Category Archives: food choices

the Economist writes about obesity

The Dec 15, 2012 issue of The Economist is devoted to obesity. Two of the articles on obesity are relevant to what’s on my mind today: one discussing policy approaches to obesity and the other with background information. The article … Continue reading

Posted in food availability, food choices, food policy | Leave a comment

decling childhood obesity?

Today’s NY Times reports that a RWJF policy brief reveals that at least four locations have reported declines in the percent of children obese (in some cases obese and overweight): Philadelphia, NYC, CA and Mississippi. I need to read the … Continue reading

Posted in Cities, food choices, food policy, public health | Leave a comment

eating fruits and vegetables makes you happy!

Scores of scholarly papers remind us that our physical health is related to the quality and quantity of our food intake. Government messages about produce consumption – think of “eating five a day” – encourage us to eat sufficient amounts … Continue reading

Posted in food choices, Food studies, nutrition and health | Leave a comment

regulation of soda size is worthwhile

The human health costs of obesity have been well established. But the failure to find a “cure” for obesity, for both individuals and society, reveals the complexity of the problem.  After all, each of us knows at least a few … Continue reading

Posted in food choices, food policy, NYC | 3 Comments

food environment & food choice conference

I spent the last few days listening to current research on how the food environment influences food choices; the conference was held at Tufts University, and was co-sponsored by the Agricultural & Applied Economics Association and the European Association of … Continue reading

Posted in food choices, food deserts | Leave a comment

more on the relative costs of healthy/unhealthy food – wonkish

I’ve had a chance to read the recent Economic Research Service report called “Are Healthy Foods Really More Expensive?”, written by Carlson and Frazao. The main finding of the research is that whether healthy foods are more expensive depends on … Continue reading

Posted in cost of food, food availability, food choices, nutrition and health | Leave a comment

is healthy food really more expensive? (wonkish)

Whew. Another semester is just about over (only 20 more papers to read!). But I am back! The Economic Research Service plans to release a report (later today, I think) on how to measure prices of healthy food, and I … Continue reading

Posted in food availability, food choices, food deserts | Leave a comment

teaching children to eat

The NY Times Motherlode blog has a fascinating posting about French parents and childhood obesity (or more aptly speaking, lack of obesity). The author (a professor at UBC) spends time with her family in both Vancouver and France, and thus … Continue reading

Posted in food choices, food culture, Food studies | Leave a comment

food stamp policy

One of my students (thanks Megan Moore!) sent me the link to this article, which discusses a bill currently in the Florida legislature that seeks to curb the ability of households to use their SNAP (or food stamp) benefits for … Continue reading

Posted in food availability, food choices, public health, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Investigating food access on the ground: dollars and cents

My Food Systems students just turned in their assignments on food access in New York City (ahem, I meant to say they turned the assignments in 2 weeks ago, and I am finally able to synthesize what they found). There … Continue reading

Posted in cost of food, food choices, food deserts, NYC | Tagged , | Leave a comment