Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite

by intern Christine Binder

A recent study in Nature Neuroscience found that rats allowed to binge on high-fat, high-calorie foods – junk food bought at the grocery store – not only became obese, but also became compulsive eaters. The neuroscientists found that changes in the brains of the obese rats are similar to those found in people with a physical addiction to drugs.

This comes as no surprise if you have read David Kessler’s book, The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite, which states that overeating comes not from character flaws, but from biological conditioning. Eating foods high in fat, sugar, or salt reinforces the desire to eat those foods again. The more people eat them, the less rewarding they taste, which drives them to compensate by compulsively eating even more. The food and restaurant industries know this. Tons of research and development goes into designing foods that are literally irresistible, or as the industry calls them, “cravable.”

Kessler’s book has influenced Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative, which aims to eradicate childhood obesity within a generation. Here is an excerpt from The First Lady’s speech to the Grocery Manufacturers Association earlier this month:

“Humans…are hard-wired to crave sugary, fatty, salty foods. And it is temping to take advantage of that – to create products that are sweeter, richer, and saltier than ever before.

This can be particularly dangerous when it comes to our kids…the more of these products they have in their diets, the more accustomed they become to those tastes, and then the more deeply embedded these foods become in their eating habits.”

More after the jump

Hardwick VT: the town that food saved

by intern Valerie Scott

We all know what local, sustainable food can do for the health of our bodies, but could it also be a cure for the health of ailing economies? Ben Hewitt’s book The Town that Food Saved: How One Community Found Vitality in Local Food delves into this question, exploring the growth of a vibrant local food economy in Hardwick, Vermont, population 3,200.

Hardwick is a lot like how it sounds – unemployment in the town is 40 percent higher than the state average; incomes are 25 percent lower. But in the last few years, Hardwick has returned to its historical roots in farming, with a new twist – local, sustainable agriculture. It’s growing a vibrant local food system that is restoring not only some jobs and higher wages, but a sense of community and food that’s connected to it.

A diverse network of “agrepreneurs” in Hardwick– High Mowing Organic Seeds, Pete’s Greens, Jasper Hill Farm, the Vermont Food Venture Center and so on - are producing organic and artisanal foods and seeking investors. Business owners share advice, capital and facilities. About a hundred jobs have been created.

Sounds great, but is the story of this one town’s thriving local food system unique, or is it a viable model for other communities? As I read, part of me hoped to find an easy-to-follow plan - just do it like we did! Farm this way, market that way, save the world, take a nap. Sadly, social change isn’t that easy, but while Hardwick doesn’t offer an exact blueprint, it is a thought-provoking example of a thriving local food economy.

Hewitt suggests that a couple of unique, and surprising, variables have contributed to the town’s growing local-ag economy: poverty and small size. Hewitt believes that Hardwick’s success is founded upon trust and collaboration which “are in no small ways social and cultural responses to economic hardship.” He also suggests that the population had a “just right” quality that was big enough to be ambitious, and small enough to be fast-acting and flexible.

The best lesson to be learned here is about cooperation and inspiration. The Town that Food Saved is a story about the ability of a group of likeminded folks to come together in pursuit of a passion for sustainable, local food– not without challenges, but with dedication to a bigger vision. That’s what Slow Food is all about too.

If you’re interested in learning more about thriving local food entrepreneurs, BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) has some exciting network programs focused on sustainable agriculture.  And for ideas on how to invest in other inspiring small food enterprises, you can check out Slow Money, a non-profit dedicated to investing in local food systems and connecting investors to local economies.

Senate Agriculture Committee Approves Child Nutrition Bill

Yesterday, the Senate Agriculture Committee unanimously approved its bill to update child nutrition programs (the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act). The bill will now go to the Senate floor at a date to be determined, no earlier than mid-April.

