Big Food
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Food Studies: Deconstructing Big Food
Photo: Krystian OlszanskiFood Studies features the voices of volunteer student bloggers from a variety of different food- and agriculture-related programs at universities around the world. You can explore the full series here. I’m in a food systems class this semester that is focused on the complex way that food moves from farm to plate (which […]
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The hatin' spoonful: Big Food refuses to swallow guidelines
Loathe to give up its authority over American eating habits, Big Food is already pushing back against modest, voluntary guidelines on advertising to children.
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Great places, great food: part one
Is this your idea of a great place? Didn’t think so.Photo: Robert TerrellDavid Roberts has been sketching out a positive, unifying agenda for progressives under the banner of what he calls “great places.” It isn’t enough, David argues, to rail against the snarling philistinism of Sarah Palin or engage endlessly in the “decrepit political arguments […]
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Not just the facts, ma’am: Why science alone can’t defeat Big Food’s policy stranglehold
Put ’em up, Pepsi.Food-reform advocates like to stick to the facts, believing that if they can just construct a rational, air-tight argument, they’ll convince the public and transform policy around food. But that’s a bit like bringing a butter knife to a sword fight. As Robert K. Ross, president and CEO of the California Endowment, […]
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Tropicana 'snackifies' drinks with new fruit in a tube
American adults and kids don't eat enough fruit. The solution, according to PepsiCo: Make fruit more fun! And what's more fun than puréed slush that you can squirt straight in your mouth?
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Mythbusting: Cheap food does not equal higher quality of life
Does our cheap food system bring us higher quality of life than other countries? A food industry flack believes so, but facts suggest otherwise. And I'm starting to think that we can't really reform the food system until we reform the economy.
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The greatest wannabe junk food on the planet — 'extreme baby carrots'
If only vegetables had bright packaging, adrenaline-packed commercials, and millions of dollars for marketing campaigns! Maybe then they could compete with the glitzy success of junk food. Or they could go the route of "baby carrots" and pretend they're junk food anyway.
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What can the health-care act teach the food movement?
President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton celebrate healthcare reform. Will food reformers ever get to celebrate a wide-ranging policy victory? Photo: White HouseWhat follows is the first of a two-post series. “This is what change looks like,” declared a triumphant President Obama after the House had narrowly passed an historic healthcare-reform bill. What would […]
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Can we stop obesity without taxes?
Michelle Obama went before the Grocery Manufacturers Association today seeking its support for her “Let’s Move” anti-obesity initiative. The GMA, which counts food companies like Kraft, General Mills, and Coca-Cola among its membership, isn’t necessarily friendly territory for Michelle Obama. But if the standing ovation she received is any indication, Big Food is trying hard […]