Agriculture
Chair: Blanche Lincoln (D-AR)
- Max Baucus (D-MT)
- Michael Bennet (D-CO)
- Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
- Bob Casey (D-PA)
- Kent Conrad (D-ND)
- Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
- Tom Harkin (D-IA)
- Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
- Pat Leahy (D-VT)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
- Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
- Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- John Cornyn (R-TX)
- Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
- Mike Johanns (R-NE)
- Dick Lugar (R-IN)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Pat Roberts (R-KS)
- John R. Thune (R-SD)
Appropriations
Chair: Daniel Inouye (D-HI) Ag Sub-Committee
Chair: Herb Kohl (D-WI)
- Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
- Dick Durbin (D-IL)
- Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
- Tom Harkin (D-IA)
- Tim Johnson (D-SD)
- Ben Nelson (D-NE)
- Jack Reed (D-RI)
- Robert Bennett (R-UT)
- Christopher Bond (R-MO)
- Sam Brownback (R-KS)
- Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Arlen Specter (R-PA)
Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions
- Chris Dodd (D-CT)
Agriculture
Chair: B Collin Peterson (D-MN)
V. Chair: B Tim Holden (D-PA)
B Joe Baca (D-CA)
- John Boccieri (D-OH)
B* Leonard Boswell (D-IA)
- Bobby Bright (D-AL)
B* Dennis Cardoza (D-CA)
- Travis Childers (D-MS)
B Jim Costa (D-CA)
- Henry Cuellar (D-TX)
- Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA)
B Brad Ellsworth (D-IN)
- Debbie Halvorson (D-IL)
B Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD)
- Steve Kagen (D-WI)
- Larry Kissell (D-NC)
B Frank Kratovil (D-MD)
- Betsy Markey (D-CO)
B Jim Marshall (D-GA)
P Eric Massa (D-NY)
B Mike McIntyre (D-NC)
- Walt Minnick (D-ID)
B Earl Pomeroy (D-ND)
- Mark Schauer (D-MI)
- Kurt Schrader (D-OR)
B David Scott (D-GA)
B Zachary Space (D-OH)
- Timothy Walz (D-MN)
- Frank Lucas (R-OK)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- K. Michael Conaway (R-TX)
- Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)
- Virginia Foxx (R-NC)
- Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
- Sam Graves (R-MO)
- Timothy Johnson (R-IL)
- Steve King (R-IA)
- Robert Latta (R-OH)
- Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)
- Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
- Jerry Moran (R-KS)
- Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)
- Phil Roe (R-TN)
- Mike Rogers (R-AL)
- Jean Schmidt (R-OH)
- Adrian Smith (R-NE)
- Glenn Thompson (R-PA) *=House Organic Caucus member B=Blue Dog Democrat
Appropriations
Chair: Dave Obey (D-WI) Ag Sub-Committee
Chair: P Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
- Sanford Bishop (D-GA)
* Allen Boyd (D-FL)
- Lincoln Davis (D-TN)
*P Sam Farr (D-CA)
*P Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY)
P Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
P Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
- Jack Kingston (R-GA)
- Rodney Alexander (R-LA)
- Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO)
* Tom Latham (R-IA) *=House Organic Caucus member
P=Congressional Progressive Caucus
Education and Labor
P Chair: George Miller (D-CA)
- Jason Altmire (D-PA)
- Robert Andrews (D-NJ)
- Timothy Bishop (D-NY)
P Yvette Clarke (D-NY)
- Joe Courtney (D-CT)
- Susan Davis (D-CA)
P Marcia Fudge (D-OH)
P Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
P Phil Hare (D-IL)
- Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX)
P Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
- Rush Holt (D-NJ)
- Dale Kildee (D-MI)
P Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
P Dave Loebsack (D-IA)
- Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
P Donald Payne (D-NJ)
- Jared Polis (D-CO)
- Robert Scott (D-VA)
- Joe Sestak (D-PA)
- Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH)
P John Tierney (D-MA)
- Dina Titus (D-NV)
- Paul Tonko (D-NY)
P Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
- David Wu (D-OR)
- Buck McKeon (R-CA)
- Judy Biggert (R-IL)
- Rob Bishop (R-UT)
- Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
- Michael Castle (R-DE)
- Vernon Ehlers (R-MI)
- Luis F Fortuno (R-PR)
- Brett Guthrie (R-KY)
- Peter Hoekstra (R-MI)
- Duncan D. Hunter (R-CA)
- John Kline (R-MN)
- Kenny Marchant (R-TX)
- Tom McClintock (R-CA)
- Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
- Thomas Petri (R-WI)
- Phil Roe (R-TN)
- Todd Russell Platts (R-PA)
- Tom Price (R-GA)
- Mark Souder (R-IN)
- GT Thompson (R-PA)
- Joe Wilson (R-SC) P=Congressional Progressive Caucus
Sorry for the harsh language, but I believe it is warranted. CSPI has called on McDonalds to stop giving out toys with Happy Meals. And I can't agree with them more. One of the biggest eating problems in the U.S. today is that we choose what we eat (and how much we eat) for reasons other than "I'm hungry." Teaching children at such a young age to choose their food based on toy give-aways is entirely insidious. And it has the effect of exposing them to absolutely awful-for-you food that, for some people, can trigger truly out of control eating throughout their lives (see the book The End of Overeating by David Kessler).
