"Who should be deciding what I eat?" the politician asked a crowd at a fundraising event. "Should it be government or should it be parents? It should be the parents."
Here is what is fascinating. No one in the food debate thinks the government should decide what you eat. No one, not even as a joke. But this politician thinks this is true, and has the need to express this out loud.
So why is there a political divide on helping us set better standards for food?
Okay, this is a question I have asked over and over. And to be fair, there are many more concerns where politicians argue back and forth about things that have nothing to do with concerns of the American people.
The politician from the quote is former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who is also a mother. Maybe Sarah or Todd or someone else makes lunches for Willow and Piper, her children that are still in school. Maybe their kids don't eat the school lunches their fellow classmates eat.
But shouldn't we give the children and adults the best quality food? Aren't Americans worth that effort?
There isn't anything wrong with people disagreeing, politicians included. But we have to agree on two things: 1) there is a problem, and 2) if you don't like the solutions of the other side, you have to offer your own.
If, as the article implies, Gov. Palin disagrees with Michelle Obama's initiatives, then Palin should offer a solution. Even a bad solution would be better than nothing.
The Congress, in its lame-duck session, will debate a school lunches bill and an improved food safety bill. Republicans and conservative Democratic politicians have fought against these bills or have weakened them -- but they don't have alternative suggestions except the status quo.
This isn't to bash any particular politician or political bias -- not even Gov. Palin. We want solutions. We want answers. Self-serving rhetoric won't get us closer to having an improved food supply.
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