Thursday, July 17, 2014

Do you need a "nudge" today from USDA?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is suggesting major changes to grocery stores to “nudge” Americans to purchase healthier foods when they shop. The agency commissioned an “expert panel” to make recommendations on how to guide the more than 47 million Americans on food stamps into spending their benefits on fruits and vegetables. The group released an 80-page report this month presenting their ideas, which include talking shopping carts and a marketing strategy for grocery chains that would feature better store lighting for healthier items. Initial suggestions from the USDA on how to alter the grocery environment include stores offering “SNAP-Ed cooking classes” and consultations with dieticians. Another idea included a point-based system where food stamp recipients could receive movie tickets in exchange for healthy food purchases. Grocery store staff could also be used as “ambassadors” for the USDA’s agenda. “In this role, floor staff has the ability to re-direct consumer purchase towards more healthful choices by explaining the incentive or the nutrition labeling system,” the report said. The USDA said the ideas are “intended to change the choice architecture of the food retail environment to make healthier choices more prominent,” which is in line with first lady Michelle Obama’s stated second term agenda to “impact the nature of food in grocery stores.”...more

Who needs a nudge?  The politicians who keep voting to fund this nonsense, that's who.  But there is more:


The panel came up with six preferred strategies: discount coupons for SNAP recipients; rebates of up to $60 for healthy purchases on EBT cards; buy one get one free deals for SNAP recipients; a targeted marketing plan to promote healthy food; a USDA loyalty card; and new specialized shopping carts. 

I'm sure you noticed this gov't plan to fight obesity, with its discount coupons, rebates and buy one get on free deals, will enable folks to BUY MORE FOOD!  This is the DC Deep Thinkers at their best.  

Then there's those "specialized shopping carts":

The “MyCart grocery cart” would provide dividers for shoppers to make sure they are selecting enough items in each “MyPlate” category, the USDA’s food icon.  The cart would be color-coded, physically divided, and have a system installed so that when the shopping cart reaches its healthy “threshold” it would congratulate the customer. “The algorithm would group the purchases to classify them using the MyPlate designations and to provide consumers with a message of support or encouragement (e.g., “You achieved a MyCart healthy shopping basket!”),” the report said.

I've run the algorithms on this, and they show that all this SNAP stuff, along with your shopping cart screaming at you, will cause folks to be...constipated.  

But never fear, The Westerner is here, and we've got a brand new apparatus.  

Let's call it the USDA, Grade A, MyFart Toilet Bowl.  It too will be "color-coded", be able to provide "a message of support or encouragement", and have a system installed so that when the bowl reaches its "healthy threshold" it will "congratulate" you.  Kind of a Happy Turd Day from the DC Deep Stinkers.  

And folks, my study will cost much less than the one you just paid for:

The panel based this approach on a $999,891 government-funded study entitled “Nudging Nutrition,” arguing the research “suggests an intervention of this sort might be successful in modifying consumer shopping behavior.”

And that leads me back to my original "nudging" recommendation:  Vote those Congressional Crappers out of office!
 

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