Here comes Food Policy Action

Food enters politics with Food Policy Action

Drop fries and sodas

It's here. Should include any sugary drink (like juices) and not only "sodas".

Michael Pollan: Vote for the dinner party

Opinion in the October 10 NYT.

Thinking of a label

An opinion in the NYT. He did not consider the possibility of a scan with s smartphone.

Interesting testimony in the Seattle Times

Below is a comment posted about an article published in the Seattle Times about the need for dental therapists. But first what is needed is prevention: no sugar toxic food and drinks!
"I'm a dentist working in rural Alaska for the past ten years and before that 20 years in private practice in the inner city of Seattle. Let me state first of, that while the premise of the writer is correct in that many people do not have adequate access to dental care, the solution is not to water down the standard of care.

I have flown thousands of miles in bush planes and traveled by boat into villages that are essentially one huge candy store. Coke is the primary drink with some villages averaging 12 cans per day. Most bush planes I've flown on are stocked with Coke and.....the dentist.

The solution, in a nutshell, is to provide proper nutrition in the first place.

Soda Ban explained (video in the NYT)

Cool explanation.

Ad for McDonald's in the May 2012 issue of Ebony

Ad for McDonald's in the May 2012 issue of Ebony

Ebony May 2012: Michelle Obama explains how she suppressed sugary drinks

This interesting interview, largely reproduced in this post of the Obamafoodorama blog was published in the May 2102 issue of Ebony. Beyond the usual Let's move motto this is a very clear position about 0 sugary drinks and more fruit and vegetables. I am surprised the advocates did not use it more (if at all).

The amazing Stephen Ritz

From the South Bronx, in his amazing TED presentation. The sad thing is this very successful program was... terminated! why? Nobody seems willing to tell. This article gives a little more information but not that much. Why did the school administrators terminate this program? Why didn't they explain their reasons publicly? Was it really because they needed this classroom?

Voluntary aqgreements with the food industry criticized in the UK

From The Independent.

Cows tortured in slaughterhouse providing McDonald's, COSTCO, schools

The story reported in the NYT was initiated by Compassion over Killing via undercover videos. The slaughterhouse has been shut down and many contracts cancelled. How many slaughterhouses operate in similar ways?
See also the story on ABC. Interestingly in the LA Times the story is published in the Money section. The article clearly shows many companies very concerned about how their image could be negatively impacted while the trade organizations proclaim all is well.

More kids drink diet sodas :(

Fooducate warns us of this toxic trend and reminds us why diet sodas are bad, bad, bad.

Healthy cereal bars? A myth according to UK consumer group Which

From BBC Health news.

Now come the lawsuits against Big Food

Those lawsuits are filed by attorneys who have been involved in the litigation against Big Tobacco.

HuffPost Healthy Living: loss weight success stories

Just found out this series of stories on the Huffington Post. Interesting but the format could be improved (I think) to include more specific information about each diet. The headlines are often misleading and an abusive simplification like this one emphasizing tennis playing instead of the drastic reduction in food intake and in the type of food. It still would be great of produce/disseminate on a regular basis, inspirational stories, maybe coupled with stories of failures and how best to overcome them?
Yes, similar stories were published about smoking. For example, read the classical
The Last puff, ex-smokers share the secrets of their success.

Worst beverages in America

From Buzzfeed via CSIP. As they say, prepare to be outraged.

Study links healthier students with tougher state snack laws for schools

As reported in the New York Times, the results of this RWJF funded study shows less overweight sutdents in states that have adopted tougher laws regulating the availability of "competitive foods and drinks" in schools. Preventobesity.net is promoting a petition to the Department of Agriculture so that they release new guidelines for schools. It was started in Kentucky by Casey Hinds.
Read The lunch tray the blog of Bettina Elias Siegel, that I just added to the blogroll.

Big Food hires the same lobbyists and PR manipulators as Big Tobacco

From this very instructive August 13 post in Michele Simon's Appetite for Profit about the fight against/for GMO labeling.

Obama Foodorama

Obama Foodorama is a blog published by Eddie Gehman Kohan about the White House food initiatives. Shows (in a way) how they(she) frame the issues (or not). I am not sure about Eddie's status in relation with the administration. Although this interview in Elle gives some details.

Using the Fooducate app in the classroom

From the Fooducate blog...
I cannot say I care for the music in the short video but using the smartphone so many children now have is a good idea. Maybe the content of Fooducate is too technical (depending on the age group). I am not sure about the content of the Smash your food app that seems to target a younger audience (and their parents).