10 ways to a healthier weight for your children and you

I've been presenting a new workshop that has been getting really good feedback from parents and kids on how to make informed food and lifestyle choices. I came up with this class to try to combat the increasing number of children and adults who are overweight. This article came out of that class: http://www.vegfamily.com/whole-family/fighting-childhood-obesity.htm

World According to Monsanto

Has anyone seen the movie: The World According to Monsanto ?

This was the write up I found:

On March 11 a new documentary was aired on French television (ARTE – French-German cultural tv channel) by French journalist and film maker Marie-Monique Robin, The World According to Monsanto - a documentary that Americans won't ever see.The gigantic biotech corporation Monsanto is threatening to destroy the agricultural biodiversity which has served mankind for thousands of years. You can view it here: http://www.banderasnews.com/0804/eden-thewam.htm

For more info on Monsanto and lots of articles about Monsanto, go to: http://www.organicconsumers.org/monlink.cfm

Marian Nestle

I had the pleasure of hearing Marian Nestle (author of numerous books on Food Politics) speak at Cal Poly University last night.

She gave a really good overview of some of the reasons we're having such a problem with obesity. One reason she said is that food manufacturers are under pressure to sell more food and grow their profits - which means getting us to eat more. Americans are now eating about double the calories they were in the 1980's. Here are some tricks the food manufactuers use:

- bigger portion sizes (charge more for smaller portions, i.e. soda is almost 5 time as much per ounce for a can as for a 2-liter bottle)
- encourage mindless eating (e.g. in front of the tv)
- keep food in your proximity (cafes in book stores, vending machines in schools)
- low prices (At McDonalds - $5.00 will buy you 5 burgers or 1 salad!)
- use sugar to add value (and make foods more addictive)
- use nutrition and health claims to sell food (Do you think eating Cheerios will really lower your cholesterol?)
- marketing to kids

So when you go to the supermarket, this is what she says NOT to buy:

- Anything from the center aisles (most heavily processed and junk foods)
- anything with more than 5 ingredients
- anything with an ingredient you can't pronounce
- anything with artificial ingredients
- anything with health claims
- anything with a cartoon on the package

There's so much more great info about what to eat in her book, aptly titled, What To Eat. For more info, check out her web site at: http://www.foodpolitics.com/

Grassfed beef and plastic water bottles

Check out the latest issue of Hopedance Magazine to see my article about grassfed beef and Hearst Ranch in San Simeon, CA. Also my article on plastic water bottles - what's wrong with them and what are the alternatives.

You can download the entire issue of the magazine or view articles individually at http://www.hopedance.org/cms/

Burger King promoting violent movie to children

Last September, as part of its commitment as a member of the Council of Better Business Bureau’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, Burger King pledged to not “approve, pay for, or actively seek the placement of BURGER KING® food or beverage products in the program/editorial content of any medium in the United States primarily directed to children under 12 years old.”

But now they've gone back on their word by planning promotions of kids meals (which are aimied at children 3 years and up) for the PG-13 movie "Iron Man" which contains violence inappropriate for young children.

For more information, check out the press release at: http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/pressreleases/ironman.htm

An entire village growing its own food!

This is so cool - the people in Martin (a village in England) have come up with a project for "weaning" villagers off of supermarkets. They're working together to grow their own food and raise their own livestock for meat and eggs. Of the 164 families who live in Martin, 101 have signed up as members of Future Farms for an annual fee. Read the article here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=559580&in_page_id=1770

Book Review: Vegan Express

Check out my review of Nava Atlas's great new book Vegan Express at http://www.vegfamily.com/book-reviews/vegan-express.htm

Walmart Brand Milk soon to be BGH Free!

Walmart and Sam's Club brand milk will soon be free of bovine growth hormones. This change is due to customer demands. Looks like Monstanto's BGH hormone will soon be off the market.

Read the full article here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080322.RMILK22/TPStory/Business

slave labor in U.S. fields

I just read the book Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy by John Bowe. I had no idea slave labor could be happening the in US - the land of the FREE! Many tomato and citrus pickers are are paid poverty wages that have barely changed in 30 years; forced to work long hours without overtime; subjected to physical abuse by supervisors, denied benefits such as sick days, paid leave, and health insurance, and are punished for organizing. Some of these workers are also forced to endure modern-day slavery. There have been six successful federal prosecutions of farm labor operations for servitude in Florida over the past decade, and a seventh was just initiated.

Some food companaies like Yum!Brands, Taco Bell, and McDonalds have been working with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to improve farm labor conditions -- but Burger King and others still have not signed on. If they would agree to pay just 1 cent more per pound, they could make a huge difference in the lives of these workers.

To sign a petition, go to: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=947

Are you an Angry Mom?

Are you fed up with the offerings for school meals in your district? I know for me, I would love not to have to pack my kids a lunch every day - but as long as our school continues to feature processed, frozen and reheated foods high in sodium, hydrogenated oils, and high fructose corn syrup (not to mention chemicals, preservatives, and pesticides), I don't feel I have a choice. I am on the wellness committee for my district but change is painfully slow.

There are places where things are happening however. If you haven't seen the excellent movie Two Angry Moms which is shaking up the public school lunch community, I highly recommend it -- I've already seen twice! These moms traveled around the US to find schools radically changing their lunch programs. For more info, go to http://angrymoms.org/ .

On March 24, the producers will be featured on The Rachael Ray Show - go to their web site for more info: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/ and the movie will be shown on March 30 at the Kent Film Festival in Connecticut, for times go to: http://kentfilmfestival.org/ .