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TOPIC A
Should companies (e.g. fast food) promoting dubiously healthful lifestyle choices be held liable for America's growing obesity problem? |
BACKGROUND:
The Risk to the American Fast-Food Industry of Obesity Litigation (pdf). Cornell Hotel & Restaurant Administration Quarterly, May 2007.
Examines prospects for and the potential validity of obesity-related claims under existing and novel legal theories of liability.
The McLawsuit: The Fast-Food Industry and Legal Accountability for Obesity. Health Affairs, November/December 2003.
Fairly lengthy paper evaluating merits of claims against fast-food companies possible social effects of litigation.
Obesity Litigation -- The Next "Tobacco"?. Goodwin Procter, July, 2004.
Brief overview of the legal landscape for obesity lawsuits.
Obesity — The New Frontier of Public Health Law (pdf). New England Journal of Medicine, June 15, 2006.
A reexamination of
the historical view that food consumption and
physical activity are inappropriate subjects for
government regulation.
YES:
The Snackpidemic: Obesity Litigation in America. The Legality, Sept. 27, 2010.
Although litigation alone will not solve the obesity epidemic, it is an important component to a multidimensional strategy to combating the problem.
Fast Food, Obesity, and Tort Reform: An Examination of Industry Responsibility for Public Health. Business and Society Review, Fall, 2005.
A lengthy (although not difficult or inaccessible) academic article concluding that shielding industry from obesity litigation is unwarranted and not in consumers' best interest.
Class Action Lawsuit Targets McDonald's Use of Toys to Market to Children. Center for Science in the Public Interest, December 15, 2010.
A plaintiff sees the Happy Meal as "a sophisticated, high-tech marketing scheme that’s designed to put McDonald’s between me and my daughters ... I want McDonald’s to stop interfering with my family."
NO:
Fat City for Trial Lawyers. Cato Institute, August 28, 2002.
A consumer who elects to gorge is accountable for the consequences.
'Obesity' Lawyers Licking Chops. Center for Consumer Freedom, October 1, 2004.
It's the plaintiff's bar, in search of its next supersized payday.
Tobacco Lawsuits are Not a Model for Obesity Lawsuits (pdf). American Council on Science and Health, July, 2006.
Bringing claims against food companies for
obesity actually harms those whom the litigation
is intended to help. |
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TOPIC B
Is organic/local food more ethically and environmentally responsible than factory farm raised food? |
BACKGROUND:
FIve Experts Debate the Roots of GM Oppositions. Seed, June 18, 2009.
Why do many environmentalists trust science when it comes to climate change but not when it comes to genetic engineering? Is the fear really about the technology itself or is it a mistrust of big agribusiness?
Eating Food That's Better for You, Organic or Not. The New York Times, March 21, 2009.
Nen. (NY Times site link here.)
YES:
Transforming U.S. Agriculture (pdf). Science, May 6, 2011.
Achieving sustainable agricultural systems
will require transformative changes in markets,
policy, and science.
What is Big Ag Trying to Hide. Huffington Post, April 22, 2011.
Rather than put an end to animal mistreatment practices, agriculture industry groups have hit back with another plan: criminalize anyone who exposes their wrongdoing.
In Defense of Organic. Grist, July 22, 2011.
A direct reply to the "Mythbusting 101" piece below in the "NO" section.
Gardening for Change in the City. The Nation, July 23, 2007.
Local agriculture projects become increasingly popular as the effects of global warming grow more obvious.
It's Not Just a Fad - Organic Food is Better for You, Say Scientists. The Independent, April 3, 2007.
Research challenging official guidelines suggesting no evidence of organic food being healthier than conventional produce.
NO:
Got Cheap Milk?. Foreign Policy, September 12, 2011.
Why ditching your fancy, organic, locavore lifestyle is good for the world's poor.
The Case for Big Ag. Washington Monthly, July/August, 2009.
We should ask industrial farmers to clean up their act. But first, we might want to beg them to save the planet and feed the world.
Mythbusting 101: Organic Farming>Conventional Agriculture. Scientific American, July 18, 2011.
There are a lot of myths out there about organic foods, and a lot of propaganda supporting methods that are rarely understood.
The Locavore's Dilemmas. Boston.com, June 16, 2011.
Shipping food is far less energy intensive than moving people. If the First Lady wants to help the environment, she should campaign for high rise apartments, rather than plant vegetables.
Organic Food No Better Nutritionally Than Conventionally Produced. Medical News Today, July 29, 2009.
Research review pointing to presence of "no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority." |
