NY Times Recipes - Sweet Potatoes: Nutrition Wrapped in Vivid Flavors

By Martha Rose Shulman
Janaury 24, 2011

Click here to read full article and to access the following sweet potato recipes along with their nutritional information:

• Chili-Bathed Sweet Potatoes
• Maple Pecan Sweet Potatoes
• Soba Noodles in Broth With Sweet Potato, Cabbage and Spinach
• Spicy Braised Sweet Potatoes
• Sweet Potato, Carrot and Dried Fruit Casserole

Real Simple - The 30 Healthiest Foods

"Real Simple asked the country’s top dietitians and nutritionists to tell us which superpowered ingredients we should be incorporating into our diets regularly. [Click] here [to read about] their combined picks, plus some simple and delicious preparation suggestions."

Among the 30 picks are foods like mushrooms, barley, avocados, and blueberries. Definitely a go-to list worth checking out.

Seattle Times - Skip meat once a week, veg out and live better

By Greg Atkinson
January 29, 2011

"Maybe we should have seen this coming. The National Restaurant Association listed 'locally grown produce' as the hottest trend in 2010. Then last November, New York Magazine boldly proclaimed 'Vegetables Are the New Meat' and published several more articles expanding on that theme. A vegevore movement appears to be under way..."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw/2013980705_pacificptaste30.html

Huffington Post - Feeding Animals Antibiotics: Not Helping U.S. Meat Export

By David Wallinga, M.D.
January 21, 2011

"Data finally released last month by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) do little to allay those fears, while confirming the findings of a decade-old report from the Union of Concerned Scientists: More than 70 percent (74 percent, in fact) of all U.S. antibiotics are being used in food-producing animals. Most of our 'medically important' antibiotics, like penicillins, tetracyclines and erythromycins, are used in animals, not people. And, nearly all of these are routine uses in feed for animals that are not clinically sick. Rather than to treat disease, these antibiotics are used for growth promotion or to avert sickness in animals that are stressed from the confined conditions in which they are raised..."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-wallinga-md/feeing-animals-antibiotics_b_810669.html

Epicurious Recipe - Potato and Kale Cakes with Rouille

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/photo/Potato-and-Kale-Cakes-with-Rouille-362941

TakePart - Supersize Infographic Shows the Supersize Cost of Obesity

By Megan Bedard
January 24, 2011

Source: Medicalcoding.org

LA Times Op-Ed - America's good food fight

By Nicolette Hahn Niman
January 9, 2011

"Our holiday table got quite tense. We are a mixed family — Jewish, Christian, Republican, Democrat –— but the tension wasn't from differences over religion or politics. It was about food. At one end of the table sat my husband's nephew, who runs a food bank. He's an earnest man who spends his days seeking nourishment for the hungry, and favors almost anything that increases food's availability or lowers its price. My husband and I occupied the other end. We operate a pasture-based ranch, and spend much of our time advocating for farming grounded in ecology and stewardship. The food we raise is less readily available and more expensive than most of what's found at typical grocery stores. Other family members sat between us. They enjoy eating well but, especially in these tough economic times, want their meals as cheap as possible..."

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-niman-food-20110109,0,5891428.story

Starbucks' New 'Trenta' Size - How Big Is It?

Source: National Post

This Dish Is Veg - New fast-food outlets banned in South Los Angeles

By Robin Lawless
January 18, 2011

"Last month the city council in South Los Angeles, California passed a regulation banning new fast food restaurants from opening in the area. The new regulation is part of a public health effort to combat the high rate of obesity, heart disease and diabetes which plagues the poverty stricken region. The county’s health department reports 30% of residents are obese, which is double the rate seen in wealthier parts of the city..."

http://www.thisdishisvegetarian.com/2011/01/1248new-fast-food-outlets-banned-in.html

Epicurious Recipe - Swiss Chard Lasagna with Ricotta and Mushroom

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/photo/Swiss-Chard-Lasagna-with-Ricotta-and-Mushroom-362954

Grist - Ask Umbra on the sustainability and safety of fake meat products

By Umbra Fisk
January 17, 2011

"Q. Dear Umbra,

I've significantly cut down on my meat intake in the past few years, although I still enjoy fish or a turkey sandwich now and then. I try to eat more "whole food" choices (beans, lentils, whole wheat) in lieu of meat, but occasionally I give into fake meat products. Sometimes fake chicken stir-fry is really satisfying, but I'm still a little suspicious about how good the production and consumption of fake meat really is for our bodies and the planet. How do you rate fake meat? Is it possible to make your own fake meat at home?"

