nutrition

When my in-house recipe taster and I went to the North Carolina State Fair yesterday, we were looking forward to hot crisp french fries, the gardening exhibits, and the midway. We'd long ago given up planning to eat real meals at the fair and this year's publicity about chocolate-covered bacon didn't make us think it would be any different. We were wrong: the state fair is on its way to becoming a veritable vegetarian paradise!

The Evolution of Eating Habits: Veg becomes Visible

This diary offers a tour of some great vegetarian food at the fair. (For the photos, see cross-post at CookforGood.com) I feel that I witnessed a real change in American eating habits and tastes. The fair used to be all corn dogs, ham biscuits, smoked turkey legs, and deep-fried everything. To be sure, those foods still dominate, along with new confections like chocolate-dipped cheesecake on a stick. But the fair is a merciless environment in which profitable foods succeed and ones that don't sell don't return. People are clearly asking for and buying vegetarian and vegetable dishes at the fair. Consider joining them to cast your vote for the success of these meals.

I thought I'd start this forum as a place for folks to post their ideas and thoughts about how to save some cash during the downturn. I lived through this as a kid in Pennsylvania back when Steel and Coal disappeared. It was pretty much like it is now, except at the time it was only Pennsylvania that was suffering the pain. So, here are some thoughts about how to survive the downturn. Please add your own in the space below and I'll keep adding more as they come to me.

1. Start buying generic groceries, which in this day and age means buying store brands. Yes, you'll be jacked up with chemicals and preservatives and artificial colors - but you'll save some money in the process.

I saw an update from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that many states are trying to update their WIC program to better reflect newer nutritional standards and combat obesity.

Under the dietary changes, foods such as whole grain breads and cereals, canned or dried beans, and jarred baby foods will be made available to WIC recipients. In addition, beneficiaries can receive cash-value checks to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables. Another update to the state's WIC program calls for whole milk to be provided only to children between 12 months and 24 months and for all women and children older than age 2 to receive vouchers that cover only the cost of skim or 1 percent milk. In response to reports suggesting that juice consumption contributes to childhood overweight and obesity, New York is also looking to restrict the number of vouchers provided for the purchase of juice and eliminate juice options for children younger than age 2.

Horrible eating habits are responsible for the obesity epidemic in America. The old "food pyramid" is wrong, just wrong. That's why WIC is encouraging the purchase of fresh fruit and vegetables. That's why they are trying to eliminate whole milk and juice, which are unnecessary calories. More after the break. Newer nutritional understanding has, for all intents and purposes, turned the pyramid upside down. This is the old pyramid, you can see that it says you should eat lots of grains.
This is the new pyramid as designed at Harvard.

You can see that the white bread, white pasta group has moved to the top of the pyramid, use sparingly. Even the remainder of the pyramid blocks are better defined, such as "healthy fats" versus just "oils".

This is the "new" pyramid from USDA, which I'm not happy with. The USDA has tried to turn the pyramid into a rainbow logo - I'm not thrilled about it. Either way, I think what the WIC is doing is great. Folks often say you can't regulate good behavior, "What are you going to do, tax fatty foods?" Well, yeah. At least in this case you can, what you can do is limit tax-payer dollars for things that make you fat and unhealthy and expand funding for foods that are healthy. No more Cheetos and Wonder Bread, more apples and oranges.

Verla Insko is at it again, trying to make North Carolina healthier, one small step at a time. You are going to hear a lot about Rep. Insko this session, as Progressives fight for mental health parity, a better state healthcare plan, a high-risk pool, AND the one thing that would make the rest obsolete - Universal Health Care.

But, today, I'd like to introduce you to one of the smaller bills that Rep. Insko has proposed. It's called "AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS FOR THE STATEWIDE HEALTH PROMOTION PROGRAM", and it quite simply provides funds for ONE Public Health Professional per county to "work on the public health issues of physical inactivity, poor nutrition, and tobacco use". It has lots of support with sponsorship by: Weiss, England, Williams, Adams, Alexander, Bordsen, Carney, Coates, Dickson, Faison, Farmer-Butterfield, Fisher, Glazier, Goforth, Hall, Harrison, Holliman, Luebke, McLawhorn, Tarleton, Underhill, E. Warren and Wray.

Think of the impact 100 Public Health Professionals can have on the health of North Carolina. Think about 100 events per week in our schools, in our churches, in our community centers, our senior centers, our firehalls, our police stations, our postoffices, pretty much everywhere. That is 5200 events in one year. What if they do one event per day, 250 days a year, that is 25,000 events per year, making a difference in the lives of North Carolinians. It's a good bill that deserves to make it out of Committee and be debated.
email Rep. Insko and let her know you support her efforts.