Friday News Bites

by Stephanie Small

STATE OF THE UNION’S LUNCH. Although President Obama called for a freeze on domestic programs during Wednesday night’s State of the Union address, Debra Eschmeyer argues that childrens’ nutrition should remain a priority. The US Department of Ag recently reported that in 2008, 1 in 4 children went hungry. 1 in 3 children will develop Type II Diabetes – 1 in 2 if the child is Black or Hispanic. Fun fact: the School Lunch Program was initially developed to prepare young men for military service. But today, 27% percent of the population are too overweight to serve.
MANIFEST DENSITY. No, that’s not a typo. Asserting that “America is great because we outconsume every other nation”, Steve Colbert calls on us to, well, get fatter. I’m of two minds about this clip. It’s a typical Daily Show sketch – a pointed indictment of the American sociopolitical machine. That I like. But in some ways it’s also pretty insensitive to fat people.
FRUIT’S ROOTS. A Gallup poll indicates that fewer Americans ate fruits and vegetables in 2009 than in 2008. The USDA’s famous recommendation is, of course, five servings per day. Does anyone know what a serving size looks like? It’s not just “any time you eat the food”. For instance, it’s half a cup of veggies, or a cup of raw leafy greens. And while we’re on the subject of vegetables, I’d like to repeat what one of my brilliant holistic nutrition professors said. The phrase “fruits and vegetables” should really be “vegetables and fruits”. Vegetables contain everything fruits do, and more. Fruits are great, but they’re sugary. They actually evolved to spike our blood sugar so we’d gain a little weight going into the winter. So this isn’t about “I’m healthy because today I had grapes, a mango, a piece of watermelon and some strawberries”. Fruits are treats. Healthy treats. Better for you than sugary and refined foods, but still treats. I really don’t think we need three pieces a day.
FRANKENWORMS. Frankencorn has made its way into soil-dwelling animals, such as worms. I could make a joke here about how everything’s made of corn nowadays, but I don’t find this situation funny. Everything we do on this planet impacts everything else. What are the implications of GMO food slowly taking over??

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