While legislative and administrative decisions are made by government entities, food policy councils (FPCs) will often recommend and implement food policy decisions at the local and regional levels. When created, the Iowa Food Policy Council (IFPC) became the second state-wide FPC in existence. With Iowa being a leader in the production of corn, soybeans and pork for domestic consumption and ex...

This paper examines the role of powerful vested interest groups in determining public health nutrition policy. With childhood obesity now being classified as an epidemic, television food advertising to children is a relevant case study, which is reported on in this article. The study consisted of qualitative interviews with members of the New Zealand food advertising policy community and docume...

We offer a critique of Canada's approach to domestic food security with respect to international agreements, justiciability and case law, the breakdown of the public safety net, the institutionalisation of charitable approaches to food insecurity, and the need for 'joined-up' food and nutrition policies. We examined Canada's commitments to the right to food, as well as Canadian policies, case l...

In my over three decades of work in the field of food and nutrition, I have participated in many efforts that seek new policy initiatives in the hopes that these programs can curb rates of obesity and chronic disease and help consumers make healthier dietary choices. Because of the profound effect that many of these policies have on consumers, the food environment, federal nutrition assistance ...

OBJECTIVE This study assessed the impact of changes in school food policy on student lunch consumption in middle schools. METHODS Two years of lunch food records were collected from students at three middle schools in the Houston, Texas area. During the first year, no changes occurred in the school food environment. After that school year was completed, chips and dessert foods were removed fr...

This paper is about the two-way causal relationships between the global food system and health and nutrition. It argues that the global food system begins and ends with health and that the prioritization and implementation of agricultural research and policy should consider health and nutrition effects. An integrated health and food policy approach is likely to be more effective in achieving bo...