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The TV industry is under attack, with Xbox Live nailing down deals with Verizon, Comcast, HBO, Crackle, and more (hoping to entice users to the console platform with TV content. Speaking of disrupting TV, popular music platform Spotify is teaming up... Read the rest of this post

By Michael Otto Dear First Lady Obama: I am writing this letter in support of your Let’s Move campaign against obesity. As you well know, traditional recommendations for physical activity and good nutrition have met with failure in the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control, rates of adults who engage in no leisure time physical activity have been in the range of 20-30% for over 20 years. Moreover, over 75% of individuals do not

Trendy retailer Express (may have figured out how to monetize its Facebook presence — by adding a “shop” tab. The full Express line is available on the site, and the purchase process is fully contained within the Facebook frame. Oh,... Read the rest of this post

Beyonce releases (a new video single — no, not “Girls.” “Move Your Body” is a remake of “Get Me Bodied” — with lyrics like “a little sweat never hurt nobody” — for Michelle Obama’s... Read the rest of this post

Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign against childhood obesity has some very positive aspects, and some very negative aspects. As Youth Advisory Board member Camilla Nord points out, encouraging exercise and healthy eating is great, but... Read the rest of this post

Fallen (Guitar) Hero (Activision pulls the plug on its "Guitar Hero" franchise, canceling the release of the sixth edition of the game. PSFK, via the Guardian, offers theories for why the billion-dollar franchise failed: selling out and lack of... Read the rest of this post

Katy Perry to host the 'Teen Choice Awards' (on FOX in August, following in the dual performer/emcee footsteps of the Jonas Brothers. We'll see if that helps combat the award show fatigue we saw with the Movie Awards… And over in Late Night... Read the rest of this post

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Robert Paarlberg, author of  Food Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know, is a leading authority on food policy, and one of the most prominent scholars writing on agricultural issues today. He is B.F. Johnson Professor of Political Science at Wellesley College and Associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University. He was invited to testify in front of the House Committee on Agriculture on May 13th, and shared his thoughts with us here last week. Now, after presenting his testimony on obesity, Paarlberg reflects on the experience.  You can read an excerpt from his book here.

Picking up the story, recall that I was invited to testify before the House Agriculture Committee on May 13, to share my views on new farm legislation for 2012. I was expecting a frosty reception, since I have expressed some disparaging views of farm subsidies, and also of the House and Senate agriculture committees, in my newest book. Yet the hearing took a surprising turn. The Committee wasn’t that interested in my views on farm subsidies (they have well established views of their own). Instead they wanted to talk about obesity.

In both my written testimony and in my oral statement I bravely repeated my view that farm bills were too wasteful of taxpayer money, thanks in part to the “logroll” tactics used by the House Agriculture committee. When I was asked by a senior member what I thought the chances were that this tactic could work again in 2012, I said “100 percent.” He said he “took it as a personal compliment” that I had noticed and remarked on the success of this strategy.

What got the committee’s attention, however, was my warning that drafting another business-as-usual farm bill in 2012 was going to be more difficult, because of a strengthening belief that the farm subsidies are contributing to our nation’s obesity crisis by making unhealthy foods too cheap. The committee knew, and I confirmed in my testimony, that this is in fact an unfounded charge. When the farm bill places restrictions on sugar imports to protect the income of American sugar growers it actually make all sweetened products – from candy to ice cream – artificially expensive rather than cheap. And when Congress enacts subsidies and mandates to divert 30 percent of our corn crop to the making of ethanol for auto fuel, it is making both corn and other animal feeds – and hence all meat products – artificially expensive as well. Nor is it true that corn-based sweeteners are more obesity-inducing than natural sugar. Nor is it true that the price of junk food has fallen in America while the price of healthy foods (fruits and vegetables) has remained high. All of these misconceptions about farm programs are explained in Chapter Eight of my Oxford book, my chapter on “The Politics of Obesity.”

Yet the House Agriculture Committee also knew, and I confirmed, that over the past several years a number of highly influential non-scholarly books such as Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma, plus vari

Nick gets it right (seeing a major uptick in ad gains just as the channel presents a new programming slate to advertisers including teen-targed "Victorious" [star Victoria Justice pictured here] Also Yo! Gabba Gabba kicks off a third season of... Read the rest of this post