When Walter Willett speaks, people listen. Among the world’s most cited nutrition researchers, Willett, who chaired the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health for 25 years, has been an outspoken advocate for evidence-based policies that run counter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s cozy relationship with the food industry for over four decades. He campaigned to discredit the USDA’s food guide pyramid, a deeply flawed and now-defunct infographic that was shaped by agribusiness lobbyists; he has steadfastly criticized the agency — and the dairy industry — for unscientifically pushing milk as a superfood; and he fought tirelessly to get trans fats out of our food supply (they were eventually banned in 2015).

Willett’s record isn’t entirely unblemished, however. He’s been criticized by some for oversimplifying science for the sake of delivering a clear public health message and for allowing his ideological views to influence his research. Others, meanwhile, have lambasted the field of nutrition science itself, citing, among other challenges, the messy nature of observational studies.

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Anti-hunger advocates and the beverage industry often frame their opposition in abstract terms of the loss of the cherished value of freedom of choice, a foundational principle of our society and market economy. But as the Johns Hopkins University bioethicist Nancy Kass has keenly observed, we all make food choices within established parameters. Our consumption behavior is not free at all, she notes in a 2014 American Journal of Public Health article, but constrained by the environment in which we live. Access, location, and even our meal companions all affect our dietary choices. Similarly, the external environment through marketing (such as store-level signage and product placement) and advertising affects our ability to make healthy choices.

…continue reading ‘The Identity Crisis of America’s Largest Anti-Hunger Program’

Thumb image via MIT Press Reader

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