Krista Law

Kim Strickland

English 1010

March 1, 2016

Rhetorical Analysis:
Big Food Strikes Back: Why did the Obamas Fail to take on Corporate Agriculture?

It may surprise you to learn that among the issues that will occupy much of your time in

the coming years, is one you barely mentioned during the campaign: food. Michael Pollan

began a letter to President Obama with this statement soon after he took office. As President

Obama finished his Presidency, Mr. Pollan again turned his attention to the issue of our food

system, and what President Obama did and did not accomplish. In Big Food Strikes Back: Why

did the Obamas fail to take on Corporate Agriculture? he points out that the Obamas at least

addressed the issue as one of great importance. They grew an organic garden at the White House,

raised nutritional standards for school lunches, and urged companies to make their food

healthier. Michelle Obama also started the Lets Move campaign. What about our food systems

largest problem- Big Food? Big Food is the 1.5 trillion dollar industry that grows, processes,

packages, imports and sells most of the food we eat. Why did the Obamas not address the biggest

issues in our food system?

Michael Pollan is a journalist for the New York Times, a professor at the University of

Berkley, and has also published many books. In addition, he has also worked on several

documentaries and TV shows; such as Food Inc. and Cooked. He is well known for his

passion for and study of our food system here in America. This article was written in October of

2016, just months before the Obamas would be leaving the White House, and was published in
The New York Times. In this specific article, Mr. Pollan is pointing out the work the Obamas

did and did not do in regards to fixing our food system here in America. It serves as a type of

follow-up to a previous article titled, Farmer in Chief which was a letter to President Obama

when he first took office. However, Mr. Pollans writing is meant to address the American

public just as much as the Obamas. He seeks to draw attention to the fact that Big Food

corporations are working very hard to keep their large profits. They are using their dollars to

strike down any legislation or regulation that would restrict them. Big Food includes big

agriculture, big meat, the packaged food sector, supermarket chains and fast food franchises.

The very title of the article is an answer, and then a question. Mr. Pollan clearly wants you to

see that the Big Food Industry stood in the way of the Obama Administration being able to make

any strides against Corporate Agriculture and our food system. But even though the answer is in

the title itself, the reader needs to study the article to find out why.

So what is the answer to the question why? How did the Obamas fail to take on

Corporate Agriculture? First off, Mr. Pollan addresses the fact that our food system has

problems. Many Americans dont know where their food comes from. Our agriculture uses a

huge amount of cheap oil. Food is built around processed foods and meats that are centered on

corn and soy. We abuse the use of fossil fuel, which is horrible for the environment. Millions of

dollars are spent every year on the health care problems our food creates- such as diabetes,

obesity, and heart disease. There is a monopoly of our food system by a few very large and

wealthy companies who seek to control farmers and producers- giving them the ability to set the

prices for food commodities. All of these things are contributing to a food system that needs an

overhaul. But of course, Big Food does not want to be regulated or given rules. The freer reign

they have, the bigger their profit will be. In 2010 President Obamas Administration tried to
challenge the food industry by investigating the market power and anticompetitive practices of

the poultry, dairy, cattle and seed industries. A committee talked to ranchers and farmers who

had been forced to sell unfavorably and told exactly how to raise their animals and crops by

companies like Tyson and Perdue. They were promised help and protection from the

government. Plans were made for stopping some of these abuses using existing legislation. But,

big meat companies spent $9 million on lobbying, and even more on political contributions to

members of the agricultural committees in Congress. Intimidation tactics were used against

those on the committee. It worked- the challenge the Obama administration tried to give was

completely obliterated.

The first lady, however, made a little more progress. She planted an organic garden.

She created the Healthy, Hunger-Free kids act of 2010. She talked with food companies and

asked them to make their products healthier. Many companies pledged to help partner with her

for change and health, but in the end they really just used it as a way to curb big legislation and

regulations against them. This was, as Michael Pollan quotes from the Dean of the School of

Nutrition at Tufts, an apparent industry charade. Mr. Pollan then gives his idea of how the

future of food can change. It is thru the consumer! We as American Citizens can bring about

change. He talks about how coalitions have been formed to demand labeling for GMOs, how

activists have organized efforts against corporate brands and their treatment of farm workers, and

how influential people have attacked Big Foods thru media outlets. Many people are interested

in where their food comes from and how it is grown. He initiates that the change coming about

from the consumer will be the most effective- because there is not really a way for Big Foods to

shut them down.

 Mr. Pollan appeals directly to the consumer in his article by giving us examples of how

the government is lacking in its ability to force change in the food system. He appeals to the

consumer- first, by seeking to convince them of the power Big Foods has. Even the Obama

Administration could not effectively rein them in! He uses phrases such as the power of the

food movement and claims that the culture of food is shifting. He points out that Big Food

seems very much afraid of the writers and filmmakers who are seeking to expose their tactics and

are lobbying for change. He questions why Big Foods would be worried about a threat posed

by only a handful of people? The answer is that it directly informs and influences the consumers

to be interested in the hands that are feeding them and to ask questions about their food sources.

He compares the Big Food companies to Goliath- who is large and powerful, but can still fall.

But like Goliath, Big Food cant afford to be complacent about its size or power, not when

the culture of food is shifting underfoot. And who plays the role of David? The consumers

who create a movement against the giant!

I found this article to be clever and artfully written by Mr. Pollan. Well done! I am in

agreement with him that it does not seem the government will be able to tackle this problem

without the help of the consumer. Big Foods: Why did the Obamas Fail to take on Corporate

Agriculture? provided us with an insight as to why the Obamas efforts to address this important

issue failed in many aspects. At the same time, it helped to bring awareness and a sense of

responsibility and power to the consumers.

WORKS CITED

Pollan, Michael. "Why Did the Obamas Fail to Take On Corporate Agriculture?" The New York
Times. The New York Times, 05 Oct. 2016. Web. 02 Mar. 2017.
<https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/10/09/magazine/obama-administration-big-food-
policy.html>.