunch of foods we don’t even think of as “sweetened”...
What the he!!?
If any comparison to Carter and Obama has been questioned, this should stifle any doubt.
Cheese??
Jimma' had a "free cheese" program afoot during his tenure as POTUS.
Say cheese!
That would be beneficial to the finances of this country.
Are you sure that is what you want?
Are you a Tea Party promoter?
God I hate seeing my finances going down the sh!thole when I have a five star credit rating just because a politician needs an agenda without concern of what is right or wrong.
Exactly ..... Europeans in general consume more cheese than we do I think
Leave my cheese alone..I am a grown up and can decide how much and when to eat anything
All cheese is the government's cheese.
It's nacho cheese...
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