The national hysteria over obesity has reached a crescendo this week, as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hosts the conference, “Weight of the Nation” in Washington, DC. If you couldn’t make it, no worries, more fear-mongering is on the way in a four-part mini-series on HBO to air next week. The show of the same name is produced in coordination with several federal government agencies. The trailer alone almost brought me to tears, seeing all the awful stereotypes of fat people.
Public Health
New Fact Sheets on Food Safety, Nutrition, and Food Stamps
In my work as a consultant for various organizations, I’ve had the pleasure to write the following fact sheets. Please share far and wide. You can learn more about my consulting services at EatDrinkPolitics.com
Center for Food Safety:
Foodborne Illness
Nutrition, Obesity, and Processed Food
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy: Part of What’s at Stake series on the 2012 Farm Bill
Enough to Eat: Food Assistance and the Farm Bill
What happens when your 6-year-old asks you to look up camels?
I just received the following disturbing email from my friend and colleague, Sarah Mart, research director at Alcohol Justice. It seems that while Joe Camel may be gone, his spirit lives on.
Why the Meat Industry is Freaking Out Over Pink Slime
Read my article for VegNews on why it’s time to pull the curtain back on Big Meat even further.
BPA is FDA’s Latest Gift to Food Industry
In a long-awaited decision, last week the Food and Drug Administration disappointed health advocates once again by allowing Bisphenol A or BPA, a known endocrine disruptor, to remain approved as a chemical additive in food containers such as plastic bottles and metal cans.While the agency says it’s still studying the matter, many groups say the science is clear enough. Read rest at Center for Food Safety…
Pink Slime Outrage is Not a Vegetarian Plot
The debate over the use of so-called pink slime in ground beef, what industry refers to as lean finely textured beef, is heating up. Over the weekend, the meat industry hosted a massive picnic in Iowa (with what else, free burgers) to show its support for Beef Products Inc, maker of the filler. The event was held, fittingly, at the Tyson Events Center.
BPI’s Response to Outrage over Ground Beef? 3 Governors and a T-shirt
In a surreal press conference yesterday, Beef Products Inc took its best shot at making up for its silence during weeks of public lashing over what has been dubbed “pink slime,” an additive in ground beef made through a high-tech process that BPI invented. (See my previous posts here and here.) The event came in the wake of major grocery chains announcing they would stop selling beef containing the filler.
New York Times’ “ethical meat” contest is great PR for meat industry
The New York Times is holding a silly contest for meat-eaters to have their say. Here is my entry.
Was this really a burning problem that needed solving, the lack of justifications to eat meat? What do you suppose has caused America’s love affair with meat in the first place? A rapacious and deceptive industry that has brainwashed people into thinking that life cannot be lived without meat.
It saddens me that given all the pressing problems of our day, many of which caused by excessive meat eating (global warming, contaminated air and water, chronic disease, worker injury, and yes, animal suffering, just to name a few) the Times is promoting such a self-indulgent contest.
I am sure the meat industry is jumping for joy.
Moreover, we don’t need even more ways to polarize people over personal dietary choices. Let’s stop the infighting and focus on the core of the problem: corporate control of the food supply. How about a contest on how to fix that?
So You Want a Career in Food Policy? A Few Tips
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?”
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.
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