Weight of the Nation on HBO tonight!

Tonight at 8pm EST, HBO will begin screening the 4-part documentary, The Weight of the Nation.

If you don’t have HBO, you can also watch it online.

Upcoming Event: The Weight of the Nation

This coming Monday evening, HBO will be screening the new documentary The Weight of the Nation in Boston. Following the screening, Boston-area experts, including Tufts researcher Dr. Christina Economos, will speak on a panel about some of the issues raised in the documentary. If you’re unable to attend the screening, check the HBO website for showtimes.

Here’s the description from HBO:

Bringing together the nation’s leading research institutions, THE WEIGHT OF THE NATION is a presentation of HBO and the Institute of Medicine (IOM), in association with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and in partnership with the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and Kaiser Permanente.

The centerpiece of THE WEIGHT OF THE NATION campaign is the four-part documentary series, each featuring case studies, interviews with our nation’s leading experts, and individuals and their families struggling with obesity. The first film, CONSEQUENCES, examines the scope of the obesity epidemic and explores the serious health consequences of being overweight or obese. The second, CHOICES, offers viewers the skinny on fat, revealing what science has shown about how to lose weight, maintain weight loss and prevent weight gain. The third, CHILDREN IN CRISIS, documents the damage obesity is doing to our nation’s children. Through individual stories, this film describes how the strong forces at work in our society are causing children to consume too many calories and expend too little energy; tackling subjects from school lunches to the decline of physical education, the demise of school recess and the marketing of unhealthy food to children. The fourth film, CHALLENGES, examines the major driving forces causing the obesity epidemic, including agriculture, economics, evolutionary biology, food marketing, racial and socioeconomic disparities, physical inactivity, American food culture, and the strong influence of the food and beverage industry.

Let’s Move! Google+ Hangout – Today!

 

Today, the first lady’s Let’s Move! campaign will host their first Google+ hangout today at 1pm EST. On hand to speak will be White House Executive Chef Cris Comerford and Gail Simmons, a culinary expert and TV personality (you may recognize her as a judge from Bravo’s Top Chef).

The announcement states, “We’re inviting Americans across the country to join the conversation and ask our experts about making healthy choices while juggling multiple schedules, and making smart choices whether you are cooking family meals, balancing everyone’s schedule or eating away from home.”

You can submit questions and connect through the White House Google+ page, website, or Youtube channel. To join the conversation on Twitter, use the hashtag #AskLetsMove.

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.

Upcoming Event: Slumbrew Launch Party TONIGHT

What: The launch of Slumbrew, the experimental beer research arm (aka brewlab) of Somerville Brewing Company. Try their first three beers: Flagraiser IPA, Happy Sol, A Blood Orange Hef, and Porter Square Porter.

Where: The Independent Restaurant, Somerville, MA

When: TONIGHT, 5-8pm

More about Slumbrew: “We produce a lot of small-run, pilot beers at the Slumbrew Beerlab, but only a small number make their way to commercial production. The Somerville Brewing Company contracts with regional breweries to make the best recipes for wide-spread commercial release, but each recipe is an evolving process of refinement. This model for beer production provides an opportunity to experiment with innovative local ingredients to produce craft beers that stand apart from typical formulations.”

Info here.

Upcoming Event: CBC Great Pumpkin Festival

Don’t have Halloween plans yet? Then check out the Cambridge Brewing Company’s annual Pumpkin Festival this Saturday! Sample 40 different pumpkin beers and pumpkin-inspired foods for the price of admission ($10, with a free pint glass). We had a great time last year! More information here.

Even better, I’ll add more beers to my list of pumpkin brews – I made an October goal to sample all (well, most) the pumpkin beers Cambridge has to offer and have thus far tried the following:

• Dogfish Head Punkin Ale – Solid choice, but brown ales tend to be a bit too sweet for me
• Brooklyn Brewery Post Road Pumpkin Ale – a new-to-me brew that has a more subtle, fresh pumpkin flavor (my favorite so far, available at Meadhall)
• Shipyard Pumpkinhead – an old standby that’s sure to please
• Saranac Pumpkin Ale – spicy!
• Cambridge Brewing Co. Great Pumpkin Ale – tastier than last year’s!

Happy Halloween!

Mayor Menino Speaks at Boston Food Day

Earlier this afternoon, I attended Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s speech for Food Day at Tufts Friedman School. In his speech, Mayor Menino encouraged the audience to “[work] together to make Boston the capital of good, healthy food.” He started off by displaying a number of visual aids he brought with him in a shopping cart – his CSA box full of vegetables from his own farm, an improved school lunch menu, an empty soda bottle, a Bounty Bucks voucher, a carton of locally produced ice cream (which he joked he wanted to take home with him), and a “reserved for food truck” street sign.

