Food Day Series: What’s in a Name? Get Educated About Food

What’s in a Name? Get Educated About Food

By: Nicole Hayes

What’s in a bag? What’s in a box? It’s a surprise, but not a gift. Most bagged, boxed, canned and pre-packaged foods contain “surprises”—called additives.  They are names you can’t pronounce and whose affects can harm our bodies. For example, you’re watching your sugar intake but overlook an ingredient known as maltodextrin,(malto who??) a sugar derivative, a sweetner—and a carb alternative. Maltodextrin is found in most processed foods (and for those who work out), the additive is in many meal replacement and exercise performance products. Yikes! You’re trying to avoid one enemy (sugar) but unknowingly invite another (maltodextrin). To make matters worse, “refined sugar” hides under 30 or more names ending in “malt, “syrup” or “-ose.” Studies have shown that high a intake of sugar contributes to high blood sugar levels in the body, diabetes, heart disease, obesity and other issues. Sodium is another culprit whose levels in canned, frozen and processed foods exceed ten times or more of our body’s daily requirements. Monosodium glutamate (MSG), goes by many other names and is typically used as a flavor enhancer—but also considered an excitotoxin, upsetting and disturbing the nervous system.

Companies who prepare these foods will continue producing such items to satisfy consumer demand. Our busy lives and a desire to eat inexpensively drives the need for such foods. But our bodies are getting weary and worn ahead of their time, battered by a misunderstanding of how to preserve our health. Our bodies were highly designed to perform well and beyond what we’re witnessing today. Fortunately, many people are making the switch by cooking meals from scratch, eating what nature grows and not what science manufactures. Our access to knowledge is a keystroke away if we choose to accept accountability and responsibility for what we consume. Either the food you’re eating is real or it isn’t. Get educated.

Food Day: All Myths are not Created Equal

All Myths are not Created Equal

By Llenda Jackson-Leslie

Lately, there’s been a contrarian movement afoot arguing that the government shouldn’t be encouraging people to eat better and live healthier lives… seems that some believe government support for better nutrition leads straight to socialism. Others argue that those suffering from poor nutrition have only themselves to blame. Five Myths about Healthy Eating by Katherine Mangu-Ward printed in Sunday’s Washington Post falls in the last category, the author insists that food deserts aren’t all that barren. She claims that 93 % of the people living in a food desert have access to a car. Read the article here . I can’t refute her claims about access to a car, so I guess the many seniors I  regularly saw walking, catching the bus or a cab, and traveling by wheelchair to the Brookland Giant must have misplaced their keys.

Now I have lived in a couple of food deserts, most recently in northeast Washington, D.C.  While there was not one sit down restaurant within miles—actually within the whole ward, you couldn’t leave the house without stumbling over a Popeye’s Chicken franchise. They were as ubiquitous as Starbucks in other neighborhoods. Is Mangu-Ward seriously suggesting that if every corner had a fruit stand instead of a Popeye’s Chicken that people in that neighborhood would still be eating fast food at the same rate.

She goes on to add that people are hard-wired to like fat, sugar and salt so that the processed food companies who advertise so heavily can’t be blamed for our predilection for unhealthy food.

Now I’m the last person to suggest that we’re all robots simply doing what television advertising tells us to do—but to suggest that people are impervious to the powerful influences of our 24/7 television internet culture seems more far-fetched than the notion of food deserts. While people are ultimately responsible for the choices we make. Sometimes the choices we’re presented with aren’t so great. And people who are raising children, caring for aging parents and working overtime may find driving 2-5 miles to a grocery store to cook from scratch too be overwhelming. Taking a daily walk or run in an unsafe neighborhood just may not be a good health choice. The point in trying to eliminate food deserts and increase opportunities for exercise isn’t that people will always make better choices, but to make better choices easier to make. It took several generations for us to become an obese nation and it may take several more to reverse the trend.

As for debunking food myths, here are some that Mangu-Ward could tackle. Why not take on the myths about drinking eight glasses of milk, ingesting massive doses of vitamins, drinking something from a can that will magically turn us slim or into a super-athlete or the idea that bottled water is better for us than tap water.

Some online resources for getting fit are here and resources for healthy eating are here.

Preview: October 24th is Food Day!

October 24th is Food Day!

Food Day "seeks to bring together Americans from all walks of life...to push for healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way." McKinney & Associates is proud to support this effort as we know that a well-nourished citizenry is a more productive one. This week we will examine some of the issues surrounding food, nutrition and access to quality products. 

For more information:

Visit Food Day

Like Food Day on Facebook

Follow #FoodDay on Twitter

Video: 'Occupy Wallstreet Protesters' WON'T Go Away!

Video: 'Occupy Wallstreet Protesters' WON'T Go Away!

By: Ryan Duncan

If you've been following all the OccupyWallStreet news from around the country, you probably heard about NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg's failed attempts to "temporarily" move all the protesters in order for the park they've been occupying to be cleaned.

However, the Mayor backed down and protesters were allowed to stay, indefinitly. It seems as though political pressure forced the postponement of the cleanup.

When news broke that the protesters could stay, the crowds cheered for their victory:

Later, the growing crowds took their message to the streets, marching in victory down the streets of NYC...

 ...However, NYC police soon came under attack for instigating violent arrests and crackdowns...

...Even running over protesters with their motorcycles!

It's clear that the protests are going to continue, whether Mayor Bloomberg, or the Police like it or not. The protesters, who have been nicknamed "We are the 99%" refuse to back down and we wish them the best of luck in their fight for economic justice and political equality. 

