Food Revolution! A Blog Carnival On School Food and Fighting Childhood Obesity, Diabetes
This morning as I packed lunches for my two daughters, my youngest peered over the counter asking, “Did you pack some chips?” She and I both laughed as I placed apple in her lunch bag along side a small portion of her favorite guacamole-flavored chips. Everyday we try to strike a balance between what we want and what [...]
Food Justice is Racial Justice
I have spent a lot of time in urban America looking at different neighborhoods and different cultures. I’m an anthropologist and I’ve examined the culture around food and some of the reasons why my community has the relationship to food that we do. One of the reasons that black people have the unhealthy eating habits [...]
Why I Am Making Soul Food Junkies
In 2007, my father passed away from pancreatic cancer. One of the many factors leading to pancreatic cancer is a high fat, meat-based diet. My father’s diet consisted of both. While I am not certain that my father’s diet alone contributed to his disease, his illness capped off what had been my lifelong concern for [...]
Kale Salad and the Kids of East Los Angeles!
I originally wrote this story for my food blog Presley’s Pantry. All photos were taken by Mando Lopez. –Nicole LA CAUSA is a local non-profit organization in East Los Angeles that works to re-empower youth that have been pushed out of the traditional educational system and provides them with knowledge, training, and hands on preparation [...]
Setting a New Academic Standard: Getting Junk Food Out of Schools
A healthy nation starts with healthy kids, and experts and parents agree that junk food is a huge contributor to skyrocketing rates of diabetes and other chronic diseases. But the food and beverage industries spend billions of dollars promoting unhealthy foods virtually everywhere kids go–including schools. And it’s working: sugary beverages and nutritionally poor snacks [ ...]
Why Kids Eat What They Do (or Don’t)
This is an updated and adapted version of the second of a three-part series that originally appeared at The (ex) Expatriate’s Kitchen blog. I first started this article series when I realized how many other influences there are on my child’s diet. I was trying to buy plastic food and a grocery cart for my [...]
No More Junk in School Foods
Over the past several years, the childhood obesity numbers have been steadily increasing. Today, over 23 million children/teens are either overweight or obese. A lot has to do with the amount of junk food and sugary drinks kids are consuming. Unfortunately most public schools aren’t doing much to help resolve this situation. A lot of people believe that [... ]
School meals are healthier. So why isn’t everything else?
All parents want what is best for their children, and all parents want to see their children succeed. Unfortunately, the childhood obesity epidemic means that about one-third of children and teens are now overweight or obese, putting them at risk for a lifetime of health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood [...]
We all eat for a living
Since I was a child, I have heard it said that “everyone eats for a living.” In fact, I have yet to meet anyone that survives purely on air or water. All rumors aside, it’s a significant concern that all of us who do eat learn how to honor our food supply as a primary [...]
Are you and your school on the same team?
My kids love school. I love it too! As a mom, I couldn’t be happier when they run out the door eager to learn and play and grow. I count on school to teach them so many things that I can’t, and to reinforce the habits and values that we build at home. So what’s [...]
Young People (All of Them) Deserve Options
Every morning on my way to work, I would watch young children eat flaming hot chips with what looked to be 3 day old gray hamburger meat, topped with cheese that looked to be made of plastic. This was their breakfast. There may have been some honey buns and other items, but nothing looked to [ ...]
30 Days Until #FoodRevolution Day!
This year, for the first time ever, May 19 is Food Revolution Day, a global day of action marking the commitment to food education in communities, schools and businesses worldwide. Food Revolution Day is a chance for people who love food to come together to share information, skills and resources; to pass on their knowledge [...]
Getting Rid of Junk Food Marketing in Schools – It May Be a Lot Harder Than You Think.
You did it! You got your school district to ban junk food poster ads, vending machines and unhealthy snacks in the cafeteria. You would think that after all that hard work you could sit back and relax knowing that you’ve created one more safe eating environment for America’s youth. Not so fast! Unfortunately, even if [...]
When Wishes are Fishes
How do we get doctors to honor our wishes at the end of life? Most recommend preparing an advance directive, and I’m no exception. These documents are not infallible, but they are the best things we’ve got going for us when we can’t speak for ourselves. However, one popular advance directive could actually subvert your [...]