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Showing posts from August, 2014

Good Food vs Bad Food: Getting Nutrition Education in Schools

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Many people today advocate for better nutrition options in our communities. Films, books , organizations, even a national Food Day , all describe the problem of obesity and diabetes caused by poor diets. The food bank where I work has a Nutrition Education department that teaches hundreds of adults and kids each year about affordable and healthy food. And advocates do not shy away from pointing out that food purveyors like McDonalds promote "bad food," so much that people are influenced by the message and don't pursue healthy diets. It's clear that "good food" advocates are fighting an uphill battle as fast food operators spend millions of dollars to market their food. The attraction to unhealthy food is especially acute among school-age children, so it's a good thing that an organization like Food Day is promoting a message to kids about good food and diets, even if for a single day. Food Day is "a nationwide celebration and a movement for heal

Take Action - Mixing Hollywood Marketing with Bad Food

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Bringing up two girls and navigating the blanket marketing to kids -- especially movies -- meant we not only sat through countless Disney movies, but also bought a slew of knock-off toys. I'm sure we "invested" at least $200 in Beauty and the Beast -- toy tent castle, VHD videotape, books, and occasionally an unhealthy "Happy Meal" from McDonalds for the toy. And movie production companies like DreamWorks and Topps continue to market useless toys and food that increases obesity in kids. Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is calling out the two companies for this practice.  If you agree with CSPI, then  take a minute to send a message to DreamWorks and Topps to ask them to stop marketing junk food to kids.   

Comcast addresses digital divide with update to "Internet Essentials"

Comcast announced a low-cost Internet option as mentioned in today's Washington Post. "Under a back-to-school promotion running from now until Sept. 20, new Internet Essentials subscribers will get six months of free Internet access. In addition, those who were previously Comcast customers but were barred from signing up for Internet Essentials because they owed the company money for other services will now be able to subscribe to Internet Essentials — provided that their outstanding bill is more than a year old." Link to the full article -  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/08/04/comcast-is-expanding-its-10-a-month-internet-program-for-the-poor/?tid=HP_technology