It’s possible that America’s biggest threat isn’t terrorism, economy woes or public health care. Instead, our most real threat is an epidemic spreading through the nation’s youth, childhood obesity. It’s estimated that one in five children are obese, marking the first time in recent years that children have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.
It’s commonplace for first ladies to find a public health issue to address. Nancy Reagan and her campaign on drug use is a great example of this. Currently, Michelle Obama is aggressively settting her sights on childhood obesity with her campaign named “Let’s Move.” Obama has set an ambitious goal of eliminating childhood obesity within a generation. 
Currently, in our nation, one in three children are at risk of becoming obese. Not to mention that the percent of obese children has tripled in the past 30 years. Our nation also spends a staggering $150 billion each year on treating obesity related diseases.
Obama is striking childhood obesity from various angles including; giving parents support to influence their children’s lifestyles, healthier nutrition choices in schools, getting children more active and making healthy food more accessible. Obama has a comprehensive wealth of information on how to stop or deter obesity in children. The site tackles 4 major aspects of healthy living; healthy choices, healthier schools, physical activity and accessible and affordable food.
The first ladies’ site comes complete with a plethora of social media outlets including; blogs, youtube, facebook and PSA videos. Let’s move even has a section that is devoted to informing children about living healthy. Complete with downloadable books, planners and videos. Let’s move has also teamed up with the NFL’s Play 60 campain. Play 60 is aimed at getting children to play for at least an hour everyday, in an effort to fight childhood obesity.
Go to letsmove.gov to view the first ladies’ campaign first hand.
Thanksgiving shouldn’t be the only day you eat sweet potatoes, add this nutrient rich vegetable to your diet for a sweet surprise during the colder months. A distant relative of the potato, sweet potatoes pack tons of vitamins and minerals to help meet or exceed your daily recommended value of nutrients, with as little as a single 4-ounce potato.
A single serving of sweet potato (approx. 1/2 cup), contains a myriad of health boosting vitamins such as 390% daily value (DV) of vitamin A, 40% DV of vitamin C, 18% DV of fiber and 13% DV of potassium, not to mention containing significant amounts of iron, magnesium, beta carotene and lutein.
Sweet potatoes are a great starch component to use when the weather is cold and frightful, because their peak growing season is from fall through winter. Aside from their great health benefits, choose sweet potatoes over their regular spud brethren to add new color and taste to your meals. When shopping for sweet potatoes look for taut papery skins, as well as uniform size, shape and color. While the intensity of orange in sweet potatoes varies by type, look for a deeper color, for that indicates more beneficial carotenoids.
Unsure of how to cook, prepare or season sweet potatoes? Here’s a simply sweet, and healthy twist on a baked potato.
Sweet Potatoes with Warm Black Bean Salad
- 4 medium sweet potatoes
- 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Preparation
- Prick sweet potatoes with a fork in several places. Microwave on High until tender all the way to the center, 12 to 15 minutes. (Alternatively, place in a baking dish and bake at 425 degrees F until tender all the way to the center, about 1 hour.)
- Meanwhile, in a medium microwaveable bowl, combine beans, tomatoes, oil, cumin, coriander and salt; microwave on High until just heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. (Alternatively, heat in a small saucepan over medium heat.)
- When just cool enough to handle, slash each sweet potato lengthwise, press open to make a well in the center and spoon the bean mixture into the well. Top each with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cilantro.
For more information on sweet potatoes and several satisfying recipes visit:
http://www.eatingwell.com/healthy_cooking/healthy_food_guide/sweet_potatoes
Every year the American Restaurant Association publishes a report recognizing the 20 most popular trends for the upcoming year. This report is important because it documents the biggest culinary concerns for both chefs and the american public. For 2010 America has spoken and the most pressing trend is the availability of local and sustainable foods.
Locally grown and sustainable food is a recent trend to much of the American public. However, it’s a topic that is becoming increasingly more important, and this is marked by the fact that four of the top five trends tackle this topic. There are many reasons to eat locally grown foods, beyond supporting local businesses, food grown locally is often fresher, better tasting, more vibrant and healthier.
Sustainability has quickly become the unofficial trend for our times, and for good reason. You may be asking yourself, “what exactly are sustainable foods?” As defined by the sustainabletable.org “sustainable agriculture is a way of raising food that is healthy for consumers and animals, does not harm the environment, is humane for workers, respects animals, provides a fair wage to the farmer, and supports and enhances rural communities.” One of the most important sustainable food items is fish. We are overfishing our waters, placing many species at risk of extinction. Examples of species include Chilean sea bass, atlantic salmon and monkfish, to name a few. Tilapia, Pacific halibut and Pacific cod are great examples of safe sustainable fish.
Here are the top five trends in order: locally grown produce; locally sourced meats and seafood; sustainability as a culinary theme; mini-desserts; and locally produced wine and beer.
Other food trends include: nutritionally balanced children’s dishes, gluten free/food allergy conscious, super fruits (i.e. acai, goji berry and mangosteen), organic produce and regional ethnic cuisine, to name a few.
For more information on the Top 20 food trends visit: http://www.restaurant.org/pdfs/research/whats_hot_2010.pdf
For sustainable agriculture information: sustainabletable.org
Information regarding sustainable fishing practices: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.aspx
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