Everyone gets fed

Saturday, December 24, 2011  4:56 pm

This year again, according to national data, food prices jumped higher and faster than nearly anything else we buy. For most of us, it’s an inconvenience and causes us to scale back – maybe skipping the occasional grass-fed meats, or shifting from super-clean bpa-free (like Eden brand) canned garbanzos to soaking and cooking your beans from dry.

But for families hit by poverty or unemployment, food insecurity means not knowing where your next meal will come from – it’s skipping meals, poor nutrition, getting sicker and not performing or feeling well. Eventually, it impacts us all as our neighbors become less and less able, physically or emotionally, to realize their full potential.

Here in the Berkshires among the households served by The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, 71% are food insecure, according to the U.S. government’s official food security scale.

According to the non-profit advocacy group Feeding America, though related, food insecurity and poverty are not the same. Unemployment rather than poverty, they say, is a stronger predictor of food insecurity.

With food prices as well as unemployment up now, food pantries – often the last stop for hungry and food insecure families, are having difficulty keeping their shelves stocked even with the basics. If there is ever a time for intention in action, it’s now. Please help everyone get fed this winter by helping your neighbors through your local food pantry.

Find you local food pantry with Feeding America’s directory.

It’s official: eat less, America

Friday, May 27, 2011  4:24 pm

The new 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans were released earlier this year (yes, in 2011). The details of the report remain a tortured dance of recommendations to avoid the ubiquitous processed foods at the heart of the obesity epidemic – without offending the processed food industry. BUT the truly big truly good news  is that finally, even the USDA (whose role, in addition to telling Americans what to eat, is to promote our agricultural commodities), agrees that Americans need to eat less. Avoid sugary drinks, the guidelines say, in favor of water, unsweetened teas and other healthier options.

OK: yes, the guidelines remain too heavily influenced by the processed food industry. And yes, the guidelines do not actually reflect the evidence on the healthiest way to eat (for that my favorite is the Healing Foods Pyramid from U of MI).  BUT can we take a moment to appreciate all involved who stood up to the monied big food  interests in the name of health? Ho boy those committee members must have had some hot pressure not to tell Americans to eat less.

For how nutrition thinkers are reacting to the new guidelines, I always like to check in with NYU Prof and Author of a growing number of compelling offerings on food-politics and policy, Marion Nestle, PhD. In her blog she posted a nice roundup of reactions from FoodNavigator.com.

I really think Mark Bittman is in the zone these day – I love what he’s writing. He was not pleased with the new guidelines, and shares his frustration in the NYTimes Opinionator page.

Be well.

Feeding feeling good

Sunday, November 28, 2010  4:54 pm

One of the most interesting talks I heard at FNCE (Food & Nutrition Conference & Exhibition) earlier this month was by neurologist David Perlmutter.  If you wonder if the challenge of following a healthy lifestyle in our anything-but-healthy culture is worth it, Perlmutter may inspire you to try.

Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to change as a result of one’s experience. It’s a fairly recent idea, but is good news for those in the middle or later years of life, as it suggests we can, to some extent, heal our brains from injury or lifetimes of poor choices and unhealthy lifestyles. It also suggests that we can take preventive measures against the neurodegeneration of the aging brain. Perlmutter says that neuroplasticity is currently  known to be influenced by three things:

• diet,
• physical activity and
• spirituality.

Perlmutter has a book coming out in Feb ‘11 co-authored with medical anthropologist and author Alberto Villoldo PhD called “Power Up Your Brain: the Neuroscience of Enlightenment”.  Should be a hot read.

No drug yet to expand or maintain neuroplasticity, though of course they’re working on it.  In the meantime, you can optimize your brain’s ability to map new neural pathways  by following the basics of a healthy lifestyle.  I’ll go deeper into the details of that in upcoming posts.

Have a fascinating week.

Annie

Getting started with healthy eating

Thursday, June 10, 2010  1:17 pm

It’s challenging to follow a healthy lifestyle in our anything-but-healthy culture. But for most of us, it’s worth the effort to be the most vibrant, healthy version of ourselves that we can. No matter who you are – how old, how physically or financially limited – you can improve your life by making healthier food choices and moving more, and connecting with others. Here are a few ideas for laying the groundwork for dietary change. These are ideas for gathering information and doing the mental preparation for success.

* Don’t believe the hype. The idea of a pill, potion or diet that will magically excuse you from the reality of how our human bodies work can feel irresistible. But like 1% mortgages and other investment schemes we’ve been learning so much about lately, if it seems to good to be true, it probably is. The FDA recently warned that some diet aids can actually do serious physical damage.

The only way for the average person to stay healthy over the long haul is to eat a healthy plant-based diet and be adequately physically active. The pill or diet might help with a jump start, but eventually we all live within our human physiology.

* Take a positive, additive approach. The fact that we live in human bodies is a very good thing. Weight loss or getting healthy is best experienced as an exercise in getting to know yourself and how your body works. The key is to find some joy – some fun, in learning how to care for yourself well. In my years of counseling people on lifestyle, I find it’s best to start by adding good things – like physical activity, and servings of fruits and vegetables. That way, the foods and activities that don’t serve you (like French fries, donuts and Law & Order marathons) tend to fall by the wayside with less sacrificial pain. There is a way to enjoy what you eat and follow a healthy diet.

* Know where your journey begins. There are a slew of good (and free) web based assessment tools to help you figure out what you’re eating right now. That’s really the first step in finding out where you want to go. Step on the scale, find your BMI, and see where you are on the sliding scale from underweight to obese. For most of these assessment numbers, see them then set them aside, and focus on the habits. It’s easy to get fixated on “I knew I struggled with weight but now I see I’m obese – I’m no good”. When those kind of thoughts pop up, see if you can turn it around to a positive, like “I knew things were getting out of hand, and now I know the situation and can do something about it – I can do this”. So long as you are focused on positive change and positive habits you life is likely to get better. Everyone has difficulty with something in their life. It’s how you work it in your mind that makes the difference between success and spinning your wheels.