Pizza Is A Vegetable?

News flash, pizza is now a vegetable!

The Agriculture Department proposed rules that would prevent schools from serving unhealthy foods like french fries and pizza on a daily basis to our nation's children.  Congress blocked these rules and by doing so essentially said that pizza could be classified as a vegetable.  I will let real journalists give you the details of how this all went down so check our the following links for the full scoop: New York Times, NPR and Fox News

How did pizza miraculously change into a vegetable?  Who could be responsible for such an astounding realization?  Who do you think would benenfit from pizza staying in schools? Big food corporations like ConAgra and Schwan Frozen Meals of course and that is exactly who was behind the lobbying efforts to make this happen.  Why? Probably because they supply most of the frozen pizza and french fries to schools.  Follow the money, right?  It's a sad state of our food system when this is our reality. Money talks and the health of our children walk.

There's already been some great commentary on this topic so check out these sites for some great analysis:  Food Politics, Mark Bittman, CSPI and Nation's Capitol

I'm sad and angry but honestly, not entirely shocked.  I do not like how our food system controls most of the choices that 99% of the public make.  I see so many similarities to the current Occupy Movement.  When it comes to food, we are the 99% and it seems like only 1% (the Monsanto's, ConAgra, PepsiCo, CocaCola etc.) have all the control.

What makes me more sad than this news is that we are letting this happen to us.  We are shocked that this is happening and we are disgusted by seeing how we care for the health of our children but what are we doing to change it?  Enough lip service.  It's time for action!

Maybe we need to take a cue from the Occupy Movement and take a stand.  That's what's going on in New York this weekend at the Occupy Big Food protest.

What every you choose to do, be like the Nike ad and Just Do It!  I'm not flying to New York this weekend but I'm making a concerted effort to avoid big food!  I'm voting with my wallet.  I'm also going to let my President, and my Congressional representatives know that I'm not happy with their choice!  I will also tell my professional organization (whose partners include many of the big food companies listed above) that I am sad they they are not fighting this fight.  Why haven't I received an email blast from the ADA asking all registered dietitians across the country to take action?  Surely we as nutrition experts think that pizza and french fries are not a good choice for our children on a daily basis.  Surely we should be in the forefront of promoting healthy habits to our children.  Surely we should be taking action!

I challenge you to do something!  Do not just read this blog and agree that change is required.  Make your voice heard however feels right.  Together we are strong! Together we can make a difference.  Together we are the 99%!

P.S. If my four year old twins know pizza is not a vegetable, how on earth can our members of Congress? 

The Flores Family Declaration of Food Values

My wife and I just returned from last week's Hazon Food Conference.  For those of you who have never heard of Hazon, they are a non-profit whose goal is to "help create healthy and sustainable communities in the Jewish world and beyond." It was an amazing three days at UC Davis filled with great learning and inspiring speakers.  We discussed issues regarding feeding the nation's hungry, making kosher food more sustainable and strategies to help our community live healthier lives by making different food choices. 

One recurring theme of the weekend was that our current food system is broken.  It is in dire need of an overhaul, which is not going to be an easy task.  Using the our Jewish values as a backdrop, my wife and I had some great discussions on the six-hour drive home.  We talked about how our family eats and how the food choices we make reflect our values.  We talked about what we are already doing and what more we are willing to do make a difference to our food system.  What follows is our first Family Declaration of Food Values:

We choose to
...buy foods that are produced/grown locally.
...choose organic products as much as possible.
...buy only pasture-raised beef, chicken, eggs or lamb and avoid all other factory farmed/raised animal products.
...eat more whole foods.
...avoid fast food restaurants.
...shop at farmer's markets.
...cook at home.
...eat dinner together.

We believe
...no one in our city, state, or country should go to bed hungry.
...the workers who pick our vegetables, harvest our fruit and produce our food should be paid a living wage and should not be exploited.
...our synagogues can do a better job of feeding our children.
...fresh food should be affordable for everyone.

We agree to
...make informed decisions about where our food comes from.
...share these beliefs with our friends, family and community.
...use our time and money to support organizations whose mission is similar to our beliefs.
...vote.
...write our elected officials in Los Angeles, Sacramento and Washington so that they support policies that help change our food system.
...HELP CHANGE OUR FOOD SYSTEM.

Are you willing to join us? 

My Edible Education

I was lucky enough to spend a day at a workshop with Field to Plate called "Edible Education to Nourish the Nation."  The workshop combined two of my favorite things: 1) learning about healthy foods and 2) cooking.  Our instructor, Amanda Archibald, RD, provided us with some excellent information and tips on how to translate our nutrition knowledge as Registered Dietitians into a culinary experiences.  The first part of the morning was spent talking about flavors, how to include nutrient dense foods into simple dishes and demystifying the art of cooking.

Next we got to apply that information by spending the rest of the morning cooking simple, healthy dishes.  We were divided into 4 groups of 2-3 people in each group.  Each group focused on one main ingredient.  I was in the greens group and the other three were, legumes, whole grains and vitality salads.   After about 1 hour we had 15+ dishes ready to sample (pictured above).

