Good Food is Everybody's Business
We are getting heavier. On average, U.S. adults weigh 24 pounds more than they did in 1960. And in that same time, obesity among children and teens has tripled, from nearly 5% to 15%. The strategies needed to put the nation on a weight-loss plan are obvious. So how do we put those strategies into action?
First Lady Michelle Obama added the power of her presence to Walmart’s announcement of its Nutrition Charter, an initiative for healthy eating. Walmart will reformulate products to improve nutrition by 2015 by reducing sodium 25% and added sugars 10%, and removing all trans fats; make healthy food more affordable by reducing the cost of fruits and vegetables and healthier options; developing a healthy seal to make it easier for customers to make healthy choices.
Michelle Obama’s handshake with Walmart is center stage news today. The whole emphasis is on price as if the organic and natural food movement is responsible for low income people not being able to eat right and Walmart is ready to save the day by making good food affordable.
Nearly 40% of US consumers buy products that are – or contain – certified organic ingredients, a number that has held steady for the last three years. Where those consumers are shopping for those products has changed toward conventional and mass market outlets and away from natural food stores.
Food is the one thing that Americans hate to love and, as it turns out, love to hate. What we want to eat has been ousted by the notion of what we should eat, and it’s at this nexus of hunger and hang-up that Michael Pollan poses his most salient question: where is the food in our food?
Written with the clarity, concision and wit that has become bestselling author Michael Pollan’s trademark, this indispensable handbook lays out a set of straightforward, memorable rules for eating wisely, one per page accompanied by a concise explanation.
Consumer Reports, the folks that usually tell us the best product to buy, are asking if we know what to eat. In a survey of 1,200 adults nine out of 10 respondents said their diets were “somewhat,” “very,” or “extremely” healthy. Yet the survey turned up some responses that say otherwise.
