Reframing the Farm Bill

Another fascinating article in the NYT Sunday Magazine by my dietary hero, Michael Pollan. (If you haven’t read his essay “Unhappy Meals” yet, drop everything and do it. Now.) Pollan’s latest essay takes on Washington as it explores how the Farm Bill has influenced American diets. What was meant to be a simple support to retain independence of our food supply has become a major economic dysfunction that has led - directly, he suggests - to the obesity and health crises, as well as creating a destructive impact on the environment, global poverty and immigration.

Pollan’s solution is yet another great example of the power of framing. If we reframe the Farm Bill as the Food Bill, he suggests, it will put the issue in strict relief, refocusing the discourse in the appropriate c0ntext. After all, when a dollar can buy 1,200 calories of cookies or potato chips but only 250 calories of carrots, something is wrong with the way we have structured our nutritional infrastructure. The Farm Bill isn’t built in the best interest of our nation of eaters.

Pollan does a great job demonstrating how innovation, in this case, an economic policy innovation that’s been around for decades, can create unintended consequences for the broader ecosystem at large. And how something as simple as framing can be the first step in focusing the debate and solving the problem.

Pollan’s work is always fascinating and thought-provoking. Read it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/magazine/22wwlnlede.t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine&oref=slogin