On this CHE Policy Education Call, we focused on the evidence linking federal farm and food policies with chronic disease, especially including childhood obesity and other diet-related disease, but also environmentally-related disease to which agricultural practices contribute. The 2007 reauthorization of the omnibus Farm Bill has made these links salient. Other factors, however, also contribute: ongoing budget cuts in federal food safety inspection and other programs; recent Institute of Medicine reports on school lunch programs, and media reports on the use of melamine and arsenic in the food supply. Speakers highlighted the scientific evidence on these links, as well as the relevance of the precautionary principle in issues involving the food system and children's diets. This teleconference was recorded for documentation purposes.

 

Call Moderator:  Steve Heilig, MPH, Director of Public Health and Education for CHE and the San Francisco Medical Society

Science Update:  Ted Schettler, MD, MPH, Science Director, Science and Environmental Health Network