What do you get when you combine the forces of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Dairy Council (NDC) and the National Football League (NFL)? A powerhouse team of knowledge, muscles and nutrition.
On September 17, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the USDA will partner with the NDC and the NFL on their new youth-led health and wellness program, Fuel Up to Play 60. The program, launching to more than 60,000 schools nationwide this fall, will empower youth to take charge of their own health by being more active and eating healthier foods as well as improve the overall health of their school environment and community.
The program is open to all children and participation is quite simple:
More and more products are coming out touting that they are less harmful to the environment or are earthy friendly, but in order to use this type of labeling the product must be manufactured with minimal energy and packaging should be made of recycled materials (think the paper grocery bags at Whole Foods supermarkets). Not all manufacturers follow the full guidelines that entitle this “green” messaging, so by referencing the logos listed below you can ensure that the products and produce you purchase are in fact “green”:
For products to use the USDA labeling it must contain at least 95% organic ingredients that have not had any chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides or genetically modified organisms used.
You read the ingredient list and looked at the nutrition label, but you’re still uncertain as to how healthy that box of granola is that you just tossed in your grocery cart. Well, wonder no more.
Developed by two doctors, Drs. Adam Drewnowski and Victor Fulgoni, the Nutrient Rich Foods (NRF) Index is a validated, objective, and consumer-driven guide that ranks foods according to how nutrient-rich they are. Using the USDA Healthy Eating Index as a base, this new NRF Index takes into account all of the nutrients a given food contains, not just the ones to avoid or limit, like fat, sodium or sugar grams.
In a June blog article written by Heather Ashare, our Yoga expert and daily contributor to DietsinReview.com, she wrote about Food Inc., a film that took a hard look at food production and consumption in the U.S. I wanted to share some interesting facts I learned from seeing the movie in no particular order, but all equally astounding to me:
- On average our food travels 1,500 miles from the farm to our plate
- Because of the long distances that food travels, we no longer eat with the seasons and therefore eat produce that does not provide our bodies with all their nutritional benefits
- Grocery stores now boast over 47,000 products to choose from – most of which can sit on shelves for weeks or even months
Vice President Joe Biden is known for his verbal gaffes. But this time, he’s spot on – it’s tough enough to afford food in these uncertain economic times, people should not have to worry about the safety of that food.
Biden co-chairs the Food Safety Working Group along with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The theme will be contamination prevention.
“The focus is to have a completely different emphasis than we’ve had in the past,” Biden said. “We’re going to make our new priority preventing (food contamination) from happening in the first place.”
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