Section 3: How does Big Food influence government decision making?
As explained in previous sections, Big Food has immense power to influence government decision making. It is important to understand how Big Food is able to participate and use the political system to their advantage. The main way that Big Food influences government decision making is through lobbying. Lobbying is a common practice within the American political system that is utilized by industries to further their interests. Lobbying manifests in two major ways within the political system. Industries lobby Congress for favorable regulations, and the White House for beneficial trade agreements. For this purpose of this thesis, the aspect of lobbying surrounding favorable regulations in Congress will be explored as it pertains to Big Food. There are two ways in which lobbyists working for Big Food obtain favorable regulations in Congress. The first is the recurrent pattern of job exchanges between federal officials and lobbyists. This career pattern of lobbyist to federal official or vice versa is well known within politics. In fact this occurs so often that the metaphor associated with this pattern is often called the “revolving door.” The graph below illustrates just how prevalent this
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The increase of the “revolving door” correlates with the prominence of lobbying in the United States as an industry. This is evident as the lucrativeness of Washington lobbying has grown staggeringly since the 1990s. Big Food is not immune to the “revolving door.” In fact, it occurs more often between lobbyists and government bodies such as the USDA because agency heads for departments are appointed politically. These appointments are picked due to support of the department’s initiatives and political party affiliation. While there are dozens of cases to exemplify this career pattern, the biggest person to discuss is JoAnn Smith of the USDA and Dr. John Hathcock of the
In order to right the ship that is America’s food industry, we need to recognize the monopolies in the U.S food industry. These massive food conglomerates must be broken up in order to create competition in the market. This will allow the completion to dictate the market. More companies means more competition, and when companies compete, the consumer wins.
Hamilton provides an inside look at how congress really works and clears up popular misconception that make members of congress look like wasteful bickering crooks that support gridlock and are only concerned with the needs of interest groups and lobbyists. Hamilton argues that Congress has changed for the better throughout the years and that they are held at higher standards than they were before. Hamilton states that Congress is not only working at keeping the public happy but that have recently become faced with a lot more issues than before, they are not only more issues but more complicated and technical that are very high risk policies that take a long time to produce a decision (Hamilton, 1988, 65). Hamilton states that Congress is a system in which the viewpoints of everyone are taken into account and make sure there is a consensus when it comes to defining decisions. Even though many of us acknowledge that lobbyist and special interest groups play an essential role in the law making party, Congress is making an effort to make sure that everyone’s voice is heard. Congress is making sure that the balance of power is distributed properly. In recent years, there has been a decline in mega-lobbies and interest groups so that not only the wealthy powerful get their voice heard, but the everyday american people get an opinion in things that affect them as well. In Gary Lee’s article, The NRA Has Lost some Firepower, we can see that interest groups are beginning to have less of an influence on larger political decisions (Hamilton, 1988, 65). For example, the National Rifle Association’s defeat in the battle over the “Brady bill” and their war towards trying to revamp Medicaid was a great loss for lobbyists and
Nestle, Marion. Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002.
In the documentary, Food Inc., we get an inside look at the secrets and horrors of the food industry. The director, Robert Kenner, argues that most Americans have no idea where their food comes from or what happens to it before they put it in their bodies. To him, this is a major issue and a great danger to society as a whole. One of the conclusions of this documentary is that we should not blindly trust the food companies, and we should ultimately be more concerned with what we are eating and feeding to our children. Through his investigations, he hopes to lift the veil from the hidden world of food.
Food Inc. mentions, “In the 1970s, the top five beef-packers controlled only about 25% of the market. Today, the top four control more than 80% of the market.” The main point during this section is trying to get across is that big corporations care mostly about making money and that to them, quantity above quality. From a political standpoint, many people like presidents of these major companies also work for the FDA and the USDA, allowing them to have a say on regulations.
‘Fast Food Nation’ by Eric Schlosser traces the history of fast food industry from old hot dog stands to the billion dollar franchise companies established as America spread its influence of quick, easy and greasy cuisine around the globe. It is a brilliant piece of investigative journalism that looks deep into the industries that have profited from the American agriculture business, while engaging in labor practices that are often shameful.
