National Food Policy Conference, April 15-16, Washington DC

The Consumer Federation of America's National Food Policy Conference is an always-fascinating annual tradition. 

For 36 years, the National Food Policy Conference has been a Washington institution and a unique collaboration between consumer advocates, the food industry and government.  The conference is organized by the Consumer Federation of America and is a key national gathering for those interested in agriculture, food and nutrition policy.

This year’s conference will explore an array of important food policy issues facing consumers and the food industry. The conference will explore how immigration reform might impact our food supply and discuss the future of food shopping. Speakers and panelists will examine timely food policy topics including the debate on sugar sweetened beverages, the impact of changing animal welfare standards, an update on implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act, the opportunities and challenges of sodium reduction, and priority setting in a time of reduced resources.

Register today using the registration tab.  Reduced registration fees are available for college and graduate students. 

Check back here for the latest conference updates and information.Follow us on Twitter and join the conversation at #FPC2013.

A few years ago, I enjoyed participating in a debate about agricultural subsidies at this event, as part of a panel including former U.S. Rep. Charlie Stenholm, the Environmental Working Group's Ken Cook, and Bread for the World's David Beckmann, and hosted by NPR's Dan Charles.

Consuming Kids Summit in Boston, March 21-23

For readers concerned about children's media and advertising issues:

Are you outraged by what’s marketed to children these days—junk toys, junk food, violent media, sexualized clothing? Do you believe it’s wrong that corporations have so much influence on children’s lives? Do you think children need more play time and less screen time? Do you want to do something about it?

Come to CCFC’s 8th annual Consuming Kids Summit in Boston on March 21-23. Learn. Network. Meet and mingle with today’s leading scholars, activists, and researchers—and people like you who believe that children should be nurtured, not manipulated for profit. Find out what you can do to stop the commercial exploitation of children.

This year’s summit features an amazing array of speakers, including many—like  advertising legend Alex Bogusky, the Praxis Project’s Makani Themba, and Melissa Wardy of Pigtail Pals and Ballcap Buddies—who will be presenting for the first time at a CCFC summit. We’re also thrilled to welcome back old friends like Tim Kasser, Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Diane Levin, and Michele Simon. Click here to learn more about our presenters and then don’t forget to register!

Disclosure, corporate sponsorship, and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND)

Ethan Bergman, president of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), responded in a press release on Jan. 23 to Michele Simon's critical report about corporate sponsorship at the national dietetics group (which U.S. Food Policy covered last week).

A key part of Bergman's response was his statement that AND has its own independent and "statistically sound" sample survey demonstrating "continued support" from dietitians for the Academy's current corporate sponsorship practices and policies:

Each year, the Academy utilizes Performance Research, an independent, third-party research company, to examine a random selection of members that is a statistically sound representation of the Academy membership as a whole. The results from these representative surveys have shown an increased awareness and continued support of the sponsorship program.

Since last week, I have been asking AND's media office to send the questions, results, and sampling methods.  I wanted to share this information with my statistics students, because it shows how discussions of sampling methods can matter for real-world high-profile policy debates, and I wanted to do a blog post noting the survey's key results.  Today, the media office confirmed that they will not disclose this information:

I apologize, but we do not share the survey or its results with outside professionals. I appreciate your interest in the issue, especially with regard to your students, and apologize for the inconvenience.

The response is polite and professional, but it still seems to me quite unsatisfactory.  If the Performance Research survey is so reassuring and statistically sound, it seems quite odd not to share it with the public.

Also this week, because this debate heightens people's awareness that funding sources are connected to the perceived credibility of public interest research and writing, I asked Michele Simon who funded her report.  She responded that, at the request of the funder, she could not disclose this information.

I feel considerable admiration for all people trying to make a living doing good work in the public interest.  Each in their own way, Michele Simon and AND make hard choices about research funding in order to make possible the work they do to promote a healthier and more nutritious food system.

Still, let me speak up in favor of more disclosure all around.  The public is not stupid.  We can handle this information without overreacting.

Comfort Food Cookbooks

I love exploring the Russian grocery stores out on Geary Street in San Francisco and often purchase luscious sour cream, delicate blini and caviar, sweet cheese pancakes, frozen pelmeni and vareniki dumplings and different varieties of smoked fish. So I was very excited to see that A Taste of Russia by Darra Goldstein was being reprinted on the occasion of it's 30th anniversary. It's filled with all kinds of dishes I want to make such as Piroskhi, Cabbage with Noodles and Poppy Seeds, Radishes in Sour Cream, Cranberry Kvass and Circassian chicken. It's my first Russian cookbook and while lacking photos, it does cover all the basics with recipes that are easy to follow and helpful and enlightening notes from the author who spent time living in the former Soviet Union. I think this Valentine's Day I might make a Russian feast!

