Nutrition & Health News, week of January 27

• Michelle Obama revealed the USDA’s new and improved standards for the federal school lunch program. You may recall controversy over the proposed rule’s limitati0ns on potato servings and the “pizza is a vegetable” issue – the USDA made some compromises to these areas, but the final rule is largely the same. The changes, which largely adhere to recommendations from the Institute of Medicine, include adding significantly more fruit and vegetable servings, reducing saturated fat and sodium, switching to whole grains over time, allowing only low-fat milks, and decreasing the overall calories per meal. Although the new standards don’t go far enough on some issues (e.g. flavored milk is still allowed as long as it’s non-fat, despite its high sugar content), these are the first major changes in over 15 years by the USDA and, according to Marion Nestle, “worth celebrating.” [Obama Foodorama]
• Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick wants to tax candy and soda to raise revenue under an expansion of the state’s bottle bill. He believes the public would support such a tax, based on recent poll results. Although this may encourage residents to buy less of these unhealthy products, the tax revenue would be a very small percentage of the state’s budget if passed. [Boston Herald]

And in weird news…

• A teen in the United Kingdom has been living off of McDonald’s chicken nuggets for 15 years. She was rushed to the hospital after experiencing strange health problems like troubled breathing and , causing her to “realize this is really bad for me.” Um, ya think? This is even more disgusting than Morgan Spurlock’s experiment. [Huffington Post]
• Sticking raw bacon up your nose can help stop chronic nosebleeds, according to a recently published study. Apparently, creating such a “nasal tampon” from cured, salted pork is an old remedy, but was stopped due to potential for bacterial infection. I wish I had never heard the phrase “nasal tampon.” [The Guardian]

Tags: fast food, food policy, health news, school lunch, USDA

Nutrition & Health News, week of January 20

• Amongst flying rumors on the interwebs, Food Network queen Paula Deen announced that she has been living with a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes for the last couple of years. Her announcement was no surprise to anyone who knows her fondness of everything buttery and deep-fried, and conveniently timed with the launch of her partnership with diabetes drug manufacturer, Novo Nordisk. She’s struck a lucrative deal with Novo Nordisk to peddle Victoza in their new diabetes management campaign, Diabetes in A New Light, causing many people to question her motives and her lifelong promotion of high-calorie foods. Of the criticism, Deen has said, “Honey I’m your cook, not your doctor…I’ve always encouraged moderation.” Really? Her “princess bites” don’t seem very moderate. [The Atlantic, Serious Eats]
• Research by the CDC indicates that obesity rates in the U.S. have plateaued, with 35.7% of adults and 16.9% of children qualifying as obese. Although this stall is positive and may be due in part to increased efforts to control obesity, the fact remains that the rates are not declining. We will be seeing the impact of obesity for years to come. [New York Times]
• At a meeting of the nation’s mayors in Washington, D.C. this week, the mayors formed a Food Policy Task Force led by Boston’s own Mayor Menino. According to the agenda, the task force will “focus on issues including reducing obesity, increasing access to healthy affordable food in low-income communities, and increasing local food procurement and entrepreneurship in cities. The task force will review issues and policy barriers to addressing food access, food security issues in urban areas including recommendations on increasing SNAP (Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program) participation via recommendations on best policies and practices, 2012 Farm Bill, support for farmer’s markets, food desert mapping and healthy food retail.” In Boston, Mayor Menino has been instrumental in beginning a number of food policy initiatives for the city. [NPR]
• Mayor Menino pledged to lose 2lbs per month over the next year during his State of the City speech on Tuesday. He made this promise when talking about efforts to reduce obesity in Boston, where over half of residents are overweight. Will the mayor’s promise encourage citizens to follow suit? [Commonhealth]

Tags: Boston, Food Network, food policy, health news

Upcoming Event: “Let’s Talk About Food” at Boston’s Museum of Science

Marion Nestle, food policy expert, will be speaking at a forum called “Let’s Talk about the Farm Bill” at Boston’s Museum of Science in a couple weeks. This is part of the MOS “Let’s Talk About Food” lecture series.

What’s the big deal about the farm bill? An interactive “teach-in” explores the ways that subsidies and regulations impact the quality and cost of the foods we consume here in New England. Learn about the process and meet some of the stakeholders, share your perspectives, and find out how the public can have a voice in reshaping the face of agriculture.

Speakers include: Marion Nestle, PhD, professor of nutrition and public health at New York University, author of Food Politics and What to Eat; Representative Chellie Pingree (Maine), member of the House Committee on Agriculture; and Tim Griffin, PhD, Director, Agriculture, Food and Environment Program, Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy, Tufts University.

When: Sunday, January 29th, 2012 at 3pm

Where: Cahners Theater, Museum of Science

Find out more details and register for the event here.

