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Writer's pictureVictoria Chavez, MPH, BHW

Development and influence of farm and corporate food lobbies.

The revolving door of government officials and lobbyists have influenced the governmental nutritional policies for many years. The lobbyist has used the contacts they have developed within social gathering to control and change dietary plans to their convenience. Giant food corporations have endorsed government officials when running for office or have strong-armed the officials to pass laws that may benefit the way they conduct business or prevent a bill from moving that may affect their corporations.

For example, Mr. Taylor is a lawyer who began his revolving-door adventures as counsel to FDA (Nestle, 2013), then he moved to a new firm becoming legal counsel for Monsanto. From there, he became a deputy commissioner for the FDA. At the same time, in that position, he approved GMOs in meat products, which benefited his previous client Monsanto, the most prominent developer of Genetically modified organisms. Which has harmed micronutrient absorption because of the composition of Genetically modified foods, also known as "fake food." But, the lobbyist that is concerned with the types of food that we intake has pushed to get these GMO products labeled via the GMO project.

A positive influence that food lobbyists have had is the dietary guideline changes, to help decrease obesity. The new guidelines recommend Americans to include more whole grains into their daily intake instead of refined grains. The guidelines also advise Americans to reduce the amount of added sugar in their diets (Heid, 2016). Changes are continually occurring in the food industry and could confuse many. It is better to research food intake recommendations, ingredients, and the manufacturers or growers that provide them for us. References Heid, M. (2016, January 8). Food Industry Lobbying and U.S. 2015 Dietary Guidelines. Retrieved from http://time.com/4130043/lobbying-politics-dietary-guidelines/ Nestle, Marion. Food Politics. University of California Press, 20130514. VitalBook file.


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