Did the New York Times Exaggerate the Government’s Involvement in Cheese Promotions? | Endless Simmer

The New York Times smacked down the USDA this past weekend. In While Warning About Fat, U.S. Pushes Cheese Sales, Michael Moss insinuates that while the Department of Agriculture urges Americans to choose healthier foods, another arm of the department, Dairy Management, pushes consumption of cheese, aka saturated fat, into Americans’ stomachs.

Food news junkies ran with the story, includingbar food expert Scott Reitz, on Young& Hungry, declaring he wanted less cheese on his bacon cheeseburger.

But not so fast! (Although, yes, one slice of cheese should be enough for a burger.)

While there is a connection between the USDA and Dairy Management, it may not be as sinister as NYT claims. Bloggers are continually bashed for being uninformed, unscrupulous non-writers, however, there’s been some deep digging on this side of the internet.

Jon Eick(who used to work on Domino’s social media campaigns; Domino’s cheesy pizza is a key player in the story) takes a step back to debunk the media’s outrage.
On Cheese, the USDA and Domino’s Pizza{So Good}

Craig Goodwinactually makes some phone calls to Dairy Management (which he reports NYT did not) and finds out the weak link between the USDA and the dairy promotions organization.
Newsflash: Dairy Industry Wants You to Eat More Dairy– What’s So Controversial About That{Year of Plenty}

Do you have any insight into this cheese controversy? Do you blindly trust the New York Times? Do you brush off bloggers’ stories? Does the US government secretly want us fat? Are diary farmers to blame for the decline of Americans’ health? How gross is Domino’s? Is cheese the most delicious food on earth and so it doesn’t matter how fattening it is? How many more questions can I ask?

Bloggers, New York Times writers and cheese lovers are all welcome to weigh in.

photo:flickr user turtlemom4bacon

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