It’s been a while since I ranted about carbohydrates and our misplaced fear of fat. But there’s been a rip-tide of press lately confirming what some of us already knew: it’s not the fat in our diet that’s making Americans obese, but the way we gorge on carbohydrates, and especially refined carbohydrates like bread and [...]
Entries Tagged as 'obesity'
Making America Fat: It’s Not the Burger, it’s the Bun
July 6th, 2010 · 7 Comments · food news
Tags: carbohydrates·fat·obesity
Beyond “Museum” Gardens
April 15th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Wellness, garden, kids
By Jesse Kurtz-Nicholl
With all of the coverage of Michelle Obama in the news lately, you would be a fool not to think that gardens are the answer to all of our public health problems. In addition to the “White House” garden, you’ve got the new “People’s Garden” at the USDA building in D.C., you’ve got [...]
Tags: obesity·school food·school gardens
Mendy Heaps Answers Her Critics
April 12th, 2010 · 8 Comments · Wellness, kids, school food
The story of Colorado middle school teacher Mendy Heaps and her crusade for better school food at risk of her job has reverberated around the internet. Some readers have called her a modern folk hero (a Facebook group–Support MENDY HEAPS, and teacher like her! has 358 members), while others say she recklessly pursues an unsavory agenda. After [...]
Tags: Mendy Heaps·obesity·school lunches
New Study: Kids Who Eat School Food Are Fatter
March 16th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Tales, Wellness, food news, kids
A new study from the University of Michigan finds that kids who eat the food served in schools are more likely to be overweight or obese than peers who bring lunch from home, and also are more likely to suffer from high levels of “bad” cholesterol.
The study, which examined the eating habits of some 1,300 Michigan [...]
Tags: obesity·school food
Time for a Second Look at Fat?
February 25th, 2010 · 1 Comment · food news
A major new study has the mainstream media buzzing with news that saturated fat does not pose a significant risk for heart disease.
This is something we’ve known all along, and a finding that Gary Taubes published eight years ago in his monumental analysis of fat science, “Good Calories, Bad Calories.” Taubes found that the incessant rant [...]
Tags: diabetes·fat·Gary Taubes·obesity
More Gardens, Less Sugar, Says D.C. Schools Chief
February 22nd, 2010 · 4 Comments · Tales, food news
D.C. Schools COO, Anthony Tata
Anthony Tata, a former brigadier general and career Army officer in charge of procurement in Afghanistan, is the chief operating officer for D.C. Public Schools, second in rank to chancellor Michelle Rhee. Tata was a close reader of our recent series of articles on the food served in D.C. schools–Tales from a [...]
Can Michelle Obama Make the Math Work for Better School Food?
February 17th, 2010 · 5 Comments · kids
Launching her anti-obesity campaign–Let’s Move–last week, first lady Michelle Obama vowed to add 1 million kids to the 31 million already being served daily by federal reimbersible meal programs while cutting back on the foods kids like most–refined grains, potatoes, sugar, salt–and adding things kids like least–vegetables and whole grains. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama offered to split $1 billion per year [...]
Tags: Michelle Obama·obesity·school food
We’re in WashPost “Outlook” Today
February 14th, 2010 · 9 Comments · Tales, kids
There’s been an impressive convergence of attention on school food recently, with “Healthy Schools” legislation introduced in the D.C. Council, then my series of blog posts, “Tales from a D.C. School Kitchen,” detailing the woeful food being served at my daughter’s elementary school, followed by the launch this week of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign against childhood [...]
Tags: obesity·press·school food·white house
Tales from a D.C. School Kitchen: Part Four
January 22nd, 2010 · 4 Comments · Tales, kids
I recently spent a week in the kitchen at H.D. Cooke Elementary School here in the District of Columbia observing how food is prepared. This is the fourth in a six-part series of posts about what I saw. You can find previous posts here, here and here.
At 7:30 a.m., the first glimmer of daybreak tints a wall of windows in [...]
Tags: breakfast·District of Columbia·milk·obesity·school food·sugar·Tales from a D.C. School Kitchen
Is Phys Ed The Death Of Learning?
December 29th, 2009 · No Comments · Wellness, kids
It may just be impossible to take seriously what Washington Post reporters write in their blogs.
Jay Mathews, the Post’s education reporter, says the “Healthy Schools” initiative introduced recently in the D.C. Council makes a big mistake by requiring the city’s children to engage in more physical activity. How, Matthews wonders, will they ever have time [...]
We are engaging the concerns of a hungry planet--slowly--right here in our kitchen garden in the District of Columbia, about a mile from the White House.
