Food Policy in the United States: An Introduction

by Parke Wilde

This book offers a broad introduction to food policies in the United States. Real-world controversies and debates motivate the book’s attention to economic principles, policy analysis, nutrition science and contemporary data sources. It assumes that the reader's concern is not just the economic interests of farmers, but also includes nutrition, sustainable agriculture, the environment and food security. The book’s goal is to make US food policy more comprehensible to those inside and outside the agri-food sector whose interests and aspirations have been ignored. The chapters cover US agriculture, food production and the environment, international agricultural trade, food and beverage manufacturing, food retail and restaurants, food safety, dietary guidance, food labeling, advertising and federal food assistance programs for the poor. The author is an agricultural economist with many years of experience in the non-profit advocacy sector, the US Department of Agriculture and as a professor at Tufts University. The author's well-known blog on US food policy provides a forum for discussion and debate of the issues set out in the book.

Genres: Food, School

256 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2012

About the author

Parke Wilde is a food economist at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. Previously, he worked for the Community Nutrition Institute and for USDA’s Economic Research Service. He received his Ph.D. in agricultural economics from Cornell University. At Tufts, Parke teaches graduate-level courses in statistics and U.S. food policy. His research addresses food security and hunger measurement, the economics of food assistance programs, and federal dietary guidance policy. Parke keeps a well-respected blog at usfoodpolicy.com and has a new book from Routledge/Earthscan in 2013, titled Food Policy in the United States: An Introduction.

Reviews

[Parke Wilde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though a reader is certainly wise to disregard an author's review of his own book (!), I will say that I took great pleasure in writing this work. It offered a fun opportunity to share years of lessons learned as both a student and teacher of U.S. food policy.

p.s. In a spirit of full disclosure, I see my wife Sarah Huber also has given this book 5 stars.

[Megan Chrisler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This feels like a great book to a "Food Policy 101" undergraduate course; a very good toe-dip into the field, with some expectation that the reader knows basic facts about U.S. politics and economic principles, but still a stepping-stone to a more advanced text down the road. There's a lot of focus on the economic workings of food policy, which might leave more activist-oriented readers feeling dissatisfied, but it would be a worse book without it. One thing I really liked was the author's notes about data sources; he doesn't just cite his data, he explains where he got it from and where you can find it for yourself. It was also a treasure trove of recommended reading, data sources, important regulatory agencies and research institutions, and major advocacy coalitions to follow. Great introductory text for anyone interested in this field.

[Nadja · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, general overview of food policy from farming subsidies to food insecurity and child nutrition policies.