Tags: Boston, events, food policy

Nutrition & Health News, week of January 13

Happy New Year! I took a little break from blogging since the start of 2012, but I’m back.

• New York City’s Department of Health, known for their creative ways of addressing obesity, released a somewhat controversial string of public service announcements meant to warn the city’s residents about the dangers of soda and fast food consumption and increasing portion sizes. Naturally, the American Beverage Association is upset at the city’s use of  “scare tactics” – but really, isn’t that what we need? [New York Times] [picture above]
• The USDA announced its Blueprint for Stronger Service yesterday. As Tom Vilsack described, the plan “takes a realistic view of the needs of American agriculture in a challenging budget climate, and lays out USDA’s plans to modernize and accelerate service delivery while improving the customer experience through use of innovative technologies and business solutions.” The plan is largely a response to budget cuts anticipated in the 2012 Farm Bill, and the first step is closing 259 domestic offices, labs, and facilities. [Obama Foodorama]
• The FDA has banned the use of a class of antibiotics (cephalosporins)  in lifestock in an effort to prevent the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the human population. This particular class of antibiotics is frequently used to treat strep throat, pneumonia, and other relatively common ailments. This represents a small step in curbing the spread of such bacteria, coming after the FDA recently withdrew a larger proposal to ban antibiotic on a broader basis. [New York Times] Food policy expert Marion Nestle also weighed in on the issue in The Atlantic.
• Marion Nestle gives her predictions on how food politics will shape up in 2012. Her outlook is not optimistic, with good reason. [The Atlantic]
• Americans are eating less meat of all kinds – beef, chicken, and pork. In Mark Bittman’s column this week, he explains why meat consumption has decreased by 12% in the last five years – a combination of rising food prices and conscious consumer choice. [New York Times]

Tags: food policy, health news, NYC, USDA

The Best of “Best Of 2011″ Posts

Because you can’t possibly read them all, I’ve rounded up the “best of” lists that are worth reading (or at least skimming).

In food policy:

• Good Food News of 2011 [Grist]
• Bad Food News of 2011 [Grist]
• Top 10 Farm and Food Stories of 2011 [Civil Eats]
• Top 6 Food Politics Lessons Learned in 2011 [Huffington Post]

In health:

• Most Popular Health Topics of 2011 [New York Times]
• The Year in Fitness [New York Times]

In cooking & eating:

• Best of 2011 – Kitchen Tools We Love [Apartment Therapy]
• 15 Recipes to Lighten Things Up in the Kitchen [Apartment Therapy]
• Sam Sifton’s Top 10 Restaurants of 2011 [New York Times] (or as Kim Severson said, the Top 10 Restaurants You Will Now Not Be Able to Get Into)
• 11 Food and Drink Trends of 2011 [Serious Eats]
• Best of FOOD52 in 2011 [FOOD52]

In books:

• 10 Favorite Cookbooks in 2011 [Serious Eats]
• Favorite Non-Cookbook Food Books in 2011 [Serious Eats]
• Best Food Books of 2011 [The Atlantic]

Here’s to 2012!

Nutrition & Health News, week of December 30th

• Scientists  in Rotterdam funded by the U.S. have discovered a genetic process that makes the H5N1 (avian flu) virus airborne. Because the potent virus has over a 50% death rate in humans in its non-airborne form, government officials are hesitant to let the scientists publish their findings in order to “prevent the work from being replicated by terrorists, hostile governments or rogue scientists.” If released, the airborne virus could cause the most deadly flu pandemic yet. [New York Times]
• Influential voices in health policy made their predictions on the fate of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) and health care in 2012. The Supreme Court is expected to make a decision in early 2012 on whether or not the individual mandate (requiring everyone to have health insurance) is constitutional. The individual mandate is believed to be the linchpin of Obamacare. [Commonhealth]
• Last week, the FDA withdrew a proposal that would prevent antibiotics from being put in animal feed. The proposal had been sitting in Congress since 1977, waiting indefinitely for more research to be conducted. Antibiotics given to farm animals are a well-known health risk to humans because, as Mark Bittman explains, “the animals become perfect breeding grounds for bacteria to gain resistance to the drugs, and our inadequate testing procedures allow them to make their way into stores and our guts.” Apparently the FDA doesn’t think this is a problem. [New York Times]
  
• The USDA released the MyPlate SuperTracker, an online tool meant to help Americans maintain healthy weight by keeping track of their diets and physical activity. The tool allows for personalized recommendations and goal-setting based on meeting the 2011 Dietary Guidelines and the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines. It sounds cool – but will people actually use it? Check it out at ChooseMyPlate.gov. [Obama Foodorama]

Tags: food policy, food safety, health care reform, health news, USDA

Favorite Food Books of 2011

I had wanted to post a list of favorite food books that I’ve read in the past year, so I browsed by Goodreads list to jog my memory. In doing so, I realized I’d only read two. Just two. I guess my reading for pleasure was eclipsed by my reading for class, and I only managed to squeeze in a few food books this year. That, and reading Townie took me at least three months (highly recommend though – very good, but long and dense!).

