The Food Revolution: Want the real scoop on what's on your child's school lunch plate?

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

Excerpt from Food Revolution Home Page:

When kids drink chocolate and strawberry milk every day at school, they're getting nearly two gallons of extra sugar each year. Too much sugar is threatening the health of our kids and we've got to do something about it. Support this campaign asking schools to choose plain milk, and make the sweetened varieties an occasional treat  

Get the real scoop on our food supply in America - More on Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and what's on your child's plate...

p.s. Still don't understand why our high school athletes don't have access to free water in school lunch lines...oh, wait, yes I do.  It's because the Federal government see no nutritional value in water and won't reimburse your child's school lunch program if it is offered.  But they can choose between four types of cow's milk...including chocolate.  Last time I checked they don't run off the football field, basketball court, our pitcher's mound looking for a milk bottle.

What' s on the United Nation's plate this week in NYC?

Doubt the United Nation's will solve the world's problems in two days, but thankfully they have diet and disease on their plate!

Saw President Obama's motorcade as it whizzed through the city and "frozen zones" were created.  Complete with sharp shooters on rooftops, pedestrians behind barricades, and street traffic closed.  New Yorker's were grumbling why can't  they hold the UN General Assembly on a remote island?  And, why does the president have to stay overnight?

Anyway, on my way back from a meeting in NYC and wanted to share an excerpt of this terrific post on  Fooducate about the United Nation's discussing diet and diseases.

Excerpt from Fooducate - Eat a bit better:

United Nations. In New York today and tomorrow, The United Nations is hosting global leaders for a High-Level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs). Unlike contagious disease and plagues, these diseases are totally preventable at the personal level. The 4 NCDs are:

1. cardiovascular diseases
2. diabetes
3. cancers
4. chronic respiratory diseases

The first 3 diseases are food related, and the last is smoking related. With global diabetes rates soaring (up from 30M in 1985 to 366M in 2011), governments must step up to the challenge by making sure consumers have access to cheap healthy food. Incentives and subsidies to farmers and manufacturers must be aligned to make this happen( hint: US Farm Bill).

Will be interesting to see what the UN comes up with. Usually we don’t expect much to come from this (unfortunately) toothless organization. As Prof Marion Nestle reminds us:

In 2004, the U.N. caved in to pressures from food companies and weakened its guidelines and recommendations.  The health situation is worse now and affects people in developing as well as industrialized countries.  Let’s hope the General Assembly puts health above politics this time.

Fooducate - Eat a bit better

Harvard releases its own version of healthy plate - The Boston Globe

Harvard releases its own version of healthy plate

Harvard School of Public Health

By Deborah Kotz, Globe Staff

When the federal government unveiled its food plate icon in June to replace its ridiculously confusing food pyramid, nutrition researcher Walter Willett, chair of the nutrition department at the Harvard School of Public Health, told me that the new plate was a “step in the right direction” with “reasonable proportions,” but that it doesn’t provide enough information to really guide Americans. He also wasn’t thrilled with the glass of milk on the side of the plate that implied a serving of dairy with every meal.


Yesterday Willett and his Harvard colleagues unveiled their own version of the healthy plate (above) that replaces milk with water and includes a small bottle of oil on the side to signify heart-healthier fats.


It’s also text heavy with explicit instructions to limit dairy, eat whole grains like whole-wheat pasta, limit trans fats -- yes, you should know what those are -- and to not include potatoes or French fries as vegetables.


The government’s version is far simpler with no words beyond “fruits, grains, vegetables, protein, and dairy” -- aiming to get us to focus on the visual portions rather than the nitty, gritty details; for those, you’d need to head to its website.


A larger issue, said Willett in a press conference yesterday, was the politics involved in the government’s decision to include milk and not to distinguish between the types of protein on the plate. The US Department of Agriculture, which developed the food plate, also represents the interests of dairy, potato, and cattle farmers, and Willett contended that the resulting icon lacks detailed information so as not to offend anyone in these stakeholder groups.

Fallen Comrade

Healthy School Lunches / Golden Carrot Award

Healthy School Lunches / Golden Carrot Award

Golden Carrot Awards

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) established the Golden Carrot Awards in 2004 to recognize food service professionals doing an exceptional job of improving the healthfulness of school lunches. PCRM looks for programs that encourage kids to eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and that offer plenty of vegetarian, low-fat, whole grain, and nondairy options. Children who are raised on a healthy vegetarian diet have a lower risk of obesity, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and some cancers compared with those who grow up on an average American diet.

PCRM is currently seeking nominations for its Golden Carrot Awards for outstanding school food service professionals. The grand prize winner will receive $1,000 and a $3,000 check made out to her or his school or school district. Up to four additional awards will be given, with $500 going to the food service professional and $500 to benefit the school food service program.

To nominate an outstanding school food service professional, download the form

Got the facts on milk?

Seems there's a documentary that is "a little different than what the dairy industry tells you." Hopefully coming to a theater near SuperMom101 soon.

Got the facts on milk?

Got the facts on milk? Dairydocumentary.com

p.s. There won't be any butter on my popcorn.

FDA Creating New Nutrition Facts Label

If we are what we eat...are you cheap, fast and easy? - Bumper Sticker

If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't. - Michael Pollan

To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals. - Ben Franklin

An (organic) apple a day helps keep the doctor away. - Ben Franklin

Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. - Hippocrates­

It's so strange...­America (and her children) have never been fatter or sicker and we can't seem to figure out why.

Common sense is not so common. - Voltaire
Read the Article at HuffingtonPostPublish Post

'Risk' exposure

The word pops up often in ads and stories about health, but misunderstanding what it really means can cause problems

By Neena Satija

Globe Correspondent / September 5, 2011

Why misunderstanding the term 'risk' can be a problem - The Boston Globe

Excerpt from article:

STUDY ON PERCEPTION OF RISKS BY DOCTORS AND PATIENTS

A new drug for a viral disease has just come onto the market. It has severe side effects, but in clinical trials, it decreased the risk of dying from the disease by 33 percent, or one-third. Sounds impressive, right?

Now let’s look at the data a different way. Out of all patients who were given the new drug, 96 percent survived and 4 percent died. For those on the old drug, 94 percent survived and 6 percent died. So, the mortality rate decreased by one-third - from 6 percent to 4 percent.

Is the new drug better than the old one? And by how much? In a recent study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, doctors and patients were presented with these two scenarios. Both populations were more likely to rate the new drug as very effective when they were only presented with the data showing a decrease in mortality by one-third - the relative risk reduction.

If they also saw that death rates fell from 6 percent to 4 percent - the absolute risk reduction - patients and doctors were far less likely to consider the drug as effective as before.