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The Washington Post article on America's new dietary guidelines quotes lots of nannies, including the Center for Science in the Public Interest's Margo Wooton and 1999 Nanny of the Year Neal Barnard of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, but no food industry representatives.

Harvard University's prestigious law school now offers an animal rights law class taught by long-time animal rights activist Steven M. Wise. Wise makes the ridiculous claim that a "person" is merely a technical term and under his view of common law, animals "should be legal persons."

TIME magazine features a far too sympathetic story on "the food police" and their overzealous attempts to change what we eat. Many of our favorite nannies are featured in this puff piece, including The Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and Jeremy Rifkin. ("Watchdogs who bite: nutrition activists attack everything from milk to fettuccine Alfredo," TIME, 2/7/00, No link available.)

The Chicago Tribune warns, “It would be a travesty if the U.S. allows fear and ignorance to crowd out crucial public education about biotechnology’s potential.” Meanwhile, Food and Drug…

Professor of Biogeography Philip Stott of the University of London attack nannies who back organic farming. "The idea that organic farming can ever be a large-scale alternative to other forms of farming is a pernicious recent myth. There are also other elements to this myth, namely that organic farming is 'safer,' 'better,' and more 'natural.'"

The radical animal rights activists at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have erected four billboards in New Hampshire asking, "If you choose to eat meat, why should I pay your hospital bills?" PETA says it hopes presidential candidates campaigning in the state will see "the need for a tax on meat" that could "pay for dietary education programs that would help reduce health care costs and save consumers' and animals' lives" and "pay for the meat industry's huge detrimental effect on the environment."

Nanny nutritionist Carrie Latt told NBC's Later Today that the restaurant industry was largely to blame for the so-called obesity epidemic. "They could feed Third World countries with the portions we get in restaurants. I mean it's seriously out of control. What's interesting is, calories are on the rise, where fat grams have come down. But we're still obese, and it's getting worse and worse every day. A lot of it is the restaurant industry, to be quite honest." Read excerpts from Latt's latest book, "Portion Savvy."

Buoyed by the scientifically baseless arguments of anti-genetically engineered food activists, countries seeking to label GE food produced for export won the first round of the 130-nation food policy trade talks in Montreal. Worldwide labeling could begin in as little as two years. {Washington Post} {New York Times}

There's been a dramatic increase in GE food crop and research facility vandalism, with crimes by anti-GE (and virulently anti-choice) activists now reported in seven states.

Reporter Joyce Howard Price details the U.S. government's expanding and intrusive "war on fat." Comments from nannies at the Centers for Disease Control put much of the blame for childhood obesity on fast food chains offering "megaportions" and food eaten outside the home. "Right now this anti-obesity campaign is only in its infancy," says a USDA spokesman. ("Fat Chance: The Government's War on Obesity," The Washington Times, 1/30/00, No link available.)