What Is Slow Food > Slow Food USA Blog > Froot Loops vs. Real Fruit: for Real Change Don’t Look to Obama
The Slow Food USA Blog
Froot Loops vs. Real Fruit: for Real Change Don’t Look to Obama
Posted on Fri, February 11, 2011 by Slow Food USA
2 Comments | Categories: Film/TV/Radio, Food Justice, News, Current Events, Policy,
Print this Page
Send to a Friend
by Slow Food USA President Josh Viertel
Last week, we all had the chance to submit a question to President Obama for a YouTube World View interview following the State of the Union address. Questions could be posted online, and people voted for their favorites. The most popular questions would be chosen, and the president would be asked to respond.
I posted a question. I asked President Obama why it is cheaper to feed our kids Froot Loops than it is to feed them fruit, and what he was doing to reverse it. I had been disappointed that he failed to talk at all about America’s broken food and farming system during his State of the Union, and I hoped my question would give him an opportunity to address it.
With 142,649 questions posted, it was going to be a long shot. Then, I got a text message: 1,279 people voted for my question and it was selected. People wanted to hear our leader talk about what needs to be changed when it comes to food and farming in our country. We had the president’s ear. I felt like I had won the lottery! That is, until I had a chance to listen to his answer.
President Obama didn’t use the opportunity to answer our concerns, nor did he speak to our hopes. He didn’t talk about how he was going to make it easier to access fruit than Froot Loops. He didn’t talk about how he was going to reduce federal support for the crops that are most damaging to our health and environment, and he didn’t talk about what he was going to do to increase support for a sustainable food system. The president didn’t talk about taking on the massive consolidation in agribusiness that makes it cheaper and easier to get unhealthy processed food than it is to buy whole ingredients. Though he touched on it, he didn’t talk about addressing food insecurity in any meaningful way and he didn’t talk about the power of citizens as shoppers ... or as voters.
Instead, he talked about Walmart.
To read the full article, click here to go to The Atlantic Food Channel
Member Comments
From klaszlo on Fri, February 11, 2011
We need to have our voice - our kids need to have their voice. The biggest thing we can do to stop obesity is to stop buying the foods that hurt us.
It’s hard to do. We hope to make a difference with kids saying they want better foods..
From Carolyn Corbin on Tue, March 01, 2011
I am delighted you were able to send a clear message in the form of your question to President Obama. Your video was funny and illustrated some key points: That fruit loops are cheaper than real fruit. That this is ridiculous. That we should abandon this paradigm (as you literally threw out the box, and instead consume actual fruit (as you you bit into the apple). This tickled Obama, as he giggled in response to your video question. I am hopeful that you have given President Obama and all the other viewers food for thought and maybe, just maybe, better solutions will come from this. Thank you for your good work.
