Musings on sustainable food systems, agriculture vs. agroecology, and more!
It’s no secret that Wendell Berry is another one of my inspirations when thinking about sustainable food systems – my post about his work “The Pleasures of Eating” has been one of the most-viewed posts on this blog, and his name repeatedly comes up in things I read and am influenced by. A friend of … Continue reading "Land That Is In Human Use Requires Human Care" – An Interview with Wendell Berry
Many times, hailing the health benefits of organic foods, for example fruits and vegetables, has been criticized, and with good reason – while there may be less pesticide residues on the produce, the organic production method is mainly healthy for the planet, and there is little reason why an organic apple should have more vitamins … Continue reading Organic Milk – The Healthier Option?
Ok, first watch this video: What’s your first reaction? “Wow, that’s quite a good investment. Just increasing fruit and veg consumption would save $11 trillion? Let’s fund fruit and vegetable growers!” Want to know my first reaction? “How the hell did they come up with those numbers?!” See, I’m all about eating healthier and supporting … Continue reading An Apple A Day Is Worth $11 Trillion? An Economist's Concern about the Union of Concerned Scientists' Math
Since World Food Day happened recently, I was surprised to learn that the USA celebrate their own Food Day today! Maybe it’s similar to the difference between the Canadian and American Thanksgiving, or between European and North American daylight savings time? I guess globalization has its limits. 🙂 Still, why not celebrate twice? Happy Food Day! … Continue reading US Food Day – How Food Literate Are You?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWOcP-bXuO8#t=360] This is a good visual reminder of what we talked about before – the huge power of marketing to children, and the consequences such strategies can have if children are convinced to prefer particularly unhealthy products. Check out this post that I wrote a while back for more infos! Edited to add – if … Continue reading "We Know What You Want" – Junk Food and Kids
After it was mentioned in one of my classes, I started wondering… Â what exactly happened to the much-heralded tax on goods high in saturated fats that Denmark installed at the beginning of 2012? This law was the first time that this relatively drastic step to curb obesity and try to steer healthier eating habits was … Continue reading The Life and Death of the Danish Fat Tax
I’m back! Sorry for the unexpectedly long hiatus – I needed some real unplugged time off after exams, moving, class, exams, and moving again. But now I am here in Sweden for my second year of the Master’s program and so excited to have continuous access to internet again (and of course to study here … Continue reading A Certain Feeling in Your Guts…
I found this great infographic at the Massive Health blog and thought I’d share it. When I did diabetes-prevention research last summer, I read a ton of articles on how portion size increases have affected the obesity crisis, and I remember noting a noticeable change in portion sizes when crossing the Canadian-American border. At the … Continue reading Finish Your Plate – Or Should You?
Yesterday, the New York Times ran an article called “The Health Toll of Immigration” which looked into scientific research regarding the link between immigration to the USA and health changes. Their conclusion – in an ironic twist, moving to the United States might raise your general standard of living, but shorten your life expectancy.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lcSL2yN39JM#at=867] If you ever feel powerless or overwhelmed by the challenges we are facing to reform our food system, just watch the video above. Steve Ritz, an educator from the poorest congressional district of America, the South Bronx in New York, talks with contagious enthusiasm and energy about how he founded the “Green Bronx Machine“. His … Continue reading The Power of the Green Bronx Machine