Social Justice: Go Forth And Occupy

Go Forth And Occupy

By: Shannon Mouton

     @ShannonRenee



"Occupy____" seems to be popping up all over the United States and Canada, yes, our presumably docile neighbor to the north has awakened. 

• The original, OccupyWallStreet, is still going strong and OccupyDC doesn't seem to be ending any time soon.
• OccupyVancouver, OccupyToronto and OccupyWinnepeg are gearing up for the long haul. 
• There has been some police action in OccupyBoston and the potential for arrests in OccupySeattle and OccupyDallas. 
• OccupyPortland, OccupySeattle, OccupyLosAngeles and OccupySanFrancisco have the west coast covered.

And this is only a sampling of what is going on across the country.

Many are dismissive of the protesters, which is a shame because it completely misses the bigger picture: for the first time, in a very long time, people are trying to hold people accountable for their actions. So often, you go-along to get-along, let "them" fight the battle or simply ignore issues altogether. Americans literally can not afford to keep silent any longer.

This is WONDERFUL!

No one has to accept the status quo just because it is the status quo. History is filled with institutions and attitudes that were once the status quo, and they only changed when the collective voices of the people demanded or forced change. 

Whether or not you agree, or even understand, what the OccupyXXX in your area stands for, consider supporting your fellow Americans, who are using their voices, versus sitting quietly on the sidelines, letting someone else fight their battles.



PR Tips: Committed People Move a Message

Committed People Move a Message

By Nicole Hayes

For more than three weeks, Americans have witnessed a collective increase of committed people joining in a movement to highlight wealth inequality in the United States. “Occupy Wall Street,” which protests corporate tax avoidance and Wall Street bailouts,  started with angry New Yorkers and now people in cities across the country are ‘occupying’ this message. The 99% are telling the 1% “we’re not taking it anymore.” The movement has gained widespread participation, with ongoing demonstrations in Washington, DC as reported in this video clip. Organized demonstrations have been primarily driven by social media outreach. So far the demonstrations have been relatively peaceful and it’s hoped this continues. Will their message of “we’re not taking it anymore” bring about desired results?

A similar question was asked when a committed and hopeful people sought change and it happened: The resignation of longtime Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak—a decision fueled by millions of in-person and virtual protestors. These protests, though very violent, were the catalyst for giving the Egyptian people a chance at democracy and deciding their future. In this, and other instances (ex: Civil Rights Movement), committed people communicating the same powerful message can bring about change.  

Criminal Justice: The Prison Industrial Complex Hurts The Economy

The Prison Industrial Complex Hurts The Economy

By Llenda Jackson-Leslie

Lately, some surprising folks have been talking about what needs to change in the criminal justice system. There have been repeated calls for a national conversation. But at the moment, people are understandably preoccupied with the worst economic crisis since the Depression.

But criminal justice is not unrelated to the economy. Our nation’s prison industrial complex contributes in large and small ways to our overall economic decline. We pay a cost through incarcerating large numbers of men and growing numbers of women who could be a productive part of the economy, and making them basically unfit for anything other than prison or continued criminal pursuits. We pay for the toll their absence plays on families in poor communities and communities of color. And all of us suffer from the warped economic priorities that push states to direct more and of their scare resources to maintaining prisons, while starving education, human services, arts and infrastructure.

As people organize to speak truth to power whether on Wall Street  or at the nation’s capital, real criminal justice reform needs to be on the agenda.

A recent report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics featured on the Sentencing Project’s weekly electronic newsletter proves that when it comes to traffic stops, we’re not post-racial. Read more from the Sentencing Project, here.

Blacks Three Times as Likely as Whites to be Searched in Traffic Stops

The survey showed that African Americans were slightly more likely to face multiple contacts with police officers, but that blacks were about as likely to be pulled over in traffic stop as whites and Hispanics. However, when pulled over blacks were more likely than whites and Hispanics to be arrested, while both blacks and Hispanics were more likely to receive tickets than whites. Blacks were also more likely to have force used or threatened against them by police officers.”

“A special report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics has found that black drivers in 2008 were three times as likely to have their cars searched during traffic stops as whites. The study, which looked at contact between citizens and law enforcement, also found that traffic stops involving blacks were roughly twice as likely to result in a search as those involving Hispanics.

Former Harvard law professor William J. Stuntz says the American justice system is unraveling.

 

Justice System Unraveling

Still more so the African American portion of that prison population: for black males, a term in the nearest penitentiary has become an ordinary life experience, a horrifying truth that wasn’t true a mere generation ago. Ordinary life experiences are poor deterrents, one reason why massive levels of criminal punishment coexist with historically high levels of urban violence.

“Among the great untold stories of our time is this one: the last half of the twentieth century saw America’s criminal justice system unravel. Signs of the unraveling are everywhere. The nation’s record- shattering prison population has grown out of control.

Outside the South, most cities’ murder rates are a multiple of the rates in those same cities sixty years ago — notwithstanding a large drop in violent crime in the 1990s. Within cities, crime is low in safe neighborhoods but remains a huge problem in dangerous ones, and those dangerous neighborhoods are disproportionately poor and black. Last but not least, we have built a justice system that strikes many of its targets as wildly unjust. The feeling has some evidentiary support: criminal litigation regularly makes awful mistakes, as the frequent DNA-based exonerations of convicted defendants illustrate. Evidently, the criminal justice system is doing none of its jobs well: producing justice, avoiding discrimination, protecting those who most need the law’s protection, keeping crime in check while maintaining reasonable limits on criminal punishment.”

 

Read the whole article on Salon.com