The committee made no major changes, though we were excited to see Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas increase funding for Farm to School programs to $40 million (inching closer to our goal of $50 million over five years). The bill also strengthens nutrition standards for all the food sold at school, effectively kicking junk food out of school vending machines. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio passed an amendment for an organic food pilot program to get more organic food into school meals, though the amendment doesn’t yet have funding.

Overall, the bill invests $500 million per year in child nutrition programs, which falls short of the $1 billion per year proposed by President Obama in order to help schools serve healthier food. Senator Lincoln was hopeful about funding, however, saying:

“I am committed to working to identify additional resources for this legislation…. After reporting this bill I look forward to working with my colleague Senator Baucus and the leadership in the Senate to identify additional funding.”

Funding for healthier food will be paid for by offsets in other parts of the federal budget. Currently, the Child Nutrition bill makes a cut to conservation programs, which is a cut that Slow Food USA does not support – particularly when a much larger portion of the budget goes to farm subsidies that support unhealthy processed foods.

On the same day that the committee approved the bill, Slow Food USA’s Time for Lunch Campaign surpassed its goal of sending 100,000 letters and petition signatures to Congress. The momentum’s still growing—click here to learn how you can help out.

Jamie Oliver: The Revolution Will Be Televised

by intern Julia Landau

Jamie Oliver, the famed Naked Chef, launches his new reality TV program Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution this Friday, March 26 at 8pm EST on ABC. For folks like me who can’t wait until Friday (who said patience was a virtue?), a sneak peak of the first episode is available.

The show accompanies Oliver through his quest to change the way America eats. He’s chosen Huntington, WV, the statistically “unhealthiest” city in the U.S., as his jumping-off point.

Jamie’s efforts are two-pronged, focusing both on school food and on family cooking in the home. On both fronts he’s up against resistance and skepticism. In the first moments of the show, we watch Oliver meet Central City Elementary’s crew of chefs, who have to operate within a broken system and aren’t necessarily happy with ambitious outsiders telling them what to do. Following his tense introduction to the cafeteria, Oliver brings the revolution home to a local family, where his challenge is to transform the diet of a family living off of fried food and frozen pizzas. He’s up against fifty years of ingrained values and misinformation.

TV hoopla aside, I believe this show is actually a big deal. It has the potential to speak to a mostly mainstream audience, and to help Americans take a hard look at school food and what we’re eating. To be sure, he may piss off more than a few people, but I’m glad to see he isn’t shying away from hitting the ground and talking to people face-to-face. Let’s also consider the network on which the show is airing – ABC. This isn’t the Food Network. He’s outside the bubble.

What’s more, Jamie’s show comes at exactly the right time, as Congress is just beginning to discuss its bill to update school meal programs. The timeliest way to join the food revolution is to ask your legislators to support a strong Child Nutrition Act that helps schools serve healthier food. Check out Slow Food USA’s Time for Lunch Campaign to get involved – and check out Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution for some laughs, some tears, and hopefully a happy ending.

Health care law mandates calorie counts at restaurant chains nationwide

by intern Christine Binder

Yesterday, President Barack Obama signed the health care bill into law. Tucked away inside the massive piece of legislation, there is provision requiring chain restaurants with 20 or more outlets in the United States to list calorie counts on menus, menu boards, and drive-through displays. The law, which affects over 200,000 U.S. restaurants, also applies to vending machines.

In 2008, New York City was the first to mandate calorie counts, and was followed by Seattle, California, and over a dozen other states and municipalities. The Food and Drug Administration will create standards for the labeling, which should come into full effect within the next few years. Soon enough, people all over the country will be able to see the number of calories in an item before they purchase it. According to food policy guru Marion Nestle, calorie labeling has a second positive effect: it motivates fast food and chain restaurants to provide lower-calorie offerings.

For more information see Nestle’s blog, Food Politics.

Why it’s worth your time to call Congress

Last week, Slow Food Denver volunteer Andrew Nowak had the opportunity to sit down with one of Senator Michael Bennet’s staff members in D.C.

