THE FOOD PYRAMID….I wouldn’t normally do this, but Gerry Daly wonders what I think about the federal government spending $2.5 million on the new food pyramid that I mocked a few days ago. That got me thinking:
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Do I approve of the federal government spending money on public health issues? Yes.
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Are nutrition and obesity important components of public health? Of course.
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Is public awareness an important part of the government’s overall public health mission? Definitely.
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Would I approve of an ad campaign urging parents to get their kids vaccinated? Sure.
So: do I approve of the government’s desire to increase awareness of the public health issues of nutrition and obesity? I don’t see why not.
But: do I like the pyramid? No. Do I think $2.5 million is too much to spend on the redesign? Maybe. Depends on what the Department of Agriculture got for its money. $2.5 million is actually a pretty lean budget for a nationwide PR campaign ? though rather a lot if it consists solely of logo and website development.
I guess the bottom line is that although I’m skeptical that their latest effort was worth the money, I think that proselytizing for better nutrition is, in general, a perfectly reasonable thing for the federal government to do. After all, if they can spend money on abstinence-only sex education, why not better eating habits?