Throughout time new developments have taken a toll over our lives, but in the industry field things have taken a dramatic change, changing the farming methods used to produce. As Mark Hyman states in one of his quotes, “In the 21st century our taste buds, our brain chemistry, our biochemistry, our hormones and our kitchens have been hijacked by the food industry,” the government and industry companies have corrupted our mind set. Food, Inc., released in 2009, addresses the topic of corporate farming, and argues that the industries are producing unhealthy food for society. Director Robert Kenner filmed this documentary to aware all consumers of the dangers corporates are doing, which is only benefiting them and harming the society with the food they are producing and that in some cases is killing people due to the bacteria it contains. Corporate industries, government agencies, and private
These pluralistic interest groups are free to operate and lobby in the political arena, fighting against the majority and other competing factions for voice in Congress. With the influence of multiple factions operating throughout the political system, a balance of power is created (Kernell 2000, 429). This is much like the international theory of sovereign states balancing each other’s power to create a political system that focuses on stability, yet is always in a constant flux of power. With this in mind, special interest groups are constantly contending for power by raising money, campaigning, and lobbying in Congress. When a special interest group is threatened by a competing policy, the group will organize efforts to balance, or transcend the power of the competing group.
For years now the lobbyists have held far too much power over our lawmaking process. A process meant to benefit the hardworking American people not the lazy clientele of the lobbyists groups simply sitting around getting rich. Lawmakers bending to the will of big businesses both left and right, abandoning conscious decisions to better this beautiful country we live in. new regulations and blocks will make great strides in the right direction to help to put a stop to an ever growing, ever sickening problem in American politics today.
Oshodi Professor Sherifian GOVT 2306-73011 05 April 2017 Lobbyists and Interest Groups in Texas Since “we the people” have little influence in decision making in terms of laws passed and rejected by the legislature, interest groups have always being our voice in the midst of the law-makers. These interest groups employ lobbyists to enter into the inner chambers of these law-makers to lobby them in order to bend laws towards the interest of what they stand for, which most of the time is what “we the people” also stand for. According to my research, lobbying involves spending money on entertaining the law-makers, their employees, and even their relatives. Recently, these lobbyists have failed to disclose who they lobbied with
According to Patterson (2013), inside lobbying is the strategy to develop and maintain close contacts with policymakers, and outside lobbying brings constituency pressure to bear on policymakers. Inside lobbying plays directly to politicians in order to personally influence them. Inside lobbying happens within the Capitol and can be made up of former elected officials. Congressional committees, the senate, and interest groups work together to expand on their political influence. They influence and discuss with lawmakers and other officials to get laws they want passed. Inside lobbying use the courts, congress, and even the executive branch to find ways to highly influence lawmakers with their views and what policy changes they want done. On
Lobbyists are people with strong communication who seek the favors of influential people to enact a change in their community. They may achieve this through earnest proposals, petitions, favors, or bribery. From labor unions to the local senior citizen club, lobbyists are found just about everywhere. Many people naturally associate lobbying with the evil, dark side. It is important to know that lobbying itself is not a negative action. In fact, pos...
Average consumers enjoy eating what they want when they want. But all of that may come to an end soon; due to the government regulating our food. Some may agree with this decision while others may provide a negative attitude. If regulating our food will please the government let them, it will only upset them in the end. This notion will cause stores to lose money, it will cause children to stop eating at school, and in all out reality, it is not their choice to choose what people eat.
The fact is that in our country, any government intrusion looks undesirable. We are so used to making free choice and to having access to everything we need and want that we have already forgotten the value and usefulness of the government control. No, that does not mean that the government must control everything and everyone. What I mean here is that the government control should be balanced with the freedom of choice. Unfortunately, plentiful foods do not lead to improved health conditions. We cannot always make a relevant choice. Our hurried lifestyles make us extremely fast, and eating is not an exception. We eat fast, but fast does not always mean useful. I believe, and in this essay I argue that the government must have a say in our diets. Because there are so many obese people, because obesity is an expensive disease, and because very often it is due to poverty that people cannot afford healthy foods, the government must control the amount and the range of foods which we buy and eat. Healthy foods must become affordable. Poor populations must have access to high quality foods. The production of harmful foods should be limited. All these would be impossible if the government does not take active position against our diets.
The most common methods used to influence the government or affect policy outcomes are lobbying, bribery and political campa...