Washington, D.C. (October 30, 2009) - The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF) Director Robert Lawrence, MD, issued the following statement today regarding the U.S. Senate’s confirmation of Dr. Regina Benjamin:
“On Thursday, the United States Senate confirmed Dr. Regina Benjamin as Surgeon General of the United States. CLF applauds the Senate’s unanimous vote [...]

Upon leaving the 2009 National Environmental Public Health Conference, one of the important themes that will stay with me is the need to routinely branch out to other disciplines to solve public health problems. For example, city planners, architects and transportation departments need to be at the table with public health professionals more often to [...]

There’s an interesting opinion piece on CNN today-“Eating Animals is Making Us Sick”-by Jonathan Safran Foer, author of “Everything is Illuminated” and “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.” It’s a great prelude to his upcoming book–his first nonfiction entry–called “Eating Animals.” The book will be available next week. Foer zooms in on antibiotic resistance and the [...]

There aren’t exactly celebrities in the field of public health, but a few of the biggest names are in Atlanta this week for the National Environmental Public Health Conference (NEPHC). For one, Thomas Frieden, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control, got a rock star reception when he addressed the 1,100 conference attendees [...]

The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF) is an interdisciplinary academic center that promotes research and communicates information about the complex interrelationships among diet, food production, environment and human health.  Some of  CLF’s work focuses on understanding food environments and the influence they have on eating behaviors; identifying what helps people adopt healthier [...]

It is disappointing to see members of the media spread misinformation due to their own ignorance, gullibility, or, worse, disinterest in digging for the truth — especially when it has to do with the health of children. Case in point, a reporter from a South Dakota talk radio show apparently believes that Baltimore City Public [...]

An op-ed in the October 7th Wall Street Journal by Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent inspired me to do some fact-checking. In the article, “Coke Didn’t Make America Fat, Americans need more exercise, not another tax,” Mr. Kent defended his industry as being an easy target in the debate over obesity and its cause: “Sugar-sweetened beverages [...]

by Amy Peterson, DVM, and Meghan Davis, DVM, MPH
In a Sept. 29th prepared floor statement, Senator Chuck Grassley spoke in response to an August 21st Time magazine article by Bryan Walsh.  An important point raised by Mr. Walsh concerned the non-therapeutic use of antimicrobials in food animals and the impact of use of antimicrobials on [...]

Sometimes change happens in the most unexpected places. When I learned that Baltimore City Public Schools was on a mission to change the way its more than 80,000 students thought about food, I have to admit, I was surprised. The cash strapped school system has long faced difficult challenges and the last place I expected [...]

On September 29, 2009, Senator Chuck Grassley gave a prepared floor statement addressing his concerns with Bryan Walsh’s August 21st, 2009 Time Magazine article “Getting Real About the High Price of Cheap Food”. 
We are encouraged that the Senator has entered the dialog of how we can improve our food system and the public’s health; however, [...]