Walmart’s New Healthy Food Strategy: PR Smoke?

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.

Why can’t low income people eat right?

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.

Redefining Local

How local is local? Peter Platt thinks local within a global network. Challenged with running an ethnic restaurant that is closely tied to ingredients that can’t be purchased locally, Peter struggled to find the foods he needs and to source them in a sustainable manner.

Michael Pollan in Seattle: The Omnivore’s Solution

Mashing together observations from three of his books – Food Rules, In Defense of Food, and The Omnivore’s Dilemma – Michael Pollan covered subjects ranging from America’s eating disorder and “nutritionism” to healthy living and the wisdom of food.

A Tale of Two Fish – Which Would You Rather Eat?

We are just beginning to understand that we may soon reach the end of the line – pun intended – for some of our “keystone” fish species: salmon, sea bass, cod and tuna. Top chefs in the US and Europe are pushing for sustainable seafood; “sustainable sushi” bars are popping up in cities across the country; and food service giants are offering sustainable seafood. But how is a discerning consumer going to find good quality, sustainable fish to purchase for his or her own table?

Sustainable, Healthy, and Safe Food Systems: How We Get There

It has been obvious from the beginning that farmers and food professionals of all kinds are committed to providing the safest food possible and limiting the “unintended consequences” that such a law could bring with it. Food safety is just part of good – and sustainable – agricultural practices; the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) recently published Sixteen Food Safety Tenets for Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems.

Mall Food – Now Better Than Airline Food?

Mall food courts are not known for fine dining or even particularly good dining. Or dining at all. Knoshing perhaps… In general, mall walkers and mall rats can choose from fried, grilled, or “steam-table-over-cooked,” when it comes to food options inside those concrete walls. That’s about to change!