The “good food” sector, which includes Chipotle, Whole Foods and Applegate, are making inroads in the marketplace, but when it comes to policymaking, “their involvement on Capitol Hill, on issues from the farm bill to nutrition labeling, has ranged from limited to non-existent,” says Politico. The companies often do not have a Washington lobbyist or they ask consumers to carry their message to Congress. By comparison, says the Politico story by Helena Bottemiller Evich, Coca-Cola spent $9.3 million on Washington representation in 2014 and PepsiCo and the National Restaurant Association each spent $3.5 million.
All told, the traditional food and beverage powerhouses spent $36 million on lobbying last year. A leader in the healthy-food movement, Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield, is among those pressing for more activity in Washington. “A lot of people are still very uncomfortable with the fact that you have to pay to play – you have to be a force,” Hirshberg told Politico.