Comments on: Michelle Obama's Health Campaign

By: Lainie

Lainie — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:37:45 +0000

Michelle Obama isn't cautious about pointing the finger at government because she is afraid of being branded a socialist. It is because she knows her husband's administration will never stand up to big agri-business and stop subsidizing junk food.

By: don thomas

don thomas — Mon, 24 May 2010 19:03:34 +0000

Your article is so intellegently written! I am a very young 50 year old grandfather of seven, and I am concerned for their future health. We really have a serious problem with ethics in our nation,when our justice department protects injustices . I beleive it is because everything is tradable in the U.S., and true patriotism has been sold. It seems like all of our trust and values are in the dollar god!

By: Links for March 19th | jonathan stegall: creative tension

Links for March 19th | jonathan stegall: creative tension — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:10:52 +0000

[...] Michelle Obama’s Health Campaign | onehandclapping [...]

By: David Henson

David Henson — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:07:50 +0000

Damn. This is excellent.

By: Julie Clawson

Julie Clawson — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:18:37 +0000

It's crazy, and those diet foods are the worst. They are marketed to vulnerable people and end up making things worse for them as they make money off of them. My daughter's private preschool has a very "rules" – like no chips, cookies, or chocolate in lunches, but I've also realized how hard it is to pack healthy stuff when it has to fit in a lunch box. And of course after I wrote this I went and heated up leftover corned beef and cabbage from St. Pattys day for dinner

By: robyn

robyn — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 05:10:21 +0000

our school just set a new requirement that snacks that get sent in are "healthy". and by the list, they are still barely "healthful".

even still, the conservative talk show hosts ate us alive calling us "idiots"– our whole community! just faceless idiots we are to suggest that children deserve healthy food at snack time. lunchtime, mind you, is still up for grabs.

but as i've heard, it's a "slippery slope" to full-on socialism and communism.

you know, first you replace flaming hot doritos with apples, and before you know it, people are standing in line for bread.

(P.S. a lot of the kids in our district can't afford bread.)

By: sonja

sonja — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 01:39:10 +0000

As soon as I read your opening paragraph, I thought, "Well, of course, the government can do something. They have to stop subsidizing corn, sugar, etc and get out the meat industry and … etc." All the points you so eloquently made. Very nicely done, Julie. In the end, it's going to take a joint effort by private choices and public venture to actually step AWAY from socialism … which is what some of those subsidies are and those no-libel laws are … to end obesity in this country.

On a side note that is pertinent to this … my husband and I joined Weight Watchers late last year and have been (re)learning how to eat normal portion sizes, etc. We have a great meeting leader who we really resonate with. However, he took a vacation for a few weeks and we had a substitute for those two weeks. What a horror. The woman kept pushing diet foods for snacks … you know the stuff? All the substitute food that is low calorie, but not real food in the processed food part of the grocery store. A lot of those foods have replaced the fat with sugars … which end up making you crave sugar and … yep, fat.

There it is again … that real food vs. processed food battle. It's so difficult even for well-educated and informed customers to find their way through a grocery store to the good stuff, and for people who struggle with any kind of reading disorder? Learning issues? Can you imagine trying to get through a grocery store??? It's sick …

By: Katherine

Katherine — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:26:51 +0000

Great column. I'm fascinated by the way social, economic and political factors make eating well easier or harder, and many of them are quite hidden. The diagrams are a real eye-opener – where did they come from?