The mayor then spoke to the goals of Food Day by outlining his vision for Boston’s food revolution:

• access to fresh, reasonably priced food – has opened 25 new full service supermarkets in the city since becoming mayor (talked up the controversial Whole Foods in Jamaica Plain), started the Bounty Bucks program 
• making Boston a healthier city, especially through our youth – taking action against childhood obesity by taking soda and junk food out of school vending machines, and introducing locally sourced foods to school menus, taking sugary drinks out of public buildings, bringing healthy foods to the city through community gardens  
• supporting Boston’s food economy – through our restaurant community and food trucks, which are “serving up jobs” as well as good food (he also highlighted Clover and their soy BLT sandwich); more greenhouses and farmers’ markets, including the new Haymarket public market

Tomorrow, the city will be kicking off Boston Canned Share (their 25th anniversary) and Mayor Menino asked for support from the community to help needy families. The funds raised through this initiative go towards the Bounty Bucks program.

He ended by taking some questions from the audience, but providing vague or tangential answers.

• Q. Professor Alice Lichtenstien asked whether MA is considering following NYC’s example of mandatory calorie labeling in restaurants? A. Mayor Menino stated that they’re working with the MA Public Health Dept to work on this issue at the state level, instead of just the city of Boston. [note: mandatory menu labeling for chain restaurants is a component of the health reform law already]
• Q. Brandy Brooks, from The Food Project – how is Boston working to strengthen the regional (New England) food system? A. He has encouraged other mayors to promote healthy living in communities but there are a number of challenges (e.g. budget cuts) to engaging them.
• Q. What types of things is the city doing with respect to increasing availability and space for kids to engage in physical activity? A. He mentioned that the Boston Center for Youth & Families hosts after-school programs and  talked about the need to engage and reach out to kids who aren’t currently involved in physical obesity (like kids in public housing). He also called for the many groups working on childhood obesity to work together.

Although I learned more about the nutrition- and food-related initiatives that Boston already has, I was a bit disappointed that Mayor Menino didn’t map out his vision for the future of Boston’s so-called “food revolution.” Instead, it felt like he was patting himself on the back by talking about all the things we already do. I’d like to know what new and innovative ways we’re trying to tackle childhood obesity, eliminate food deserts, and encourage nutrition education in homes, etc. moving forward!

Upcoming Event: National Food Day

On October 24th, 2011, the first ever Food Day will be held across the country. Food Day is a national event advocating for “healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way,” hosted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest and a long list of partner organizations. The goals of Food Day are:

• Reduce diet-related disease by promoting safe, healthy foods
• Support sustainable farms & limit subsidies to big agribusiness
• Expand access to food and alleviate hunger
• Protect the environment & animals by reforming factory farms
• Promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids
• Support fair conditions for food and farm workers

In Boston, the event will be hosted by none other than Tufts University (woo!). Mayor Menino will be on hand to speak about the importance of Food Day’s message, and his vision of the future of Boston’s food systems.

When: October 24th, 2011 from 1-2pm

Where: Tufts University School of Medicine (Sackler Auditorium)

The event is open to the public and registration is here. If you can’t attend in person, you can watch the webcast on the Friedman School website.

Learn more about the event here and check out how other cities, communities, schools, organizations, etc. are celebrating.

Upcoming Events: This Weekend Around Boston

The 22nd Annual Harpoon Octoberfest is TODAY, September 30th, from 5:30-11pm and tomorrow, October 1st, from 2-9pm at the Harpoon Brewery (the waterfront). Tickets are $20 (includes a pint glass and 1 drink ticket), must be over 21 to partake. Details here.

The Boston Local Food Festival is tomorrow, October 1st, from 11am-5pm at the Fort Point Channel. Free and includes local food tastings! More details here.

The 33rd Annual Oktoberfest and HONK! Parade in Harvard Square is Sunday, October 2nd, from 12-6pm in Harvard Square. Includes live music, crafts, and three beer gardens! Details here.

Upcoming Event: Urban Ag Fair this Sunday, Sept. 18th

When: this Sunday, September 18th, 11am-5pm

Where: Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA  – Mt. Auburn and JFK Streets and Winthrop Park

What: “Situated on Mount Auburn Street and Winthrop Park, the site of the first marketplace in Newtowne (1630s), this event will showcase locally grown fruits and vegetables and the people that grow them.  Come sample delicious local fare, purchase locally grown foods, get tips from local experts on composting, community gardening, container gardening, raising chickens and bees and more!  Cooking demonstrations by local chefs will be held throughout the day.  Share your cookbooks or climate/environmental books at our book swap table.  In addition, Grendel’s Den will be on hand to host a beer garden featuring locally crafted brews!  All events are free, open to the public and are family friendly.”

Beer garden? I’m there!

More info here.

Via Grub Street Boston.