nosh nook #38 - wednesday, may 6, 2009

renewed calls for junk food ad ban on kids’ TV (link)
05.05.09 - australian food news - by daniel palmer

sometimes it seems like the whole world is against you. if you're junk food, that time is now. you're a plague upon our children. you're a pox on our houses. you're a thorn in our side & therefore must be eradicated post haste. won't somebody please think of the children?  if you're junk food, fighting the evil that your tastiness spreads has now become a pet project for politicians from new york to the u.k. to australia. you're bad. you're bad. really really bad.

according to daniel palmer, from the australian food news, down under, the coalition of food advertising to children (CFAC) "believe(s) that children who watch two hours of television per day see 18 hours per year of unhealthy advertisements for food like chips, burgers, confectionery and soft drinks." as a result, they're urging a ban on unhealthy food ads during the hours children watch TV. according to the president of the australian medical association, "(f)ood advertising influences what food children want, ask for, and eat." obviously, the answer is to ban advertising, as their parents are powerless when it comes to steering their children toward healthy diets.

how has the australian food industry reacted? they're playing nice & have even gone as far as to create a "responsible children’s marketing initiative," which says that they'll only advertise healthy food option to kids under twelve. once they're thirteen, they're fair game. last year, the australian green party introduced legislation aimed at curbing junk food advertising, but it didn't get enough support to pass. luckily, this year, they've reintroduced legislation. at the moment, it's poised to fail, but once the preventative health taskforce comes back in june with recommendations for australia's health policy, that could change...& not soon enough, because the little boy pictured in the article appears to be enjoying his donut more than should be allowed by law.

nosh nook #37 - tuesday, may 5, 2009

exposed: baby snacks that may be worse than junk food (link)
05.05.09 - belfast telegraph - by lesley-anne henry

these days, in our fast paced world of sport drinks & power bars, even babies need to eat healthy.  you can't just feed them tin cans & galoshes like you would with a scruffy bill goat (often with hilarious results, i might add).  just like with other types of humans, babies need vitamins & nutrients & all those essential things that everyone else needs to live.  as a result, in northern ireland, folks are taking steps to ensure that their babies remember to eat right.

as lesley-anne henry describes in the article, belfast's parents' advice center is telling parents to take note when buying food for their baby, as some baby foods have turned out to be less nutritious than initially assumed.  two of the more notable unhealthy baby food dispensers--heinz and cow & gate.  one heinz product--toddler's own mini cheese biscuits--"contain more saturated fat that a mcdonalds quarter pounder with cheese."  although it's a scientific fact that babies love mcdonalds, they're too young to be eating quarter pounders.

i, for one, was shocked to hear that our beloved american heinz corp. was responsible for feeding babies unhealthy food, as their most famous product, ketchup, only contains two types of corn syrup, only one of which is high fructose.  as for cow & gate, i'm not familiar with them, but am sad to hear that they're "withdrawing (their) bear, berry bear & animal friends biscuits" due to high levels of hydrogenated fat.  from what i hear, berry bear's a swell guy & i can only imagine how tough it's going to be for him to find work in this harsh economic climate.

nosh nook #31 - monday, april 27, 2009

grade schoolers sample 'snack squad' treats (link)
04.26.09 - the williamston enterprise - by brad ritter

theme song (sung to the tune of ghostbusters)...when you've got the munchies...and you need a fix...who you gonna call? the snack squad! when you need a muffin...well don't get pissed...you should just call...the snack squad! actually, the snack squad is made up of fourth & fifth graders from a school in the lansing, michigan area, so there's likely little that they can do for you & you probably shouldn't be calling them...but they could teach you a thing or two about healthy snacks!

according to brad ritter, months back, 130 students from explorer and discovery elementary schools (in williamston, a town of 4K just outside of lansing) decided to form a "snack squad" & learn a thing or two about healthy eating. ritter spoke with spoke with 4th-grade teacher steve forrest, who said that "...the students were asked if they wanted to do a music presentation or the snack squad. they met 10 weeks and learned about cooking, nutrition and fitness."  once again, food trumps music.

every week, the students got to serve the snacks--a sampling of things like fruit cups, homemade salsa & the aforementioned muffins--to fellow classmates.  in addition, the kids made a healthy cookbook, so if you're attending the may 14th ice cream social, make sure to pick up a copy.  according to the april 09 explorer informer, all proceeds will go to the make-a-wish foundation & the school's "fit for life" program, so you can be sure that by buying one of the cookbooks, you're not supporting gun runners in sudan.  that's spending (and snacking) with a conscience.

nosh nook #4 - thursday, march 19, 2009

school snack program meets needs (link)
03.18.09 - ourvalley.org - by frances stebbins

eating it up (link)
03.18.09 - san diego union tribune - by caroline dipping

here in brooklyn, i see it all the time--kids on their way to school in the morning having a bag of cool ranch doritos & a tiny blue drink thingy for breakfast. of course, once they're done consuming this nutritious breakfast, the majority of them toss the containers wherever they feel, but that's ok, because the adults do it too. the point is, low-income kids often eat like absolute crap.

oh quaint feel-good news. the first piece, by frances stebbins, talks about $1,670 in donations in salem, va made to the "area churches together" project, who then bought snacks (things like fruit cups, whole grain bars, pretzels) at a discount store & distributed them to elementary schools. if other people want to get in on the free food, they need a referral from a service agency or church. it's a homey little piece of "journalism," pretty much just information on different donations & how to give them. how quaint.

the second piece, by caroline dipping (great name!), covers a san diego organization responsible for preparing 10,000 meals & snacks for 4,000 low-income kids. last year, the organization got a new director, who came on & noticed that everything was canned & frozen & processed, so over the last year, she's totally overhauled the program with increased culinary skills amongst workers, more prepared foods & less processed foods. now kids can get three meals & a snack for $7.98 a day...& they get bombtastic snacks like yogurt parfait with granola & berries and sweet potato yogurt with graham crackers. sweet potato yogurt! holy crap! you stay classy, san diego!