Omnivore - Omnivore’s dilemma

Still undecided on who to vote for in the upcoming primaries and presidential election? Never fear — I’ve got the information to help you make up your mind: where the candidates stand on ... food! That’s right, health care, education and security might be kinda important, I guess, but where the candidates stand on issues of food is the real test.

OK, maybe not. But I did think it would be interesting to take a look at what different candidates had to say about our food supply and our farm communities, as well as food safety. Anyone who has followed the politics of food in the past few years, or read Michael Pollen’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, knows that government legislation is directly affecting what we eat, what is available to us and at what prices, and contributing to the obesity epidemic in America. So where do this crop of presidential candidates stand on these issues? I decided to check it out.

What follows is everything I could find on the top three Democratic and Republican candidate’s websites, as well as some searching on their voting records and press about their activities relating to these issues. It’s not the most appetizing stuff in the world, but I think it gives an interesting insight into how deeply some of them are thinking about an issue that probably won’t get a ton of attention in the upcoming elections.

Barack Obama

Obama is the only candidate I could find who specifically mentions supporting local and organic food on his website. Under the “Issues” tab in the section devoted to the steps Obama will take on issues related to agriculture, it reads:

Encourage Organic and Local Agriculture: Obama will help organic farmers afford to certify their crops and reform crop insurance to not penalize organic farmers. He also will promote regional food systems.

Obama also supports country-of-origin labeling, so consumers will know how far food has traveled to get to our shelves, and so shoppers have the option to consciously buy American.






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