Another book that recently caught my eye isBreakfast for Dinner. Clearly I'm not the only one to resort to breakfast for dinner on tough days. I love the quote in the beginning of the book that says "…eating breakfast, even if it's at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, is a sign that the day just begun and good things can still happen." The cookbook is divided into sections--main dishes, sides & starters, drinks & desserts. The egg, biscuit, waffle and pancake variations make perfect sense to me, though I think recipes like Cornflake Crusted Chicken Tenders and Grapefruit Risotto with Seared Scallops are a bit of a stretch. Just using cornflakes or grapefruit doesn't really make it breakfast. But whether you are looking for new ideas for breakfast or for dinner, there are lots of brilliant recipes like Habanero-Cheddar Bread Pudding, Scrambled Egg & Salmon Quesadillas and Bananas Foster Crepe Cake. 

Maybe it's just my love for potatoes, but another cuisine I associate with comfort is Irish food. Cooking teacher Rachel Allen's latest book is Rachel's Irish Family Food and it has loads of dishes that while nothing fancy are particularly appealing this time of year. I've bookmarked Ham and Egg Pie, Oatcakes, Beef and Red Wine Pot Pie and Whole Grain Shortbread. Many of the recipes are very simple and for things I'm not sure I really need a recipe for like Salmon with Capers and Dill, Slow Roasted Shoulder of Pork and Creamy Mashed Potatoes, but if you are just starting out cooking, are firmly in the meat and potatoes camp or are just looking for more options on St Patrick's day, this book is a good pick. 

Salty foods make me happy but imagine for a minute if you had to give up salt. How would you make food taste good? Sodium Girl blogger Jessica Goldman Foung has painstakingly experimented to figure out how to make some of her favorite foods without adding salt or even using salty ingredients. While I'm not giving up olives or blue cheese anytime soon, I learned a lot from reading her book, Sodium Girl's Limitless Low-Sodium Cookbook (with fab photos from fellow blogger/photographer Matt Armendariz). There are nifty substitutions plus tips and techniques for getting the most flavor out of food without salt using spices and garlic or garlic powder, umami broth and sometimes emphasizing the natural sweetness in foods. She even has cheese free versions of macaroni and cheese and quiche that sound and look very comforting. While this book is primarily for those who need to give up salt, there's a lot in it we can all learn.

Disclaimer: This post includes Amazon affiliate links and I received the books as review copies. 

Agreement with Mexico about tomato imports

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Feb. 2 announced a new agreement with Mexico, under which Mexico's tomato exports must satisfy a minimum price.

In adopting a moderately protectionist policy by mutual agreement, the two countries avoid a trade conflict that could have harmed their commerce more seriously.

"I applaud the good work of Undersecretary Sánchez and the Commerce Department to forge this important agreement to allow our domestic tomato industry to compete on a level playing field. The draft agreement meets the requirements of U.S. antidumping law and provides an effective remedy for our domestic tomato producers, further bolstering agriculture as a bright spot in our nation's economy. Ultimately, the Obama Administration forged an agreement that will restore stability and confidence to the U.S. tomato market and ensure fair trade in fresh tomatoes through increased reference prices, coverage and strengthened enforcement. The United States is one of the world's leading producers of tasty, high-quality tomatoes. Our U.S. fresh and processed tomatoes account for more than $2 billion in cash receipts and support thousands of American jobs in our food industry, shipping, processing and more."

Undersecretary Francisco J. Sánchez

The U.S. Food Policy blog recently discussed how agricultural labor markets in Mexico and the United States are interconnected.  If it is true that agricultural wages in Mexico are rising, it becomes easier for Mexico to agree to a price floor for Mexican tomato exports, addressing multiple problems simultaneously.  In a 2010 article for the Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics (may be gated), Friedman School graduate student Wendy Johnecheck, Julie Caswell, and I studied the possible impact of hypothetical country-of-origin labeling (COOL) regulations on the U.S.-Mexican trade in tomatoes.

In my class on U.S. food policy, we explore (a) some occasions when import-competing businesses (such as U.S. tomato growers) have convinced the government to put up protective barriers and (b) other occasions when such barriers have been resisted by advocacy coalitions led by import buyers (such as major retail chains) and other U.S. agricultural industries that rely on exports (such as wheat producers).  These U.S. advocacy coalitions are politically important, because, of course, Mexican producer groups have no direct representation in the U.S. Congress.

