Ag Department Funds Fast Food Plan to Eat More Cheese

Does the government care more about the nutritional health of its people, or lining its pockets with funds from industry lobbyists? The question seems less rhetorical than ever in light of recent news of a war of motives within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

A little-known organization within the USDA's marketing department, Dairy Management, has been shamelessly scheming up ways to get Americans to eat more cheese. This plan comes as the USDA itself funds and manages various projects to reduce obesity, which tell Americans to eat less saturated fat and fewer calories (i.e. less dairy). According to an investigation by the New York Times, for the past several years, Dairy Management has teamed up with a handful of fast food restaurants to help them develop and market more cheese products — from cheese-laden burgers to pizza and more. This push led to millions in profit for the businesses, millions of pounds of cheese sold, and Americans convinced to consume insane amounts of cheese at their health's expense.

Armed with a budget of more than $140 million, the department "helped" develop and promote Burger King's Cheesy Angus Bacon and TenderCrisp chicken (which included two slices of cheese), Wendy's Double Melt sandwich, and more. These promotions, according to the NYT, contributed to sales of more than 30 million pounds of cheese. It helped Domino's Pizza last year to sell more cheese by marketing a new pizza with 40 percent more cheese topping. Eat one slice and you've eaten about two-thirds the daily saturated fat recommendation.

Some may remember a wave of news a few years ago about a study that eating more dairy helps to lose weight? It was funded and produced by — you guessed it — Dairy Management. It was later disproved by many other studies.

Why is the government so eager to sell more cheese, even going so far to create Dairy Management? We already eat three times as much cheese now as in the 1970s, according to the NYT. Even with our cheese addiction, however, we drink and eat low-fat milk and other dairy products,  largely thanks to government health messages. This turn to low-fat milk has left dairy producers with a surplus of whole milk and milk fat — and a profit-making opportunity for more cheese consumption. Out of that opportunity popped Dairy Management.

Ten pounds of milk creates one pound of cheese, and milk fat composes about one-quarter to one-half of cheese. Some argue the high fat content is worth it because cheese also contains protein and calcium. And hey, cheese tastes good. "Now we need a shadowy government agency to partner with the manufacturers of those toothpicks with little plastic tassels and we'll have a nationwide cheese party to celebrate," writes Gawker. "Good job, Dairy Management."

Sad as it is to say, that's so not such a far-fetched idea. The federal government and the dairy industry are long-standing partners in boosting cheese consumption. The bucolic, small dairy farms of yore slowly disappeared as pasteurization, processing, and distribution advanced, increasing production. Farms consolidated and over time, formed enormous dairy farms. Only about four percent of these farms produce half of America's milk. The government created Dairy Management, Inc. in 2005. With a greater presence came greater demands for industry-friendly trade and business policies, thus a larger lobbying presence. Dairy industry lobbying groups and corporations including Dairy Farmers of America, Land O'Lakes, and Dean Foods, the country's largest dairy producer, have steadily fed more money within the past 10 years to federal political candidates, peaking at about $4.8 million in 2008, with more than half going to Republican candidates.

Individual contributions and those from political action committees linked to the dairy industry also fed their coffers with $925,000. With such powerful lobbying dollars, the dairy industry clearly has the clout to demand marketing help from the same government agency that claims to advocate healthy eating. "The federal government has always been a bit schizophrenic about food," writes Brian Mann of North Country Public Radio, "pushing healthy eating on the one hand, but trying to support industry sales on the other."

But why is the USDA working so hard to sell more cheese-laden, artery-clogging, fatty foods at cheap, fast-food restaurants? It's especially gruesome, given that these restaurants target low-income communities who struggle most with obesity and weight-related illness. For all its talk of reducing obesity and improving America's health, it seems the bottom line is more important, especially at the expense of those who need help most.

Sign our petition here telling the USDA to stick to its commitment to America's health, cut Dairy Management, and end all development and marketing of cheesy, fast food products.

Photo credit: The Pizza Review via Flickr