NOBULL: “The Food Police” by OSU Professor of Agricultural Economics

OSU Prof. Jayson Lusk, in his new book “The Food Police,” criticizes those who question the industrial food system. Ironically, Dr. Lusk takes on the role of thought police. He warns ignorant masses that by questioning government policies and corporate practices we are threatening the world’s food supply. He protects corporate benefactors from alleged rabble rousers. He warns that public concern about food is a merger of Big Brother (big government) and Animal Farm (corporate greed) into a socialist nightmare.

If there is anything Orwellian here it is a Professor in the Ivory Tower relentlessly defending his employers and benefactors — big government and big business. I would argue the book is limited by an orthodoxy within which the interests of industry must be served at the expense of consumers and farmers. Professor Lusk claims to have written to “engage, challenge and provoke,” but I doubt he would actually engage in an open, honest discussion about the food system. Even if he wanted to, I don’t think Big Brother would let him.

Harlan Hentges