Do you read the package claims to compare different brands of yogurt or juice before making a purchase for your kids? Well, the FTC has moved to prevent companies from making unsubstantiated claims on the packaging. This is good news! I wonder if it would also be possible to ban the use of cartoon characters on packaging so that we can prevent the “I want Dora (or princess or whatever) yogurt” meltdowns at the grocery store. Children cannot make a choice with regard to what is nutritious for them, so packaging designed to attract them simply subverts the process of rational decision making.
Category Archives: Nutrition
More on Biofortification
Two articles at Sci-dev.net present various aspects of the biofortification issue. The first raises questions on the viability of the biofortified crops that have already been developed, while the other tries to set these doubts at rest. A lot of reporting on this topic is clouded by concerns of genetic modification (which is not synonymous with biofortification) or the probability of the benefits of this technology actually reaching those suffering from malnutrition. We need to separate the facts from the noise as we appraoch this issue. This technology represents a great opportunity to improve the health and well-being of many people and should be evaluated very seriously.
The Food Debate as Class War
Back from the biggest food day of the year to an interesting analysis on the food debate: namely,that the food debate is assuming the shape of a class/culture war. The way we eat, the piece says, is not defined by access or affordability alone, it is also a matter of preference and some people will choose the Big Mac over other options no matter how much information they are given. The authors write about their experience in Huntington, W.Va, made famous by Jamie Oliver’s TV show. While they were able to buy fresh, organic produce at reasonable prices and cook at home, they found people opting to eat at higher prices at fast food joints.Commentators on the right say people should eat what they want, preaching alternatives is an insidious attempt to foist liberal upper class opinions on others. This is a strange argument. In effect it says, “do not listen to those who urge healthier food habits because they are trying to subvert your freedom of choice but listen to me as I encourage you to eat in a way that harms your health”! At Thought+Food, the motto has been “Always read the label”, maybe we should add “Always thinks for yourself” to that.
Biofortification Revolution Part 2
Everything you wanted to know about biofortification! Why is it so hard to get some attention for this solution to malnutrition?
Posted in Food Policy, Nutrition
GM Foods In a Different Light
GM Foods have been lauded as the silver bullet that will save the world or reviled as “Frankenfoods”. The truth, of course, is at neither of these extremes. The Atlantic’s excellent article on Golden Rice shows a nuanced and ultimately winning picture. In particular, the public-private partnership that is guiding this project toward delivery of seeds to poor farmers, free of license, is a fitting reply to those who think that the word “Monsanto” is an adequate reason for their rigid opposition to the adoption of biotechnology.
Posted in Food Policy, Food Security, Nutrition
Tagged food policy, food security, nutrition
Biofortification
An insightful presentation on biofortification at the First Global Biofortification Conference in Washington D.C. It highlights the success story of the development of orange sweet potatoes in Africa. These sweet potatoes were developed using traditional cross breeding methods and are fortified with vitamin A, iron and zinc which prevents blindness and deaths from compromised immune systems.
Posted in Food Policy, Nutrition
Our Toddlers Are Eating Junk, Too – Marion Nestle – Food – The Atlantic
More bad news in childhood nutrition but also something to cheer about!
Our Toddlers Are Eating Junk, Too – Marion Nestle – Food – The Atlantic.
Global Hunger Index
There is some good news from the fight on global hunger. Progress has been made toward achieving the Millennium Development Goal to halve the number of hungry people in the world by 2015, reports IFPRI, and South Asia , in particular, has made a significant move forward. However, Sub-Saharan Africa continues to display alarming trends. Childhood malnutrition is a big contributor to the Global Hunger Index. The window for rectifying this is the period during gestation and the first two years after birth. After this, the effects of under nutrition cannot be reversed. This brings to mind the peanut wonder paste, Plumpy’nut which has been brought into use with great results for infants in many countries, most recently in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti. More on its benefits and also controversies, here.
GM Foods: another view
Time magazine has an interesting article on the GM foods that are already in the market. I wanted to post this because many people I speak to seem unaware that GM foods are already available and indeed, we have been consuming them already. The example of Golden Rice is important because it highlights a point often lost in angry din of the GM debate: genetic modification is a technology which can be safely used as so many other technologies are used. It is not essential that a giant corporation be the sole provider of this technology and hence gain monopoly control over the crop. Biotechnology can also be developed by research organizations, governments, non-profits etc. and the benefits of this technology can be reaped by farmers and consumers alike.
Posted in Food Policy, Food Security, Nutrition
Tagged food policy, food security, nutrition
Thought + Food 