"When the training fails"

Here is an opinion piece from The Rocky Mountain News titled "When the training fails"

Uncle Sam attacked the worsening problem of childhood obesity the way we Americans attack most problems - by dumping money on it.
Over $1 billion a year is spent by the federal government trying to cajole and convince children to eat fruits and vegetables instead of junk food. It doesn't work.
Associated Press reporter Martha Mendoza reviewed scientific studies of 57 such programs and found "mostly failure." She quoted one expert as saying, "Any person looking at the published literature about these programs would have to conclude that they are generally not working."
Indeed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that since the 1970s obesity has increased nearly five times among 6- to 11-year-olds and tripled among teens and children 2 to 5.
Children eat poorly for many reasons. Their parents may eat poorly, for example, and tastes seem to become quickly ingrained, by the 10th birthday. Children almost certainly get less exercise than they did a few decades ago. And then there is the relentless pressure of the culture. AP cited a study that found children ages 8 to 12 see 21 TV ads a day for candy, snacks, cereal, fast food and the like and none for fruits and vegetables.
It is surely dismaying to policymakers to have spent so much and have so little to show for it, but the answer is not to hope that spending more will somehow provide the answer. Stop wasting taxpayer money - or, at the very least, try something different.

TK: The government could do more to create incentives for fruit and vegetable purchases in school feeding program, in WIC food packages and in the food stamp program. Perhaps the government has given lip service to nutrition education, but I would hardly say that the government has dumped money on efforts of changing the behavior of consumers with the true intent of changing the behavior of consumers.

Burning through the peaches

I am still impressed by Wal-Mart's hot peach ad of 76 cents per pound, in effect in KC from July 4-10. I wonder how many cartons of California peaches that Wal-Mart has blown through with that promotion. I'd love to know what effect that price - about a $1 per pound cheaper than most competitors - has impacted movement.

Meanwhile, one of our readers has said in relation to a previous post that the fruit and vegetable snack program was in the chairman's Collin Peterson's mark, but I still did not see it. Rather, I think she was referring to the DOD Fresh program. Can any House staffers/industry lobbyists clarify?