In the meeting with Senator Bennet’s staff, Andrew talked about his nine years of work coordinating Slow Food Denver’s Seed to Table School Garden Program. He also encouraged the Senator to help schools serve healthier food by passing a strong Child Nutrition Act and to include legislation to support purchases of local food through Farm to Cafeteria initiatives. 

After, Andrew had a few words of encouragement for other Slow Food leaders:

“For someone who participated in this arena for the first time, I do feel closer to the process and have learned quite a bit of what goes on. I can’t say that I will become a total ‘political junkie’ after this experience, but I am a more informed voter. I think you should encourage other Slow Food leaders to reach out and connect with their representatives on this issue.”

Well said. Contacting your legislator’s staff is an opportunity to become someone on whom the staff relies for advice and information. It’s a particularly good idea if your Senator is on the Agriculture Committee, because they’ll begin marking up the Child Nutrition on March 24.

To learn more about Slow Food Denver’s work with local schools, check out what Andrew had to say in this recent article on INDenverTimes.com.

School meal providers convening to FOCUS on school lunch

by intern Julia Landau

Over 100 school food service directors, community activists, and government agency partners will convene at the second Annual Meeting of the organization School Food FOCUS in Chicago on March 25-27, 2010.

School Food FOCUS supports the nation’s largest urban school districts in their efforts to procure more healthful, more sustainably produced and regionally sourced food. FOCUS was developed in response to a call by urban school districts to transform the quality of school food. The organization is also driven by a recognition that improving the meal service in large school districts with major purchasing power can go a long way towards improving the food system nationwide.

The keynote speaker of next week’s conference is Jan Poppendieck, author of the new book “Free For All: Fixing School Food in America” (We reviewed it on this blog last month). The meeting will also feature the first Real School Food Showcase - a selection of carefully chosen chicken, whole grain and other food products available for institutional purchasing that strive to meet FOCUS criteria for more healthful, local, and sustainable.

The meeting will highlight demonstrated successes in sourcing local and nutritious school food. There will be a conversation with USDA officials, giving participants the chance to learn more about the new Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food program and the upcoming Childhood Nutrition Act.

This is seriously good timing for talking about school lunch. Senator Blanche Lincoln just introduced her draft of the Child Nutrition Act, and the Agriculture Committee will begin marking it up on March 24. Slow Food USA is asking legislators to invest in healthier food, strengthen nutrition standards and link schools to local farms – click here to learn how you can help.

[photo, from Fed up with school lunch]

Chicago Honey Co-op

by intern Lila Wilmerding

At the beginning of the century, Michael Thompson left his career in landscaping to give conventional farming a try in Northern Illinois.  Finding little appeal in corn and soybeans, but still looking to engage in agriculture, Michael returned to Chicago where he and two partners founded an urban honey co-operative in 2004.  They based their business on three main tenets: they would produce healthy, delicious food; they would provide job training and mentorship for those in need of it; and they would run a self-sufficient business. 

Having pulled together their business plan, the three partners got the Chicago Honey Co-op project off the ground quickly.  They set up their bee hives in an urban lot, and began connecting with the Chicago community while selling honey products at local farmers markets.  At one these markets, Slow Food members approached the co-op, hoping to host a community dinner at the bee farm.  Though the event was a success and he believed in the Slow Food message, Michael was not completely sold on Slow Food as an organization until he heard Carlo Petrini speak on one of his book tours.  Carlo’s enthusiasm and charm pulled Michael into the Slow Food web, and, a few years later, he was excited to attend the Terra Madre conference in Turin in 2008.

At this meeting, Michael connected with farmers, chefs, and activists from all over the world who share his beliefs in some form or another—they all want to reform the current food system so that it supports local economies and food traditions.  In his words, Terra Madre is a “grassroots movement to support local farmers so that they can treat the land well and leave something good behind.” Upon returning from Italy, Michael wanted to spread what he learned at Terra Madre.  He and the honey co-op have been involved in several local organizations, often working with youth, as a way of sharing what they know. 

