The Food Police

“If you are looking for one book to set the record straight on the progress in American food, start here.” - Tyler Cowen, author of An Economist Gets Lunch

“Jayson Lusk boils down and slices and dices the hypocrisy of liberals ever growing fetish with America’s food in a way nobody has before. No empty calories in this expose. You’ll be hungry for more.” –Andrea Tantaros, New York Daily News columnist and co-host of The Five on Fox News

“This is hard hitting and to the point., And scary. The Food and Drug Administration is mainly known for its activities that “protect” consumers from new and beneficial drugs. But, as Jayson Lusk, shows in powerful and pointed detail, the FDA creates massive levels of mischief and confusion through its misguided regulation of food and drink. Chocked-filled with telling anecdotes, and informed by strong economic theory, Lusk offers a compelling expose of government misadventure that tends to hurt the very people whom it is said to protect.” - Richard Epstein, law professor at university of Chicago and author of several books

“This is a wonderful and well-written book. Reading it was a cathartic experience. It packs an awful lot of common sense and clear headed thinking into a small space. Lusk makes clear that a lot of what academics and politicians take for granted about our agricultural system is in fact nonsense. It is tempting to dismiss the food police as well-intentioned, if not exactly well-informed about the science and economics of food production and consumption. Lusk has reinforced my conviction that to ignore them would be irresponsible. The food police have considerable clout at the highest levels of government and they think they know best about what everyone should eat, including you and me. If they get their way, they would put at risk the ability of our farms to produce healthy and nutritious food at a price the whole world can afford.” - Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D. Associate Professor of Medicine, Stanford University

“The conclusions from [Lusk’s] research will do more to advance healthy eating than would a nation of Mayor Bloombergs.” - Jeff Stier in the New York Post.

“​Lusk makes a strong case that the food police are a major obstacle to the kind of innovation we need. Their intransigence on many of the benefits of food modernization — from genetically modified food to industrial farming and synthetic fertilizers, and even modern conveniences such as large-scale grocery stores and today’s shipping methods — is the kind of thinking that will, as Lusk warns, ultimately doom us to poverty.” - Julie Gunlock in The National Review

“​Sometimes sacred cows must be slaughtered to get to the truth. Lusk does that, and in a way that reads like a charming personal memoir by your favorite college professor.” - Henry Miller at Forbes.com

“​to newcomers who want the story of how a few cranks took over how a country thinks about food, The Food Police provides an excellent primer.” - Center for Consumer Freedom

“​This book is amazing at how it thoroughly describes the how the food police screw things up, increase costs, hurt the environment, and ultimately, cost us freedom.” - Matt Rousu

“Whether or not readers agree with Lusk’s on agriculture and the politics of food production, he will make you think about your food choices.” - ​Kirkus reviews

JAYSON LUSK is a professor and the Willard Sparks Endowed Chair in the agricultural economics department at Oklahoma State University. In the past ten years, Lusk has published more than one hundred articles in peer-reviewed journals on topics related to consumer behavior and food marketing and policy. By many accounts, he is the most cited and most prolific food economist of his generation.

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