Good Food is Everybody's Business
Organically grown, local, whole, affordable, planetary stewardship, food justice, sustainably farmed, humanely raised and slaughtered, slow cooked and seasonally eaten, nutritionism, vegan, healthy lifestyle; these are just some of the words that come to mind around the elite conversation of How, What, When and Where we eat these days. There is so much to talk about, and these words do not exist in isolation of one another.
Here we are, the most affluent nation in the world, with the best time saving conveniences at our fingertips, and ironically, we’ve become the most unhealthy, obese, sedentary modern nation on the planet. The truth is – American society sits too darned much.
The use of artificial enhancements is relatively recent. In the 1800s, American food manufacturers began doctoring their wares with toxic pigments made from lead and copper. Today, while food dyes come from a wide range of sources, many artificial dyes are petroleum-based. Why degrade the nutrient value of our food with over processing and artificial colors and flavors? Natural colors are much more than visually attractive, they provide nutritive value too.
The frontier in the fight against childhood obesity should be pushed back to toddlers and preschoolers, a new study suggests. Researchers have found that kids ages 3-5 already have developed a taste for sugary, fatty, and salty foods, and easily recognize the brands that offer these options.
After careful consideration, in order to insure that the company he, his family, and his long-time employees worked so hard to build would continue to grow and reflect his values, Bob Moore, founder of Bob’s Red Mill, chose to create an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).
Are McDonald’s CEO Mike Roberts and Chief of Operations Mike Donahue seeing the light? After contributing to the 25 pound-weight gain the average American has packed on in the last 50 years, Roberts and Donahue are starting a healthy fast food restaurant chain.
Food Matters explores the links among global warming and other environmental challenges, obesity and the so-called lifestyle diseases, and the overproduction and over consumption of meat, simple carbohydrates, and junk food.
The 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee spent almost 2 years researching and writing a 453-page document, Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010, which was provided to the USDA and to the public as well as food industry for comment. Michael Pollan said it first.
