CECHE
Center for Communications, Health and the Environment
Fall 2012 Vol. 7, Issue 1
National & Global Movements Target Diets, Food Safety

Food Day Aims to Improve Diets, Strengthen Healthy Food Movement
by
Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D., Executive Director and Food Day Founder, Center for Science in the Public Interest, Washington, D.C.

What we eat should bolster health, but the contemporary American diet is actually contributing to several hundred thousand premature deaths from heart attack, stroke, diabetes and cancer each year.  What’s more, the way food is produced is often harmful to the environment, food and farm workers, and farm animals.  Meanwhile, public health and nutrition programs are under attack in Washington, and federal subsidies favor Big Agriculture over smaller conventional and organic operations. 

Enter Food Day, America’s celebration of and movement toward more healthy, affordable and sustainable food.  National Food Day aims for nothing less than to transform the U.S. diet and improve the way food production impacts the planet and those on it. 

Modeled on Earth Day, Food Day is powered by a diverse coalition of food movement leaders and individuals who hold events every October 24 to educate, raise awareness and mobilize constituencies to improve food policies.  It was created and is spearheaded by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a consumer advocacy group that conducts innovative health and nutrition research and advocacy programs, and provides consumers with up-to-date and useful information about health and well-being.

[See Full Lead Article]

 

Eat Safe: Sweeping Policy Reforms, Surveillance and New Strategies Combat Global Outbreaks of Foodborne Illness

Once upon a time – within the last century, as a matter of fact – people grew their own food or got it directly from someone they knew. Populations ate locally; and foodborne illnesses and outbreaks were limited and contained.

Today, this close relationship with our most critical consumable is practically defunct.  Food production is an international business, powered by multi-national corporations and peppered with products from faraway lands.  Populations eat globally – shrimp from Vietnam, kiwis from New Zealand, papayas from Mexico – and foodborne outbreaks and illnesses (generally defined as infectious or toxic diseases caused by agents entering the body through the ingestion of food) are widespread and rampant.

Legislation is critical for food safety and defense, but it’s not enough. Many countries, companies and organizations realize this and are actively addressing the challenges and public health issues generated by today’s complex consumption environment. 

[See Full Spotlight Article]

 
Copyright © 2012 Center for Communications, Health and the Environment (CECHE)
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