Archive: Jan 2001

Parents Not Responsible

Television advertising from fast food restaurants takes much of the blame for children's poor diets in a new study in this month's medical journal Pediatrics. Instead of holding parents responsible for what their children eat, the researchers say, "[T]hese kids see a lot of ads for fast foods and convenience foods. And that's what they end up eating."
PostedJanuary 31, 2001 at12:00 am

Pretentious Nannies? You Bet

The London Times joins us in making fun of the pretentiousness of many anti-choice nannies, this time taking aim at Stoneyfield Farm's advertising for its organic yogurt.
PostedJanuary 31, 2001 at12:00 am

Bottoms Up

The Chicago Tribune's Bob Condor rejoices the fact that coffee, in the words of Dr. Ronald Krauss of the American Heart Association, "is one of the few things that people enjoy that most experts have not taken away from a recommended healthy diet." What Condor and Krauss don't seem to know is that there is a nanny campaign underway to denormalize caffeine consumption.
PostedJanuary 31, 2001 at12:00 am

Cheap Way To Advertise

Natural health food industry representative Michelle Cook bashes every food choice except organic foods and vegetables in a self-serving column in today's Ottawa Citizen. Writing a guest column disparaging your competition is much cheaper than paying for a placed advertisement. ("Fast food, faster fatigue," The Ottawa Citizen, 1/30/01)
PostedJanuary 31, 2001 at12:00 am

It’s A Mad, Mad World

USA Today examines the prospect of mad cow disease showing up in the United States. The story features a good deal of unwarranted scary rhetoric from Consumers Union's Michael Hansen, a leading opponent of agribusiness.
PostedJanuary 29, 2001 at12:00 am

Eliminating Hunger With Biotechnology

George McGovern, the U.S. delegate to the United Nations agencies on food and agriculture, pleaded with President Bush earlier this week to support the U.N. plan for ending hunger. One of the centerpieces of the plan is the global distribution of genetically improved foods. As McGovern (a big Consumer Freedom supporter) says, "The scientific, biotechnical improvements in both the quality and quantity of foods is a major breakthrough. It must not be stymied by voices raised against the hypothetical, while real disease and starvation threaten millions of people."
PostedJanuary 26, 2001 at12:00 am

How Many People Really Die From Obesity

Talking about his new book, "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal," Eric Schlosser recently tossed out the overused claim that "the cost of obesity is…
PostedJanuary 26, 2001 at12:00 am

A Voice Of Reason?

We were stunned to find the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s (CSPI) Michael Jacobson taking fellow nannies to task for opposing genetically improved foods in today’s Wall Street…
PostedJanuary 25, 2001 at12:00 am

Blame It On The Nannies

The Denver Post asks: "Has this generation gone safety insane? Has our dogged quest for healthy foods, secure homes and happy streets finally gone beyond the bounds of normal caution and delivered us into a well-padded world of ultra-vigilant, bottled-water chugging neurotics who change their diets every time a lab rat dies from sipping too much Tab?" If so, blame it on the nannies.
PostedJanuary 25, 2001 at12:00 am

Nanny Dreaming

Want to know what the nannies are really after? Check out this statement from the Organic Consumers’ Association monthly newsletter: “America and the world’s 50-year experiment with chemical-intensive…
PostedJanuary 24, 2001 at12:00 am