CBS Airs Follow-up Report on Antibiotic Use and Congressional Hearing

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric aired yet another report last night detailing the risks associated with feeding antibiotics to farm animals. The report is a follow-up to a series aired in February and reported on here in the LivableFutureBlog.  In last night’s report, Couric covers Wedneday’s Congressional hearing held to determine whether or [...]

Gaining a Better Understanding of ‘Food Deserts’

Monday, May 24th, 2010

Lawyer Andy Weisbecker recently posted an opinion piece in Food Safety News in which he discusses the problem of limited access to healthy food and its contribution to the burden of obesity and diet-related disease.
The term “food desert” refers to a location-generally, a low-income neighborhood-from which residents must travel twice as far as those living [...]

When Famous Meat Eaters Adopt Meatless Monday, “You Know Something is Happening”

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

When super-chef and restaurateur Mario Batali, self proclaimed lover of all forms of pork, decided to join the Meatless Monday movement, Washington Post food writer Jane Black took notice. In an article published today, she wrote, “when Mario Batali starts to push people to eat their vegetables, you know something is happening.”
Black does an excellent [...]

10 in 10: Ensure Every American Child Has Access to Healthy and Affordable Food: A “Gentle” Wish For a New Decade

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

A new decade brings new opportunities and challenges. The interaction between diet and health received significant attention during “The Aughts.” What will we do during this next decade to respond to the call for action for a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle? This is the fourth in a continuing series highlighting 10 ways you can help this [...]

Protein 101: Dispelling the Myth Surrounding Meatless Meals

Monday, October 26th, 2009

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 [...]

Teach a man to fish…

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

This week, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced plans to drastically change the nation’s food aid policy.  As Reuters reported, he said the U.S. will focus more resources on helping developing countries increase their agricultural capacity, as opposed to relying on emergency food aid grown on U.S. soil.
 “‘It is a more comprehensive, holistic view of food [...]

Who Ate the Government Cheese?

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

Video games, fattening snack foods and the parents themselves are often blamed for the dramatic spike in overweight and obese kids during the past 30 years or so. But speakers at the National Conference on Childhood Obesity last week in Washington, D.C. attempted to frame the issue in a different light, looking at the bigger [...]

House Committee Exempts Livestock & Poultry From Food Safety Bill. Where’s the Dissent?

Friday, June 19th, 2009

During my TV-news days, I supported the old axiom; it must be a balanced report if we’re getting just as much negative feedback as we are positive responses. I found the same rule of thumb to hold true on Capitol Hill. Good legislation usually means each side had to make serious concessions, inevitably leaving a [...]

Demand for Organic Food Continues to Outgrow Supply

Monday, June 15th, 2009

Now is the time to grow organic.  According to a new report released by the USDA, the demand for organically produced food continues to outpace supply.   Organic food sales have increased more than five-fold since the late 1990s, while organic production has slightly more than doubled in that time.
Organic food accounted for three percent of total U.S. food sales [...]

Baltimore, Philly Pioneering School Food Initiatives

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

“This is not rocket science. You put some seed in the ground. Water. Add sun. Plant grows. Eat food.”
The quote above is from Tony Geraci, the charismatic new director of food and nutrition for Baltimore schools, in a City Paper article from last week which does a pretty good job summing up his no-nonsense philosophy [...]