Specifically, they have participated in the Hull House Museum’s Rethinking Soup program.  This project—through the University of Illinois—pulls together people weekly for free soup and discussion about social, environmental, and economic issues.  Their topics often focus on food traditions and sustainability.  Members of the co-op present a beekeeping workshop to the Hull House audience.  In addition, Michael has lent his co-op expertise to a group of Chicago youth as they form their own business plan to create the community-run Dill Pickle Food Co-op.

The Chicago Honey Co-op also hosts—to increasing demand—a couple of beekeeping workshops on their farm each year.  Those who attend these classes learn in detail the sustainable traditions that the co-op members practice.  With these projects, among others, the Chicago Honey Co-op has made a clear impact in the community and paved the way for the next generation to continue on the path towards a more sustainable food system.

Senate unveils draft of Child Nutrition Act

Today, Senator Blanche Lincoln unveiled her version of the Child Nutrition Act and announced that the Senate Agriculture Committee will begin marking up the bill next week, on Wednesday, March 24.

Lincoln’s draft boosts funding for child nutrition programs by $500 million per year, and includes stronger nutrition standards and some support for Farm to School programs. She called it a “record investment in child nutrition programs,” which is technically true – but only because Congress has consistently under-funded school meals in every Child Nutrition Act until now. It’s encouraging to see that there’s any new funding, but Lincoln’s draft only has half of the $1 billion proposed by President Obama, which isn’t enough to transform school lunch in a time when nearly 1 in 3 children is obese or overweight.

If your Senator serves on the Agriculture Committee, you have a short window of time to make an impact. Please take three minutes to make a phone call to your Senator’s office in D.C. and ask them to support:

• Helping schools serve healthier food by making the full investment of $1 billion per year for child nutrition programs.
• Including $50 million over five years for grants to start Farm to School programs, which link schools to local farms and support the local economy.

Email staff member .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if you have questions. When you’re done, reach out to friends and colleagues – especially parents, teachers and school meal providers – and ask them to make a call, too.

You can learn more about Slow Food USA’s campaign to help schools serve healthier food at www.slowfoodusa.org/timeforlunch.

Riots or Rebellions? Eric Holt-Giménez Looks at the World Food Crisis

by intern Julia Landau

“Food riot??” asked an indignant Eric Holt-Giménez at a talk he gave in New York City on March 5, referring to protests in response to the 2008 food crisis. According to Holt-Giménez, the Executive Director of Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy, “food rebellion” would be more accurate. 

Between 2007 and 2008, approximately 40 food protests occurred around the world. In Mexico, corn prices made tortillas prohibitively expensive for the nation’s poor. In Haiti, soaring food prices led people to the streets, and eventually to overthrow the Prime Minister.

These protests were not spontaneous outbursts fueled by mob-mentality – hence they were not riots. Instead, they were conscious, political acts: rebellions. The agency and intention implied by the word rebellion are essential: they are not just a reaction to food prices, but a protest against a flawed system. It’s the difference between responding to symptoms and curing the sickness.

The commonly-cited reasons for hikes in food prices are grain speculation, increased use of land for agro-fuel production, increased meat consumption, and a particularly poor harvest season – what Holt-Giménez calls proximate causes. While in 2007-2008 these forces were certainly at work, a deeper look reveals that the food crisis was actually a long time in the making. We have a vulnerable food system – one in which 91% of our crops are maize, cotton, wheat, rice, and soy. With such a lack of diversity in our agricultural repertoire, we leave our crops open to environmental and economic shock. Think Irish potato famine.

There is a danger in conflating the proximate and root causes of the food crisis, Holt-Giménez warns. When we focus only on the symptoms of the problem, we easily reach the conclusion that genetically modified food and industrial agriculture present a “solution,” or an immediate fix to world hunger. But if we look at the root causes, we see that this “quick fix” leaves us vulnerable to loss of crop diversity, market flooding, and farmer bankruptcy. The consolidation of land and power are at the heart of the problem.

More after the jump