WASHINGTON — When it comes to food fights in this town, the green veggies just get creamed.
That’s because politicians have potatoes in the ears, experts told The Daily. And that might not be the best thing for addressing America’s unhealthy eating habits.
Even though the U.S. is a leading producer of green vegetables, those industries just don’t make their voices heard like the potato lobby, which helped make hash out of new limits that would have gone into effect this year on how often kids could be served french fries in school cafeterias. “The problem is, there’s no broccoli association,” said Dr. Margo Wootan, the director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
In November, the powerful National Potato Council pushed for Congress to curtail what kind of reforms the U.S. Department of Agriculture can make in school lunch guidelines. The agency was ready to implement advice based on a report from the Institute of Medicine that said kids should have only one cup of starchy vegetables at school per week as part of a regimen to reduce childhood obesity and diabetes.
But then the Potato Council hosted a press conference with senators from potato-growing states. Shortly thereafter, the Senate wrote an amendment to the 2012 agriculture spending bill forbidding the USDA from “setting any maximum limits on the serving of vegetables in school meal programs.”
Even some pols in potato-producing states were perplexed.
“No one can help but to look at us and scratch their heads when we say that french fries count as a healthy, nutritious vegetable,” said Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., on the House floor.
“Agribusiness is a significant lobby around there. And this is what they wanted — unfortunately, it’s what they got,” a Polis staffer told The Daily.
Growers of broccoli and cabbage don’t have individual trade organizations, as potatoes do. Instead, most farmers of these so-called specialty crops belong to umbrella groups like the United Fresh Produce Association and the Western Growers Association — both of which also have potato farmers among their ranks and so are constrained by how much they can advocate for greens if it will hurt potatoes.
“In terms of being an association that represents all of these different commodities, that’s something we do have to take into account,” said Ken Barbic, a lobbyist for Western Growers, which represents farmers in California and Arizona. Those states are top producers of leafy greens, but there’s also a small vocal minority of potato farmers. “It’s a fine walk,” said Barbic.
While trade organizations must think of all their constituents, the fight for what goes into school lunches really is a zero-sum game because a kid only has one stomach. More french fries means less room for greens.
Dr. Lorelei DiSogra, the vice president of nutrition and health at United Fresh, said of the school lunch fight: “Our goal has always been to see the new school meal regulations double the amount of healthy fruits and vegetables served in school meals, and we hope the interim final rule holds true to that goal.”
But Wootan said United Fresh didn’t do enough.
“They should be fighting for more broccoli in schools, but they also have potato people as part of their membership and that really hampered them in the childhood nutrition reauthorization fight on the Hill,” she said.
The Potato Council, which represents 95 percent of potato growers, spent $38,000 lobbying Washington in the first three quarters of last year, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. United Fresh spent $780,000 on lobbying during that time, but, according to Wootan, the money was diverted from advocating for any legislation that might pique potatoes.
United Fresh did come out against a provision in the bill that labels pizza a vegetable, but that may be because the crux of that fight was how to classify the tomato paste on pizza, which is not a “fresh produce” product.
“I know the potato guys are fighting real hard,” Margaret D’Arrigo-Martin, a vice president of D’Arrigo Bros., a broccoli-grower based in Salinas, Calif., told The Daily. “There’s been nothing for broccoli for many, many years,” she said.
That greens might get left out in the debate is not surprising: Broccoli as a business earns less than $500 million a year in the U.S., while potatoes rake in almost $4 billion, according to the USDA.
“At the end of the day, vegetables and produce are an industry of industries and I think you can see with the whole dietary guidelines fight, the white potato industry was very upset,” said Lorri Koster, co-chairwoman of Mann Packing, one of the biggest broccoli producers in California. “I try to tell people that there’s a big food fight going on and it’s not in the cafeteria, it’s on Capitol Hill.”