The food was delicious of course but more shocking to me was how easy it all was.  None of our recipes called for more than 10 ingredients and each group was able to prepare at least 3 dishes in an hour.  One of our dishes was polenta (made in a microwave) with sauteed greens and gruyere cheese.  I've never made polenta in a microwave but it showed that even if you don't have a stove, you can still cook.

After lunch we focused on one main question:  How do you help your client put the food in their mouth instead of just telling them about it?  One of Amanda's points that hit home with me was to focus on getting people to eat whatever whole foods they have in their kitchen.  People enjoy eating what they love and by understanding the flavors and textures that compliment that food, you can help add the nutrition to the meal.  We are not going to change people's tastes.  But we can show them that by adding just a few nutrient dense foods, they can still eat the foods they love and live a little bit healthier.   It all starts with the experience that a healthy meal does not have to be expensive, labor intensive or bland. 

Today was just another example that the food revolution is coming.  There are a lot of people out there that are making a big impact on how we think about food and I am proud to join them.


See you in the kitchen!

NYC Steps Up AGAIN to Fight Obesity

In Thursday's New York Times, there was an article detailing how Mayor Bloomberg has asked the USDA for permission to ban the use of food stamps for the purchase of sodas in New York City.   The ban would apply to all sodas or other sugary drinks.  If approved, the ban would last for two years while its effectiveness would be studied. 

Why would Mayor Bloomberg and his office propose such a ban?  According to the Times article, there are 1.7 million people in New York City who receive food stamps.  It goes on to say:

City statistics released last month showed that nearly 40 percent of public-school children in kindergarten through eighth grade were overweight or obese, and that obesity rates were substantially higher in poor neighborhoods. City studies show that consumption of sugared beverages is consistently higher in those neighborhoods.

It is statistics like this that have public health officials so concerned about the health of our country. 

What's my take on this issue?  Well, as soon as I heard about this in the news, I was very supportive.  I think that because obesity is such an epidemic in this country (especially in low income neighborhoods), we should explore any possible solution to the issue.  I've said before in other blog posts here, here and here, we need a food revolution in this country.   I've also talked about liquid calories here and how they contribute to obesity.  We need to change how we think about food and I think that in this instance, government can have help us change.

I really don't have a problem with a limit on what can be purchased with food stamps.  Food stamps should be used for food, not for soda which provides absolutely no nutritional value.  Other federal grant programs like WIC limit types of food that can be purchased in the hopes of providing the most nutrtitous food possible.  So there is a precedent within our government that already exists.  No, I don't want to stigmatize low income families but I also don't want them to use my tax dollars to buy sodas.

If you read this blog you know that I'm a fan of Marion Nestle.  I value her opinion and she has already weighed in on this issue.  Read her full thoughts here but to quote one part of her post she says, "...if I were in charge of Food Stamps, I would much prefer incentives: make the benefit worth twice as much when spent for fresh (or single-ingredient frozen) fruits and vegetables."  A valid point and a more of a positive approach.

Another opinion offered in the Times article was from George Hacker, a senior policy advisor from Center for Science in the Public Interest.  He says, “The world would be better, I think, if people limited their purchases of sugared beverages.  However, there are a great many ethical reasons to consider why one would not want to stigmatize people on food stamps.”

A good friend expressed these thoughts to me about the proposed ban, "Paternalistic. . but no more than having to wear helmets when you right a motorcycle . . . or use a seat belt in a car. ."  Well put.  We don't like government getting involved in our rights but sometimes it is needed.  I think this is one of those times.  I'm sure this isn't the last time we'll hear about this and I will be interested to hear more about the debate. 

What do you think?

Our Champion for Change

I don't care how you feel about her husband or his politics, First Lady Michelle Obama is doing amazing work with respect to changing how this country eats.  Not only did she plant a garden on the White House lawn but she has now set her sights on fighting childhood obesity.  She doesn't want to just make a dent in the problem either, she wants to solve it, and within one generation.

In February, she launched the Let's Move campaign and soon after, President Obama appointed a task force to give recommendations on how to solve the problem of childhood obesity.  This week, that task force submitted their recommendations to the President.  You can read the brief summary here or the whole 124-page report here.

In short, the task force made recommendations within five major areas, early childhood, empowering parents and caregivers, healthier food choices in school, improving access to healthy foods and increasing physical activity.  Marion Nestle did a great job of summarizing some of the key recommendations on her recent blog post. 

Reading the recommendations I'm impressed with two things. First, this report mobilizes a group of federal and local agencies.  The problem of obesity is a complex problem with no simple answer.  Smartly, Obama knew that she needed the help of the FTC, USDA, DHHS, EPA and HUD (to name a few) to help solve the problem. 

Secondly, the report has recommendations in many different areas. The recommendations deal with everything from breastfeeding promotion, helping increase the availability of healthy foods in poor urban and rural areas, encouraging food companies to standardize nutrition labeling on the front of packaged food, helping schools upgrade their equipment to give them the availability to actually cook more food, and asking restaurants to decrease portions and improve children menus.

The truth is that there are many factors that have caused our nation's children to gain weight and it will require a broad, far-reaching change to find a solution.  It's been said we need a food revolution in this country.  Mrs. Obama and her Let's Move campaign just handed us the blueprint.  I am proud to have the First Lady as our champion for change and I'm behind her all the way!