To read Umbra's informative and helpful answer, click here.

LA Times - 'Healthy' kids' foods usually aren't, study finds

By Karen Kaplan
January 19, 2011

"If the foods we ate were actually as healthy as their packages would have us believe, Americans certainly wouldn’t be spending $168 billion a year on obesity-related healthcare costs. So it shouldn’t exactly be shocking to learn that yet another study has found that the front-of-package labels on processed food items are misleading (to put it kindly)..."

http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-nutrition-labels-on-kids-foods-20110119,0,2275188.story

Guardian - My beef isn't with beef: why I stopped being a vegetarian

By Jenna Woginrich
January 19, 2011

"I was a vegetarian for a long time – the bulk of my adult life, actually. When I realised how most of the steaks got to my plate (and how pumped-full of antibiotics and growth hormones they were), I put down my fork and took a vow to never be a part of that system again. My research into the brutal American factory farm system and its effects on the environment was a life-changing stumble down into the rabbit hole; I discovered a twisted world of assembly-line death camps, crippled animals, radiated carcasses and festering diseases. I don't have to get into the specifics, but clearly it wasn't a compassionate way to get my suggested 46 grams of protein a day. So I stopped eating meat, cold Tofurkey..."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2011/jan/19/vegetarian-animal-cruelty-meat

NY Times Editorial - Here's an Easy One for Congress

January 15, 2011

"Vows by Congressional Republicans to slash billions from the federal budget at a time when joblessness is high and the economy needs stimulus are reckless. But here is one big-ticket saving that all members of Congress should get behind: cutting the billions of dollars in farm subsidies that distort food prices, encourage overfarming and inflate the price of land..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/opinion/16sun3.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha211

The Atlantic - Put Down That Ham: A Rich, Vegetarian Soup Recipe

To try Regina's Split Pea Soup with Oven-Smoked Tomatoes, click here.

Huffington Post - What's in Fast Food? What's in the Non-Chicken Half of the McNugget

By Dr. Joseph Mercola
January 13, 2011

"Do you put dimethylpolysiloxane, an anti-foaming agent made of silicone, in your chicken dishes? How about tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), a chemical preservative so deadly just five grams can kill you? These are just two of the ingredients in a McDonald's Chicken McNugget. Only 50 percent of a McNugget is actually chicken. The other half includes corn derivatives, sugars, leavening agents and completely synthetic ingredients..."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/whats-infast-food_b_805190.html

Civil Eats - The American Fast Food Syndrome

Really interesting piece, I highly recommend reading all of it!

January 13, 2011
By Kristin Wartman

"Working with people as a nutritionist, I’m often met with resistance. I try to explain making healthful food choices without using trigger words like organic, sustainable, or even local. 'When I hear the word organic I think of Birkenstock-wearing hippies in Cambridge, Massachusetts or Berkeley, California,' one of my clients told me recently. Other clients have referred to whole, organic foods as 'yuppie food.' There’s no doubt that food choice and diet is an indicator of class and culture, but what perplexes me is this notion that eating a diet of processed, sugary junk foods is what the 'real' Americans eat..."

http://civileats.com/2011/01/13/the-american-fast-food-syndrome/

USA Today - USDA calls for dramatic change in school lunches

By Nanci Hellmich
January 12, 2011

"Hold the french fries and salt. The government is calling for dramatic changes in school meals, including limiting french fries, sodium and calories and offering students more fruits and vegetables. The proposed rule, being released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will raise the nutrition standards for meals for the first time in 15 years..."

http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/food/diet-nutrition/2011-01-12-schoollunch13_ST_N.htm?csp=34news

NY Daily News - From pasture to plate: Americans want to know the origins of the meat they buy

By Rosemary Black
January 12, 2011

"It's reality TV with a meaty twist: BBC import "Kill It, Cook It, Eat It," premiered on Tuesday night on Current TV, and proved to be provocative. In the first of 13 episodes, a group of six volunteers watches cows at an English farm being slaughtered and eventually minced into burgers. This is not a show for the faint of heart, but promises to be worth thinking about and, yes, educational, too..."

