…[L]ike nearly every election before it, the current one has been nearly 100 percent free of any debate around the federal government’s massive role in shaping and regulating the food system. To get a grip on the vital food and farm issues we’re not hearing about, I interviewed Mark Bittman, the legendary home-cooking master and pundit…
…He offered a harsh analysis of how President Barack Obama dealt with food and farm issues, echoing a recent New York Times Magazine piece by Michael Pollan. The current president once “talked a fairly decent game on changing the food system,” Bittman said, “but did virtually nothing in eight years.”
. . . .
Bittman defends Pollan’s criticism of Obama, revealing that there was one “way, way easy” thing the president could have done without congressional interference, but didn’t, to take on the meat industry and protect public health:
Removing antibiotics from the routine use and production of animals is something that there’s precedent for… mandate; it didn’t need to go through Congress…
. . . .
…If Clinton wins, will she take on things like GMO labeling and antibiotics as president? “It sort of depends where her soul is at,” [Bittman] said.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post and listen to the podcast: The One Thing Obama Could Have Done to Fix Food—But Didn’t
