The Government Really Wants You To Eat Cheese

The U.S. Department of Agriculture created “Dairy Management” in 1995 as a marketing organization to promote dairy products. Its annual budget approaches $140 million, funded mostly by a government-mandated fee on the dairy industry. According to this NY Times article, the U.S.D.A. also gives several millions of dollars to the organization, “appoints some of its board members, approves its marketing campaigns and major contracts, and periodically reports to Congress on its work.”

Lately, the organization has been adamantly pushing cheese to the American consumer. Dairy Management partnered with Domino’s pizza to create a new, “better-tasting” pizza that contains 40% more cheese. A few years back, Dairy Management also created a marketing campaign around the premise that consuming more dairy products could lead to weight loss, even though no research asserted this fact.

By law, the secretary of agriculture approves Dairy Management’s contracts and advertising campaigns. Nevertheless, the article claims that the organization has become a full-blown, relatively independent company. The government has recently warned about the dangers of a diet high in saturated fat, yet it allows Dairy Management to market increased cheese consumption. This view of the Dairy Management organization follows Niskanen’s traditional view of bureaucracies that they act independently of the wishes of their sponsors (i.e. that a government bureau pushes for increased cheese consumption despite government warnings for reduced consumption).

However, I would argue that Dairy Management exactly follows the wishes of Congress and exemplifies the model of bureaucracy presented in Weingast and Moran. Undoubtedly, Congress members on the agriculture subcommittee for dairy closely follow and are happy with the work of Dairy Management. An increase in dairy sales pleases their dairy farmer constituents, and thus gives congressmen more votes. The government’s message for a reduced-fat diet (i.e. less cheese) is half-hearted – congressmen want votes more than they want healthy constituents. Therefore, Dairy Management isn't the one to credit for increased dairy consumption. Congress is.