Lobbying Blog Alex McGrorty
Who is he?
A Democrat, representing the 2nd Congressional District of Pennsylvania
The district is pretty expansive, with Fattah representing the majority of Philadelphia
The Second District spans from Wynnefield into West Philadelphia, which includes Spruce Hill and University City As well as Center City Philadelphia, and it also includes North and Northwest Philadelphia, the home of East and West Mt. Airy, Chestnut Hill, East Falls, Germantown, Manayunk and Roxborough.
A bit about the man himself
Chaka Fattah is a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives
He is a Philadelphia native, born November 21, 1956.
He attended the Community College of Philadelphia and went on to earn his MA at Pennsylvania Sate University
Before his election to Congress, Fattah served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and of the Pennsylvania Senate.
Some of his political views include:
- Transform America Transaction Fee to bring more funding to schools
- the clean energy act
- paperless enrollment for school meals act
- debt-free America act
While he has not had an opinion on anything directly relating to the FDA and food labeling regulations, he has made his opinions regarding health care issues clear
and they are documented
Lobbying Blog
Entry #3
Researching the Issue
It’s hard to say whether it’s a “good year” for my issue. There has been a lot of publicity over the issue lately
And there’s been an interesting mixture of public outcry against the issue, as well as public support of it. This generally tends to happen when the FDA is petitioned to change the name of a food product.
As far as government legislation goes, several legislative officials are against corn syrup, and believe it to have negative heath risks.
“Calling high-fructose corn syrup the “crack of sweeteners,” Florida state Rep. Juan Zapata wants to ban the state’s school districts from selling or using products containing the sweetener. Zapata, a Republican, is joined in this effort by state Sen. Gwen Margolis, a Democrat. Both maintain that students who consume foods and drinks made with high-fructose corn syrup are more likely to become obese and develop Type-2 diabetes.”
The main opponent in this issue is, of course, the corn growers and corn refiners. Corn, in the United States anyway, is a cash crop. More than is traditionally consumed is grown, leaving a margin for a large profit. There has been a lot of propaganda on both sides of the argument, which has gotten the debate a lot of media attention.
The stakeholders in this issue are just about every American consumer. If the FDA is not going to be clear about food labeling in this country, then it will affect everyone who eats any form of American food. Label transparency is an important issue.
The FDA has a transparency initiative in the works
No local legislature is currently working specifically on the corn syrup v. corn sugar issue, or about the safety or controversy regarding corn syrup. However, several out of state officials are.
Hopefully I can influence anyone who was unaware of this issue specifically, or the issue of food label transparency in general.
As there is no pending legislature regarding this yet, there is no definitive timeline.
