September 24, 2011, New York Times, Mark Bittman
To make changes like this more widespread we need action both cultural and political. The cultural lies in celebrating real food; raising our children in homes that don’t program them for fast-produced, eaten-on-the-run, high-calorie, low-nutrition junk; giving them the gift of appreciating the pleasures of nourishing one another and enjoying that nourishment together.
Political action would mean agitating to limit the marketing of junk; forcing its makers to pay the true costs of production; recognizing that advertising for fast food is not the exercise …

BBC News, October 1, 2011
Denmark has introduced what is believed to be the world’s first fat tax – a surcharge on foods that are high in saturated fat.
Butter, milk, cheese, pizza, meat, oil and processed food are now subject to the tax if they contain more than 2.3% saturated fat.
Some consumers began hoarding to beat the price rise, while some producers call the tax a bureaucratic nightmare.
Others suggest that many Danes will simply start shopping abroad.
Read more at   BBC News – Denmark introduces world’s first food fat tax.

September 24, 2011, Voice of America
Heads of state and government representatives assembled at the United Nations this week to address the emerging threat of non-communicable diseases worldwide. One of those so-called “NCDs” is cancer.  For those whose lives have already been affected somehow by this deadly disease, the attention was long overdue.
The United Nations says this is a critical moment – and a lack of action on non communicable diseases, or “NCDs,” could pose a threat to global development
“You have the power to make sure that your development is moving …

September 11, 2011 Pitssburgh Post-Gazette
For decades Americans have heard the media splash about milk building strong bodies and bones.
Since 1993, ads featuring famous people sporting milk mustaches have bolstered that message, with school programs required to serve milk.
But has that message gone sour?
Mounting research and several anti-milk documentaries and books, including a best-seller for six years, blame milk for chronic ailments plaguing America, while criticizing the American Dairy Association and U.S. Department of Agriculture for hyping milk without addressing its detriments.
“Dairy is one of the most unhealthy foods,” said T. …

September 10, 2011, The Independent, Clare Dwyer Hogg
The trans fats in junk food are responsible for the deaths of around 7,000 people a year in the UK – and teenagers are most at risk. Elsewhere, these toxic substances are banned. So why are they still legal in this country?
When the comedian Micky Flanagan reels out his gag about craving chicken from a local takeaway, he always gets a laugh. Desperate for food, he has to run the gauntlet of teenagers outside. “Teenagers love chicken,” he says, imitating the hunched-up shoulders, …

ABC News, September 15, 2011
Although the United States Department of Agriculture unveiled MyPlate, the replacement for the food pyramid, just a few months ago, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health say MyPlate doesn’t offer enough about good nutrition, and they’ve offered their own version.
Harvard unveiled its modified version of the USDA plate, called the Healthy Eating Plate. Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard, says it addresses the shortcomings of MyPlate.
“The main thing is that MyPlate isn’t specific enough to really give enough guidance,” Willett said.
MyPlate …

September 12, 2011,  CMJ
Health organizations are comparing their battle with makers of sugary beverages to the war they once waged with big tobacco. Advocates for healthy living have run educational campaigns and called for marketing regulations and taxes on high-calorie drinks. The beverage industry, meanwhile, has accused some health departments of launching baseless attacks and has even responded in one jurisdiction with a lawsuit.
Health departments in a number of areas — including Chicago, Illinois; Seattle, Washington; and Chatham-Kent, Ontario — have launched public health campaigns that expose the high-calorie count …

September 8, 2011, Los Angeles Times, Jeannine Stein
Medicare could save billions of dollars if people who were pre-diabetic or at risk for cardiovascular disease took part in community-based weight-loss programs, a study finds.
Researchers projected cost savings for the government healthcare program if millions of people in the U.S. age 60 to 64 participated in a program that helped them lose weight and gain more healthful lifestyle habits. They based their findings on an existing YMCA diabetes prevention program that is, as of this year, at 50 facilities in 24 states. …

September 6, 2011, Boston Globe, Kay Lazar
Hoping to blunt the pervasive reach of sugary drinks, Boston officials today unveiled a public awareness campaign that urges residents to reduce their consumption of the beverages , which public health specialists link to rising obesity rates and higher health care costs.
The campaign, which will include a media blitz of the city, comes a month before an executive order by Mayor Thomas M. Menino takes effect, phasing out the sale, advertising, and promotion of sugar-sweetened beverages in all municipal buildings.
“We are in the midst …

August 28, 2011, NPR
This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to release its latest update on the food stamp program. It’s an important indicator of the nation’s economic health — and the prognosis is not good.
Food stamp use is up 70 percent over the past four years and that trend is expected to continue.
The spike began in late-2008 and early-2009 when the worst of the recession was triggering massive layoffs and home foreclosures. Although the economy has been growing since mid-2009, the pace has been too slow to …