Debbie and All,

I watched the entire segment with baited breath, just waiting for the
mentioning of infant formula and it's role in the fatness of Americans.
But no, not one word. The only hint of anything to do with infant food was
a comment about how "it all starts with the pureed baby food dessert..."

Here are some points in the broadcast that I wanted to try to remember to
share with you all:

- Tommy Thompson seems like a fraud - his entire semi-chubby (Secretary of
Health?!) demeanor was cocky and nonchalant. When Peter Jennings asked him
questions about what the government was doing to discourage subsidies to
the corn industry (corn being the single most common byproduct in
processed foods) and also encourage food corporations to be more
responsible in their manufacturing of healthier products, he made bland
statements shifting the responsibility to congress. He kept saying that
congress has been making these decisions for years and in so many words,
he was not able to make the changes. He acted so unconcerned, even Mr.
Jennings was obviously surprised and irritated by Thompson's lack of
leadership concerning the government's role in all of this.

- Apparently, food corporations give large sums of money every year to
their friends in congress. This is such a significant part of why not much
is getting done in Washington in terms of the obesity problem in our
country. Corn is a huge profit-run industry, endorsed with money from the
government - this corn goes into cattle feed (which cows were never meant
to ingest but since they do, they *also* need the gazillion gallons of
antibiotics that they are given on a regular basis to keep them healthy).
The corn is actually a cheap way to sweeten foods (high fructose corn
syrup is in everything from breads to jams to crackers, look on your
labels in your cabinets, it alarming). I remember Dr. Andrew Weil once
saying that high fructose corn syrup could kill a person if fed
exclusively, intravenously, as opposed to its unaltered form, corn syrup,
which could sustain life if fed the same way. Anyway, the point is, is
that the government tells us to eat lots of fruit and vegetables and less
processed foods, yet look at the funding for crop farmers: fruit and
vegetables get the least subsidies while corn farmers get the most. It's
all backwards - the lip service is undermined by the almighty dollar.

- There were interviews with advertising executives who admitted to
designing ads aimed at children, but it ultimately was "the parents'
responsibility" to decide what kids eat. Despite the fact that there's
the "Nag Factor" which advertisers bank on to make their money - it's a
proven fact that if kids see something on TV that they are persuaded to
want and "need" they will in turn "nag" their parents for it until finally
the parents cave and buy the product. Even if every parent in the country
falls to the pressure of the nagging just once, that is a lot of profit
for the manufacturer pushing that product.

- There was discussion about the Tobacco industry and how its rise and
fall in advertising and its negative effects on the health of our nation
is paralleled in the obesity epidemic. Experts said that the cost of the
diseases and illnesses which stem from fatness are amounting to billions
of dollars every year, AVOIDABLE spending, if the government would step in
a curb the food industry's marketing control over consumers. It was clear
that Tommy Thompson does not think the government should ban food
marketing to children (as is done in Australia, Sweden, and a few other
countries). It is also clear that he does not view the obesity problem as
an issue warranting significant government action - he even said that we
should not be taking the "negative" approach to this problem but instead
offer "rewards" to the food industry for acting "responsibly." Kraft
Foods, for example, has decided to "act responsibly" by taking off one
gram of fat from each serving of their higher-in-fat products, in order
not to decrease fat intake by just a little bit but not alter the taste of
their beloved naughty foods. This is considered "responsible."

- I wondered if this was taped after the recent controversy surrounding
the Ad Council. Mr. Thompson was so quick to throw out the "let's-use-
positive-incentives" comment that is just seemed hard to believe that he
came up with that one on the spot. Could it be that he's cahorting with
the rest of the pack who is more interested in money than the health of
our nation? Seems very likely to me after watching this program.

-I was very impressed with Mr. Jenning's 60 Minutes-like questioning
during the interviews. He asked all of the right questions, and at the end
of the broadcast in his closing statement said, "How long will it take the
government to act?"

Please send your letters of thanks to ABC for doing this special - this
broadcasting company put their own sponsor in the spotlight (Disney), a
known advertiser to children. It was sweet to see this industry in the hot
seat.

On the heals of this program I think ABC would be quite receptive to the
Formula Industry's role in making people unhealthy and fat...

Megan
Mom to 4 children ages 1-7; volunteer breastfeeding counselor for
www.nursingmoms.org

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