Fat of the land: fighting obesity with pork.

• Author: De Alessi, Michael
• Position: Citings - Brief Article

THE GROWING national obsession with obesity has been a gold mine for everyone from fad diet hucksters to documentarians. Eager to join in, Congress has determined that the answer to obesity is ... more federal spending in every congressional district.

Two congressmen from opposite ends of the political spectrum, Peps. Don Young (R-Alaska) and George Miller (D-Calif.), claim that spending more than $3 billion annually on environmental programs will help cure obesity. The bill they introduced in April, the Get Outdoors Act, permanently dedicates money from offshore oil and gas revenues to everything from local parks to federal wilderness areas. The theory is that these projects will finally give the heavyset...