A former student from this class today pointed out yesterday's New York Times coverage of the new tomato deal, which echoes these points.  In the article, Stephanie Strom explains the advocacy coalitions that make the new policy politically feasible:

The Mexicans enlisted roughly 370 American businesses, including Wal-Mart Stores and meat and vegetable producers, to argue their cause. Those businesses feared a bitter trade war like the one the Mexicans waged over trucking, which imposed stiff tariffs on American goods headed south. 

From the Environmental Working Group: Good Food on a Tight Budget

Should dietary guidance advice encompass environmental issues?

The federal government's Dietary Guidelines for Americans document does address some issues beyond just diet, including both physical activity and food safety.  For a number of reasons, environmental issues are not yet included.

But several interesting efforts have gone further.

A classic source is the 1986 article "Dietary Guidelines for Sustainability," by Joan Dye Gussow and Kate Clancy (may be gated).

One more recent resource, which incorporates environmental issues into a dietary guidance graphic akin to MyPyramid or MyPlate is the Barilla Double Pyramid: "Good for you, sustainable for the planet."

Another resource, from Fall 2012, is the "Good Food on a Tight Budget" guidance from the Environmental Working Group.  In this video, EWG's Dawn Undurraga -- a Friedman School alum and former U.S. food policy student -- explains how the guide combines both diet and nutrition issues.

The most droll line in the video comes from a chef, who said (unless I misheard it!): "Income is not consistent with my life right now."

Competitive foods in schools: new developments from CDC and FNS

The "competitive foods" served in vending machines and snack bars outside of the federal school meals programs strongly affect both the economic viability of these programs and healthfulness of the nutrition environment for U.S. children.

It is widely thought that competitive foods are necessary for child nutrition programs to succeed economically, but I am not so sure.  In an article in Choices Magazine a couple years ago, a student and I discussed how competitive foods look from the perspective of a school nutrition director who is trying to break even across multiple lines of business:

Any successful business must understand the economic interactions across its product lines, but these interactions are particularly intense for a school food service. A child who consumes a reimbursable lunch and breakfast will have lower demand for a la carte items, while a child who skips a real meal may be hungrier for a snack. This interaction means that school food service decisions about competitive foods strongly affect the federal school meals program, and vice versa.

I suspect that having strong rules to rein in competitive foods may actually strengthen the hand of school food service directors who want to make a healthy meals program economically sustainable.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently posted a new report (.pdf) summarizing state policies regarding "competitive foods" outside of the federal school meals programs.  One nice surprise is the states that appeared to have the strongest rules.  Hawaii and West Virginia were ranked by the CDC in the "third quartile" of adherence to nutrition policy standards; no states ranked in the "fourth quartile."  (I'll ask my statistics class this week whether there might have been a better word than "quartile" for this particular ranking method).

The CDC website has all sorts of great resources for people who want to get involved in encouraging good policies in their own states and communities.

Today, USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) announced proposed regulations for competitive foods in vending machines and snack bars.  Highlights, according to the FNS summary, include:

• More of the foods we should encourage.  Promoting availability of healthy snack foods with whole grains, low fat dairy, fruits, vegetables or protein foods as their main ingredients.
• Less of the foods we should avoid.  Ensuring that snack food items are lower in fat, sugar, and sodium and provide more of the nutrients kids need.
• Targeted standards.  Allowing variation by age group for factors such as beverage portion size and caffeine content.
• Flexibility for important traditions.  Preserving the ability for parents to send in bagged lunches of their choosing or treats for activities such as birthday parties, holidays, and other celebrations; and allowing schools to continue traditions like occasional fundraisers and bake sales.
• Reasonable limitations on when and where the standards apply.  Ensuring that standards only affect foods that are sold on school campus during the school day.  Foods sold at an afterschool sporting event or other activity will not be subject to these requirements.
• Flexibility for state and local communities.  Allowing significant local and regional autonomy by only establishing minimum requirements for schools. States and schools that have stronger standards than what is being proposed will be able to maintain their own policies.
• Significant transition period for schools and industry.  The standards will not go into effect until at least one full school year after public comment is considered and an implementing rule is published to ensure that schools and vendors have adequate time to adapt.

The proposed regulations will be open to public comment for 60 days.  I look forward to reading them, but also will be glad for your suggestions about which sections seem most interesting.