Seems like I’ve been getting more emails lately from strangers asking me for career advice. While I am flattered anyone thinks I have something to offer in this regard, I find it difficult to take time to answer such broad questions like, Should I go to law school or get a public health degree? How did you get into this work? Where can I find jobs in food policy? Or, from an actual email from an undergrad after a recent talk: “What advice could you give me regarding what my next internship/career/research directions could be?”
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Whistleblower to Maker of Pink Slime: “Quit Harassing Me”
This past week, the media woke up to the shocking reality that our meat supply is in fact industrialized. Long gone are the days of your friendly local butcher grinding meat for your kids’ hamburgers. Taking its place is a corporate behemoth you probably never heard of called Beef Products Inc.
Is it Time to Define ‘Natural’?
Thanks to an increasing awareness of where food comes from and its impact on our health, shoppers are becoming more discriminating, especially when it comes to processed foods. In response, many product manufacturers, fearful of losing customers, are slapping the “natural” label on foods that are anything but.
Read rest in Functional Ingredients magazine.
PepsiCo: Master of Corporate Spin?
When I ask people to name the largest food company in America, most don’t realize the answer is PepsiCo. You may just think soft drinks when you hear the name, but PepsiCo actually owns a dizzying array of food and beverage brands across five massive divisions: Pepsi-Cola, Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Tropicana, and Quaker Oats. As I recently told CNBC for their documentary, Pepsi’s Challenge, perhaps the leading maker of sugary drinks and salty snacks should bear some responsibility for America’s bad eating habits.
New Policy Consultant for Center for Food Safety
I am thrilled to announce that I am now working part-time with the Center for Food Safety. I’ve admired the work of CFS for years to expose the dark side of the industrial food system (long before it became popular). CFS is an effective organization that’s not afraid to take on the most powerful players in the food industry. Their True Food Network has been a compelling force speaking out against the likes of Monsanto for contaminating the food supply with genetically-modified ingredients. And by utilizing the power of the court system, CFS has won important legal victories. This powerful combination of law and grassroots support is exactly what we need to fight the huge multinational corporations that have far too much control over what we eat and how food is produced.
SNAP: the Other Corporate Subsidy in the Farm Bill?
As Enrollment Increases, USDA Should Require Purchase Data from
Food Stamp Retailers to Better Evaluate Nutrition Intake
This week Congress begins hearings on the 2012 farm bill, the massive piece of legislation that gets updated about every five years and undergirds America’s entire food supply, but that few mortals can even understand. As nutrition professor Marion Nestle recently lamented, “no one has any idea what the farm bill is about. It’s too complicated for any mind to grasp.”
February Speaking Engagements
If you live in the Phoenix area, come and see me give a keynote address at the 7th Annual Building Healthy Lifestyles Conference hosted by Arizona State University’s School of Nutrition and Health Promotion on February 17-18 at the Memorial Union, on ASU’s Tempe campus. Details.
On February 23, I am speaking on “Control State Politics” at the 2012 Mental Health Symposium hosted by Utah Valley University. My talk will explain how big-box retailers like Costco and Walmart want to dismantle state regulation of alcohol and why this trend is dangerous to public health. Details.
Want me to come and speak in your area? I am available to give keynote talks, workshops, class lectures, and more. Visit Eat Drink Politics for details.
Protein propaganda: It’s what’s for dinner
Most vegetarians are tired of being asked, “Where do you get your protein?” by a seemingly concerned family member, friend, or even stranger. I know many vegetarians and none of us have come close to suffering from Kwashiorkor. Never heard of it? It’s a form of malnutrition from lack of protein, found in areas of famine and extreme poverty. Protein deficiency is rare in the developed world, despite a significant portion of the population eschewing meat. So where did this idea come from that vegetarians and vegans are doomed to a life of protein deficiency? Read rest at Grist…
Is Walmart’s March into Cities Helping or Hurting?
Having saturated the rural landscape, shuttering local stores in small town America along the way, now, in the wake of stagnant sales and increased competition, Walmart desperately needs to expand into urban markets. Read rest at Food Safety News…
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