Posts Tagged ‘politics’

It’s a perfect straw man argument. To make the case that dietary guidelines with the personal stamp of RFK Jr. are revolutionary, HHS has resurrected the long-defunct food pyramid and turned it upside down. It perfectly satisfies the impulse to tell the nutrition establishment that they’re wrong about everything. But folks who know a thing […]

People who know a thing or two about nutrition continue to puzzle over the strange dish of commerce and politics served up in the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans. In a new editorial for the BMJ, Marion Nestle, one of the most influential authorities in the world on food policy, is blunt. Political and commercial […]

Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. yesterday announced muddled new Dietary Guidelines for Americans in which everyone can find plenty to love or hate – or both. These are the perfect guidelines for our era. TikTok nutrition influencers can spin them any way they want. RFK can tell everyone that he’s owning the so-called nutrition […]

The new year has brought a new natural experiment on the effects of restricting availability of “non-nutritious” foods. That’s a euphemism for junk foods. Policymakers who are opposed to regulating the availability of junk food – “a threat to freedom” – have no reluctance about regulating the freedom of people who need food assistance. Thus, […]

This has been quite a year that we are closing out on this New Year’s Eve. As we start another new year, we will be leaving behind an ample collection of curses we suffered and blessings we enjoyed in 2025. No doubt, you have your list. So here is our own brief list of the […]

A rupture of public trust occured this week. Information on the CDC website changed overnight, without input from scientists, to espouse the anti-vaccine agenda of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Specifically, the website now says “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the […]

Tired, poor, huddled masses, yearning to breathe free? Those words are “inoperative” now in the U.S. State Department. New guidance from the top suggests America doesn’t want people with obesity getting a visa enter the country. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has issued a directive to U.S. embassy and consular officials all over the world, […]

In 2016, the use of the word “numbskull” in English literature soared to a new high. It has remained high ever since. Though we cannot be sure why, we are confident that members of Congress are earning that label as they crash toward creating an utterly unnecessary American hunger crisis by cutting off SNAP food […]

UPDATE: Axios reports the administration has now reversed its decision that eliminated NHANES staff at CDC. It seems that tariff policy is not the only whipsaw game in town.   Pesky facts and data get in the way of policymakers who want to pursue their agenda. So should we be surprised that the critical staff […]