(page406)

Ambassador Duke of the "Doonesbury" comic strip recently announced he was running for president. In a Larry King Live "interview," Duke voiced his support for the nanny's favorite weapon, a "fat tax." "I think there's a huge social cost for obesity here… We tax smokers. Why not overeaters?," said Duke.

The militant People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) joined '99 Nanny Award winner Paul McCartney in urging local Earth Day festivity organizers to declare their April 22 events "meat-free." PETA warns they will disrupt Earth Day's main event on the Washington Mall, threatening, "In the event animal flesh is sold on the Mall, animal rights activists have vowed to overturn food tables."

Once again, restaurant portions are under attack. Restaurant pasta, steak, and fish portions are just too big, says Dr. Barbara Rolls of Pennsylvania State University. People in her recent study tended to eat "more when they were given larger portions." Therefore, she concludes restaurant portions are contributing to obesity. The study does not address whether restaurant managers physically threatened patrons to ensure they ate the food that supposedly leads to their obesity. ("Health Tips," United Press International, 3/15/00.)

Ralph Nader's group of anti-everything nannies at Public Citizen are opposed to Wal-Mart's selling of irradiated meat because "food irradiation has not been proven safe and because it merely masks contamination." That's a curious response considering the U.S. Department of Agriculture, World Health Organization, and American Dietetic Association all say irradiation is not only safe, it is a potential lifesaver.

Gloating over what they consider a victory in the USDA’s new organic food standards, the anti-agribusiness nannies from the Organic Consumers Association are setting their sights higher. “The challenge…

Last year, Center For Consumer Freedom voiced skepticism about Berkeley, California's school district scheme to serve students only organic, pesticide-free, politically correct fare. Now, not surprisingly to us, Restaurants and Institutions magazine is reporting that since starting the all-organic program, participation levels among kids eligible for free or reduced-cost meals has plunged 50% for breakfast and 30% for lunch. ("Food, news & people," Restaurants and Institutions, 3/15/00.)

TIME magazine looks at Harvard law professor Steven Wise's bizarre campaign to secure "human rights" for certain animals like chimpanzees. TIME totally ignores Wise's long-term goal of granting human rights to even farm animals. In 1999, Wise told CNBC, "Animals on a farm are still decades away from even possibly getting legal rights," but that he was working on it.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest’s Michael F. Jacobson has collaborated with fellow nanny Dr. Marion Nestle of New York University to spell out a battle plan to…

Nannies are gaining converts in the campaign against restaurants. Every day, we show examples of the media picking up on the totally groundless allegation that restaurant food is to blame…

MSNBC focuses on marketing to children and, in the process, baselessly blames restaurants for the so-called obesity epidemic and soft drink producers for calcium deficiency in children. "Obesity rates in kids have skyrocketed, [child advocates] point out, as children eat more prepared and fast foods… As soft drink ads have increased, milk consumption has plummeted, leading to calcium deficiency in many children." As expected, MSNBC made no effort to offer a rebuttal to these outlandish charges.