As a parent, the toys are crap and don't get played with very often once they come home (the exception being that stupid Kidz Bop CD they gave away, which our kids still listen to nonstop), but the variety of prizes and constant advertising of something new entices the kids to ask for Happy Meals over and over, always having a reason why they need one NOW ("But I haven't gotten that new toy yet!!!"). And they make anything a parent cooks for the kid automatically less fun because it doesn't come with a toy.
So what was McDonald's response?
"Happy Meals are a fun treat, with right-sized, quality food choices."
You've gotta be kidding me. A study by CSPI found that 93% of kids meals at McDonalds contain too many calories for children ages 4 to 8. Many are also too high in saturated fat and sodium. But did anyone really need a study to prove that McDonald's doesn't serve "right-sized, quality food choices" in its Happy Meals?
When the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Advisory Committee Report came out the other day, I shot an email over to Jeff Cronin at CSPI to ask what he thought. His response was so great that I replied, asking if I could post it on my blog. Here's what he said:
Our take is - and was in 2005 too - that what the government does to help Americans eat according to the guidelines is more important than the guidelines document itself. It's perfectly good advice but we're eating no where close to it as a population. But hopefully the Dietary Guidelines for Americans document itself (this is just the advisory committee report) will focus more on food than nutrients, like you say. Remember when the food pyramid had actual FOOD on it?
That said, changing the Daily Value for sodium to 1500 mg might be likely to spur some reforumulation to reduce salt in packaged foods--and will give consumers better context when they read nutrition facts labels. But still, we want government nutrition policy oriented around that recommendation.
Good point. What good are nutrition recommendations if everything else in food & ag policy leads Americans to eat foods that make them sick?
Jeff also asked that I link to CSPI's Nutrition Policy Directory Margo Wootan's statement, which you can read at the link.
The Center For Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) put out a new PDF report of the 10 riskiest foods.*
*Regulated by the FDA
The FDA regulates produce, seafood, dairy, and shell eggs. They aren't in charge of meat - otherwise it's likely that you'd see ground beef on this list. Another factor that should be considered is how often a food is actually consumed in this country. Leafy greens are consumed frequently in salads and sandwiches, whereas oysters are (for most people) a rare treat. That means that while leafy greens might be responsible for more overall outbreaks and cases of food poisoning, an eater might face greater risk by eating oysters. All caveats aside, here's the list:
What many of these foods have in common is that they are delicate, hard to wash, and often consumed raw (sprouts, berries, and leafy greens). The egg incidents are interesting, as half occurred in restaurants "and other food establishments" and many actually occurred in prisons! More than 70% of tomato outbreaks were linked to restaurants, as were 40% of potato outbreaks (often to potato salad).
My tips to reduce your risk:
1. Buy local from someone you know and trust
2. Skip the bagged, washed leafy greens
3. Grow your own (and in the case of sprouts, be careful to get seeds that aren't tainted)
4. Get some backyard chickens (seriously!)
5. Cook your own food instead of eating out
6. Thoroughly cook your eggs (don't eat them runny - especially in restaurants)
7. Properly refrigerate potato salad and other foods
8. Beware of undercooked eggs in homemade ice cream
Notably not on this list are raw milk and almonds.
I was reading this from the EU official site, which obviously monitors food trends from across the planet!
The Center for Science in the Public Interest has urged Pennsylvanian officials to ignore the advice of a task force on trans fat, which concluded that a mandatory ban
"could be more harmful from a health perspective".
According to the Pennsylvania Trans Fat Task Force, it was set up to devise a strategy to reduce the state's consumption of trans fat, and concluded that a public education program combined with industry encouragement to make the switch could be more effective than an outright ban.
Many people who make our food system what it is are well-meaning - even if they are peddling junk. Sometimes people just never really thought things through, or they don't realize the harm foods can cause to human health or to the environment. Rick Berman is NOT well-meaning. And you should know his name. When Berman or his groups, the Center for Consumer Freedom, the Guest Choice Network, the Employment Policies Institute (which includes the site Center for Union Facts), and the American Beverage Institute, pop up in the news, we'll want to be ready with some good letters to the editor to send in to any paper that quotes him as a legitimate source of information.
I'd like to do this as a diary series, and I invite everyone here to join me in writing about other bigtime assholes whose names we should know - Terry Etherton (pro-rBGH blogger extraordinaire) and Dale Bauman (pro-rBGH scientific prostitute for Monsanto), etc. For some gooood info, check out the site Sourcewatch.
