Government Meddling in the U.S. Food System Only Makes Things Worse Off for Everyone

Thank you for accepting my challenge. Full disclosure, I come from a libertarian background and hence, my arguments will be incorporating numerous libertarian principles. My distrust of the government's handling of our food system stems from a similar ideology in assessing government in general: whatever they attempt to improve, they ultimately make worse. Much like the government's failed war on drugs, war on terror, global imperialism, welfare state, attempt at educating all Americans, healthcare, etc,, the government's attempt to regulate our food system has resulted in numerous problems facing our nation today. A few points to consider: 1. Prior to the creation of the FDA and USDA, human beings did not have calorie counts listed on their foods. In fact, very few Americans knew what a calorie was. People ate when they had food. They ate until they were full and rarely exercised. Obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and other preventable diseases were unheard of. To quote comedian Joe Rogan, "a fat man at a carnival 50 years ago is the average American today." What went wrong? 2. After much pressure, the government passed the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act in 1965, requiring all foods to label their ingredients with the 1990 Nutritional Labeling and Educational Act created by the FDA and the USDA's Food Guide Pyramid in 1992 cementing the government's attempt to control the American diet. 3. While there are unfortunately few studies looking at "before and after" obesity rates and other diseases, several point out that these issues have been significantly exacerbated over the last 20 years, coinciding quite directly with the time the government began it's most intense meddling: 1990-1995. According to statistics, the average American is 25 lbs heavier than they were in 1960, while childhood obesity rates have more than tripled since 1980. 4. Government propaganda will have you believe that Americans have become more stationary and shiftless in their lifestyles, causing fewer calories to be burned on a day to basis. While there is some truth here, this statement ignores the real culprit: our broken food system. 5. The vast majority of scientists ,not funded by corporate interests, agree that a diet high in healthy fats and low in carbs is the best type of diet. Starting in the 1970s, the USDA ignited an anti-fat campaign and low cholesterol campaign, which, amongst many other things, spawned the creation of margarine (considered by most scientists to be cancer causing) and demonized butter. According to food expert Michael Pollan, the average American consumes on average something like 350 more calories a day as a result. And yet, with all of the science pointing in one direction, the government's food pyramid is still the base of knowledge for most American diets. 6. The USDA and FDA have a combined annual budget of over 300 billion in tax payer dollars. The leaderships in most years are made up of ex-CEO of major food companies, lobbyists and politicians. When Obama entered office in 2008, he elected Michael Taylor (formerly of Monsanto) to head the USDA. To quote Bill Maher "this would be like electing Jerry Sandusky to be CEO of Chuckie Cheese." In summation, the government has a long and troubling history with intervening in the U.S. food system, culminating in the society we have today. A society with an obesity crisis that spends more on healthcare than anyone else in the world.