• Spoon Fed: How Eight Cooks Saved My Life by Kim Severson – Kim Severson, former food writer for the New York Times, beautifully recalls the influence of food and cooking on her life, from childhood through her battle with alcoholism. This was easily one of the best books I read all year.
• Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, with Recipes by Elizabeth Bard – I’m a sucker for anything written about Paris and food, so this was a pleasure to read having recently been to Paris (and still dreaming about the food). The love story is cheesy, but that shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the drool-inducing recounting of French meals and recipes.

I also received a few food books for Christmas that I’m excited to dig into:

• A Year in The Village of Eternity: The Lifestyle of Longevity in Campodimele, Italy by Tracey Lawson
• Farm Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of Country Life by Julia Rothman – Although I’ve only flipped through briefly, Rothman’s illustrations are beautiful and accompanied by simple country recipes.
• Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe by Joanne Chang – including the recipe for my favorite ginger molasses cookies!

Happy reading!

Tags: books

Michael Pollan’s Edible Education 101

Michael Pollan’s popular lecture series, Edible Education 101: A Complete Course on Modern Food Production, is now available online through The Atlantic. From their website:

This fall at the University of California, Berkeley, a new course surveys the political, social, environmental, and gustatory stakes of modern food production. In his Edible Education 101: The Rise and Future of the Food Movement, Berkeley journalism professor and best-selling author Michael Pollan yields the spotlight to other experts: Though he appears frequently as introducer, moderator, and panelist, the classes are focused on an all-star cast of guest lecturers. Taken together, these food A-listers and innovators provide a compelling, comprehensive portrait of 21st-century eating.

Although all the lectures are available for free via UC Berkeley’s YouTube channel, The Atlantic has put them all together for you in one place. Check it out here.

*image via the New York Times

Tags: food policy, miscellaneous

Nutrition & Health News, week of December 9th

• Michelle Obama announced a shift in the priorities of the Let’s Move! campaign from promoting healthy diets to emphasizing physical activity for kids. Food policy expert Marion Nestle believes the shift is a bad move, and that FLOTUS has given up on lobbying the food industry and others to make healthier foods because promoting physical activity isn’t as politically loaded. [Food Politics]
• In a landmark move this week, Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overruled the FDA’s petition to sell Plan B (the morning-after pill) over the counter to girls under the age of 17. Research by the FDA had determined that girls under age 17 (the legal age at which one can purchase Plan B without a prescription) were capable of making an informed decision to use it appropriately without a doctor’s (or parent’s) guidance, but Sebelius disagreed. Notably, she called for more research on the 10-11 age group, even though only 10% of girls are able to bear children at that age. [The Atlantic Wire]
• Loopholes in the regulations around SNAP (food stamps) allow  beneficiaries in some states to purchase foods at Starbucks, Taco Bell, and KFC. Should the USDA be able to restrict the use of SNAP to only healthy foods? [Obama Foodorama]
• An article in Time Magazine offers reasons why a tax on soda would work. The author posits that taxes imposed on manufacturers (an excise tax) would force them to reformulate recipes to include less sugar or high-fructose corn syrup rather than raise prices for consumers. I’m not convinced that’s how it would play out, but we’ll have to wait and see. [TIME]

Tags: childhood obesity, food policy, health news, Michelle Obama, SNAP

Boston Health News, week of December 2nd

• With flu season just around the corner, the Occupy Boston encampment in Dewey Square, poses a significant health risk. Occupiers partnered with the Boston Public Health Commission to set up a free flu clinic on site for occupiers to receive vaccines in order to establish herd immunity among the campers. [Commonhealth]
• The 2011 Health of Boston report, released yesterday, indicates the city is doing well in some respects, and poorly in others. The BPHC said of the results, “Boston is one of the healthiest city in America, but, obviously, there is still work to do…That’s why it’s important that we continue to sound the alarm about the bad health consequences of sugary beverages and tobacco, while continuing to provide support for community gardening, Farmer’s Markets, and create policies and programs that allow residents to incorporate physical activity into their daily routine.’’ Read the full report here. [Commonhealth]
• Boston was recognized for its impressive Farm to School initiative by the Mother Nature Network. The city’s public schools receive locally grown, fresh produce from area farms to incorporate into school meals. The meals are offered in conjunction with additional nutrition education and some cafeterias have had professional guest chefs cook their meals. [Grub Street Boston]

 

Tags: Boston, health news, local, school lunch