Public Health
Posted on Monday, August 20th, 2012 by Michele Simon
Rarely does the mainstream media bother to connect the dots when it comes to our broken food safety system. Consider these two recent headlines:
• Foodborne Outbreaks Falling Short of U.S. Reduction Goals
• USDA to purchase $170 million worth of meat to help farmers struggling with drought
The latter story celebrating government action to “help farmers” — prompted by this U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) press release — was trumpeted by major media outlets across the nation without any questions raised. Of course American farmers need help during times of drought and that effort is well worth supporting, but is the indiscriminate buying up of meat really the best and only idea the feds can come up with? Read rest at Center for Food Safety…
Postscript: Since writing this article, the federal government reported that two people have died and 141 were made sick by salmonella in yet another cantaloupe outbreak, this one in 20 states.
Posted in Big Food, Food Safety, Public Health | Tagged: E.coli, food safety, Food Safety Modernization Act, listeria, Microbiological Data Program, USDA | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (0) |
Posted on Wednesday, August 1st, 2012 by Michele Simon
Last week I had the pleasure of lending my support, on behalf of the Center for Food Safety, to New York City’s proposal to limit the size of sugary beverages sold at food service outlets. (I wrote previously about why this policy makes sense.) The hearing room at New York’s health department was packed with media outlets and hundreds of folks eager to witness the showdown with Big Soda.
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Posted in Big Food, Food Policy, Public Health | Tagged: Big Soda, Center for Food Safety, Grocery Manufacturers Association, New York City, New Yorkers for Beverage Choices, sugary beverages | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (1) |
Posted on Thursday, July 5th, 2012 by Michele Simon
I admit this post is somewhat self-serving. But I am getting weary of so many lists (like this one) celebrating heroes of the food movement that leave out an entire category of professionals that deserve a little respect. They may not be as famous as Alice Waters but they are working just as hard, maybe even harder. So here, in no particular order, are ten lawyers doing critical work to improve how we eat.
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Posted in Public Health | Tagged: Center for Food Safety, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Food Integrity Campaign, Food Safety News, Government Accountability Project, Public Health Law Center | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (4) |
Posted on Wednesday, June 6th, 2012 by Michele Simon
After years of debating, petitioning, rule-making, and outright stalling, this week the federal government is finally implementing new requirements for testing E. coli in ground beef. Why is this cause for celebration?
Read rest at Center for Food Safety…
Posted in Big Food, Food Safety, Public Health | Tagged: E.coli, food safety, Food Safety News, USDA | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (0) |
Posted on Monday, June 4th, 2012 by Michele Simon
Few things get a media frenzy going like the combination of two words: radiation and food. Despite the ubiquitous availability of truly unhealthy foods 24/7, just raise the specter of radioactivity on our plates, and people suddenly get very serious about what they are eating. And the media fans the flames.
Read rest at Center for Food Safety…
Posted in Food Safety, Public Health | Tagged: food safety | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (0) |
Posted on Sunday, June 3rd, 2012 by Michele Simon
Last week, New York City showed the nation once again what it means to be on the cutting edge of public health policy. The city announced a bold plan to limit the size of sugary beverages sold at restaurants and other food establishments. Predictably, much of the media went crazy, and numerous outlets have already proclaimed that this time, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has just gone too far. Banning trans fats was fine, but don’t take away my right to guzzle a gallon of Coke is the lazy reaction of some pundits.
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Posted in Big Food, Child Nutrition, Public Health | Tagged: Big Soda, New York City, sugary beverages | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (9) |
Posted on Monday, May 28th, 2012 by Michele Simon
Who is ready for some good news? I thought so. Last week, Maryland became the first state in the nation to ban the use of arsenic in chicken feed. Wait, what? Chickens are fed arsenic, a known carcinogen? Yup and the feds say it’s kosher, despite admitting the dangerous chemical may wind up in your dinner. (The chicken industry uses it to kill bugs and promote growth, cancer risks be damned.) Many groups have tried to stop the practice for years but of course Big Chicken has fought back hard. Kudos to Food and Water Watch, which explains how the good guys won this time: “Given the enormous power of our opponents, like the big chicken industry and pharmaceutical companies who fought against us for three years, this victory is a real testament to the power of grassroots organizing.” We can beat back food industry lobbying one state (or city or county) at a time. It just take a lot of hard work.
Posted in Public Health | | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (2) |
Posted on Thursday, May 17th, 2012 by Michele Simon
It’s hard not to get depressed over the politics of food these days, given the massive power of the food industry to influence everything from the farm bill to childhood obesity.
So a new report, Slowing Down Fast Food: A policy guide for healthier kids and families, on how we can fight back couldn’t come at a better time. A joint project of Corporate Accountability International and Dr. Nicholas Freudenberg and Monica Gagnon of The City University of New York, the guide focuses on four local policy approaches: school policy, “healthy” zoning, curbing kid-focused marketing, and redirecting subsidies to healthier businesses. (Full disclosure: I am a consultant for Corporate Accountability.)
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Posted in Big Food, Child Nutrition, Public Health | Tagged: Corporate Accountability International, fast food, zoning restrictions | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (1) |
Posted on Wednesday, May 16th, 2012 by Michele Simon
Last week, after I declared my refusal to watch the HBO series, “Weight of the Nation,” Marlene Schwartz, of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity (a group featured in the program) politely suggested that I give all four episodes a chance before I criticize. I did. It was even worse than I feared.
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Posted in Big Food, Child Nutrition, Public Health | Tagged: American Beverage Association, Center for Science in the Public Interest, junk food, obesity, soda taxes, Weight of the Nation | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (6) |
Posted on Friday, May 11th, 2012 by Michele Simon
Institute of Medicine Gives Big Food Another Deadline – or else!
This week, the nation’s top public health experts gathered at a much-trumpeted obesity conference hosted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called Weight of the Nation. (A quick glance at the agenda reveals nothing that would even begin to challenge the food industry.)
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Posted in Child Nutrition, Marketing to Children, Public Health | Tagged: Big Food, Center for Food Safety, Center for Science in the Public Interest, lobbying, obesity, targeted marketing, voluntary self-regulation, Weight of the Nation | Michele on Google+ | View/Add Comments (2) |