Luke.Kummer@thedaily.com
That’s because politicians have potatoes in the ears, experts told The Daily. And that might not be the best thing for addressing America’s unhealthy eating habits.
Even though the U.S. is a leading producer of green vegetables, those industries just don’t make their voices heard like the potato lobby, which helped make hash out of new limits that would have gone into effect this year on how often kids could be served french fries in school cafeterias. “The problem is, there’s no broccoli association,” said Dr. Margo Wootan, the director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
In November, the powerful National Potato Council pushed for Congress to curtail what kind of reforms the U.S. Department of Agriculture can make in school lunch guidelines. The agency was ready to implement advice based on a report from the Institute of Medicine that said kids should have only one cup of starchy vegetables at school per week as part of a regimen to reduce childhood obesity and diabetes.
But then the Potato Council hosted a press conference with senators from potato-growing states. Shortly thereafter, the Senate wrote an amendment to the 2012 agriculture spending bill forbidding the USDA from “setting any maximum limits on the serving of vegetables in school meal programs.”
Even some pols in potato-producing states were perplexed.
“No one can help but to look at us and scratch their heads when we say that french fries count as a healthy, nutritious vegetable,” said Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., on the House floor.
“Agribusiness is a significant lobby around there. And this is what they wanted — unfortunately, it’s what they got,” a Polis staffer told The Daily.
Growers of broccoli and cabbage don’t have individual trade organizations, as potatoes do. Instead, most farmers of these so-called specialty crops belong to umbrella groups like the United Fresh Produce Association and the Western Growers Association — both of which also have potato farmers among their ranks and so are constrained by how much they can advocate for greens if it will hurt potatoes.
“In terms of being an association that represents all of these different commodities, that’s something we do have to take into account,” said Ken Barbic, a lobbyist for Western Growers, which represents farmers in California and Arizona. Those states are top producers of leafy greens, but there’s also a small vocal minority of potato farmers. “It’s a fine walk,” said Barbic.
While trade organizations must think of all their constituents, the fight for what goes into school lunches really is a zero-sum game because a kid only has one stomach. More french fries means less room for greens.
Dr. Lorelei DiSogra, the vice president of nutrition and health at United Fresh, said of the school lunch fight: “Our goal has always been to see the new school meal regulations double the amount of healthy fruits and vegetables served in school meals, and we hope the interim final rule holds true to that goal.”
But Wootan said United Fresh didn’t do enough.
“They should be fighting for more broccoli in schools, but they also have potato people as part of their membership and that really hampered them in the childhood nutrition reauthorization fight on the Hill,” she said.
The Potato Council, which represents 95 percent of potato growers, spent $38,000 lobbying Washington in the first three quarters of last year, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. United Fresh spent $780,000 on lobbying during that time, but, according to Wootan, the money was diverted from advocating for any legislation that might pique potatoes.
United Fresh did come out against a provision in the bill that labels pizza a vegetable, but that may be because the crux of that fight was how to classify the tomato paste on pizza, which is not a “fresh produce” product.
“I know the potato guys are fighting real hard,” Margaret D’Arrigo-Martin, a vice president of D’Arrigo Bros., a broccoli-grower based in Salinas, Calif., told The Daily. “There’s been nothing for broccoli for many, many years,” she said.
That greens might get left out in the debate is not surprising: Broccoli as a business earns less than $500 million a year in the U.S., while potatoes rake in almost $4 billion, according to the USDA.
“At the end of the day, vegetables and produce are an industry of industries and I think you can see with the whole dietary guidelines fight, the white potato industry was very upset,” said Lorri Koster, co-chairwoman of Mann Packing, one of the biggest broccoli producers in California. “I try to tell people that there’s a big food fight going on and it’s not in the cafeteria, it’s on Capitol Hill.”
Luke.Kummer@thedaily.com
PHOTO: Brendan Hoffman/WireImage
Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., is mystified “that french fries count as a healthy, nutritious vegetable.”