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/food/2011/01/12/2011-01-12_a_newfound_interest_in_where_foods_come_from_fuels_a_demand_for_locally_grown_pr.html

Huffington Post - How Eating at Home Can Save Your Life

By Mark Hyman, MD
January 9, 2011

"The slow insidious displacement of home cooked and communally shared family meals by the industrial food system has fattened our nation and weakened our family ties. In 1900, 2 percent of meals were eaten outside the home. In 2010, 50 percent were eaten away from home and one in five breakfasts is from McDonald's. Most family meals happen about three times a week, last less than 20 minutes and are spent watching television or texting while each family member eats a different microwaved "food." More meals are eaten in the minivan than the kitchen..."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/family-dinner-how_b_806114.html

How to Find Real Food at the Supermarket

Originally posted on Summer Tomato.

The Atlantic - The Best Kind of Chicken Farming

By Helene York
January 6, 2011

"Fifteen-day-old chicks are cute. They are soft, spritely, and their high-pitched chatter is sweet. In most chicken houses, they have enough room to move around in the first month of life, and that's the image corporate chicken farmers want you to see. But the first month isn't the issue, as my recent trips to commercial chicken operations have confirmed. More than 9 billion chicks grow to maturity and are eaten as chicken every year in the U.S. Most are housed in 'group houses'—40 feet by 400 feet—where they are free to roam indoors as long as they aren't too big to do so. And that happens pretty quickly. An average 'broiler' grows to market live weight of seven to eight pounds in 51 to 58 days..."

http://www.theatlantic.com/food/archive/2011/01/the-best-kind-of-chicken-farming/68520/

Food Safety News - Historic Food Safety Bill Signed into Law

By Helena Bottemiller
January 5, 2011

"Using 15 pens, President Obama signed the long-awaited FDA Food Safety Modernization Act into law Tuesday evening. The legislation, widely hailed as the most sweeping update to U.S. food safety law since the Great Depression, survived a constitutional slip-up, repeated filibuster threats, fierce debate over controversial amendments, and managed to advance amidst a jam-packed legislative agenda in one of the most productive Congresses in recent history.  In the last 18 months, food safety legislation cleared the Senate twice and the House three times..."

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/01/historic-food-safety-bill-signed-into-law/

SF Gate - National nutrition issues for 2011

By Marion Nestle
January 2, 2011

"Q: Whatever you used as a crystal ball last year turned out to be a pretty good predictor of the most prominent food issues of 2010. How about trying again: What food matters will we be hearing about in 2011?

Here are Nestle's predictions in brief:

• Dietary guidelines will be released this month.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture will issue a new food guide.
• The fights over food safety will continue.
• Expect more lawsuits over the scientific basis of health claims.
• The FDA will issue new front-of-package label regulations.
• Corporations will seek new ways to co-opt critics.
• Farm bill advocates will be mobilizing.

To read her full explanations to each predicted food issue, click here.

LA Times - Is the food pyramid illegal? That's what this lawsuit claims

By Mary Forgione

January 7, 2011

"It's time to shake up the traditional food pyramid and replace it with a vegetarian alternative. That's what a doctors' advocacy group seeks in a lawsuit against two federal agencies that it says are breaking the law by not doing enough to combat obesity and diabetes. The nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine proposes a meatless food pyramid that it designed called Power Plate..."

http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-food-pyramid-20110107,0,317432.story

Washington Post - Vegan diets becoming more popular, more mainstream

By Michael Hill
January 5, 2011

"You've come a long way, vegan. Once mocked as a fringe diet for sandal-wearing health food store workers, veganism is moving from marginal to mainstream in the United States. The vegan 'Skinny Bitch' diet books are best-sellers, vegan staples like tempeh and tofu can be purchased at just about any supermarket, and some chain restaurants eagerly promote their plant-only menu items. Today's vegans are urban hipsters, suburban moms, college students, even professional athletes..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/05/AR2011010503153.html

NY Times - Chop, Fry, Boil: Eating for One, or 6 Billion

By Mark Bittman
December 31, 2010

"'Revolutionary' diet books flood the market this time of year, promising a life changed permanently and for the better — yes, in just 10 to 30 days! — but, as everyone knows, the key to eating better begins with a diet of real food..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/02/weekinreview/02bittman.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y