| County food stamp cases lag behind state growth
While the number of food stamp caseloads statewide has increased 41 percent in the past five years, Athens County has seen slightly more than half that growth. In that time, food stamp caseloads in the county increased 26 percent, an average 5 percent increase from year to year. According to the 2006 poverty report released by the Athens County Job and Family Services, an average of 7,477 people, making up 3,630 households, received monthly food stamp benefits in Athens County during the 2005-06 fiscal year, ending June 30. Statewide, an average 1.1 million individuals representing about 500,000 families participated in the monthly food stamp program. Tracy Galway, community relations coordinator for Athens County Job and Family Services, said she considered the five-year increase on par with the growth of the program, adding that the number of food stamp recipients usually varies from month to month.
New Web Site Features Iowa Food Stories
Iowa Arts Council Folklife Coordinator Riki Saltzman has developed a web site about place-based Iowa foods – highly differentiated food products with strong ties to where and how they are grown or processed. You can visit this unique site, which includes audio, photographs, and downloadable documents, at www.iowaartscouncil.org/programs/folk-and-traditional-arts/place_based_foods/index.htm. "Place-based foods have a unique taste that often has to do with an ecological niche and/or the ethnic or regional heritage of their producers," says Saltzman. "These are the foods that we seek out to eat locally when we visit a particular place, purchase as souvenirs or gifts, or hunt down in specialty shops. Food is not just about sustenance. We want foods that have a story." Saltzman developed the web site with the support of a $10,000 grant from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, which also funded her initial research, the Iowa Foodways Project: Taste of Place.
PACKAGE DEALS Package deals: Cooking en papillote 1 2 3
Cooking en papillote, a grown-up version of campfire foil meals, is guaranteed to bring a little drama to your next dinner party. In this traditional French technique, fish or meat and vegetables are wrapped in individual parchment paper packets and baked. The paper holds in the heat, gently steaming the food in its own juices. At the table each guest is served a neatly gift-wrapped dinner hot from the oven. As the slightly browned, puffed packages are slit open, steam pours out in a whoosh, filling the air with fragrant aromas as the meal within is revealed. "It's a very fun way to cook," says Phyllis Brock, a Master Food Volunteer in Johnson County. "It looks very pretty and impressive — perfect for a party." Actually, parchment paper packets are a hostess's dream.
Cheap food is often the least health option
Getting more food for less money may be appealing to students, but health experts say portions at fast food restaurants have been getting larger since the 1970s and are contributing to America's obesity epidemic. The food often contains high amounts of calories, sodium and fat.
Although fast food chains like McDonald's have phased out their super-sized portions, health experts say fast food portions are still too large.
One out of four Americans eats fast food every day for convenience and price, according to the nonprofit group Helpguide.
Becoming a nation that eats out more and more poses serious health risks because a single burger can come close to, or even exceed, a day's worth of calories and fat.
Government food guidelines released two years ago recommend that people keep their total daily fat intake between 20 and 35 percent of calorie intake.
The Monarch vs. Mayor McCheese: Prince Charles Denounces McDonald's
Prince Charles' comment occurred during the launch of a public health awareness campaign at the Imperial College London Nutrition Centre in Abu Dhabi, aimed at increasing awareness of diabetes. At this event, children were tested on which foods to put in their lunches; the "good" foods (vegetables and water) or the "bad" foods (chocolate and chips). Under the watchful eyes of the Prince and the Centre's nutritionist, the kids packed the vegetables and water. Charles was delighted. Encouraging increased consumption of fruits and vegetables is certainly a good thing, but suggesting the ban of a certain type of restaurant and labeling foods as either "good" or "bad" is taking a far too simplistic approach to preventing obesity. The key is a balanced, varied diet with adequate exercise. There is room for chocolate and even a McDonald’s hamburger, as long as it's in moderation.McDonald's is a large corporation that makes cheap, popular, and often calorically dense food. It is easy to see why it would be the target of politicians, activists, and now, royals who are concerned about increasing rates of obesity. What many fail to recognize is the fact that overweight and obesity are the result of consuming more calories than are expended over a period of time. These calories can come from food of any source, be it McDonald's, a five star restaurant, or your very own kitchen. (See also: "A Slow Burn on Fast Food.")Restaurants are being held accountable for consumers' health on this side of the pond, too. Restaurants in New York City will have to find an alternative to cooking their food with trans fats. The health implications of consuming trans fats have been greatly exaggerated and are another example of employing a seemingly simple solution to a very complex problem, at the expense of restaurants and consumers. See our publication on trans fats. Of course, trans fats' effects on cholesterol should not be confused with calories and obesity, as they have been by some advocates.Obesity is not just a problem in the United States, where 64% of adults are overweight and 30% are obese. The obesity rate in the United Kingdom is not far behind and rates are increasing globally as well. Prince Charles and others have good reason to be concerned. However, pointing the finger at fast food and ignoring all other factors that contribute to obesity, including lack of adequate exercise, is a disservice to the many who are trying to lose weight and improve their health. Again, the key is moderation. Hopefully, those kids in Abu Dhabi will continue to choose vegetables for lunch well into adulthood (even without the Prince watching), but a chocolate bar or a Big Mac as a treat every now and then won't hurt.Molly Lee is the Earhart Foundation Research Associate at the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH.org, HealthFactsAndFears.com).
Pregnancy diet could affect baby's allergies
German researchers are claiming that the food a woman eats while she is pregnant could impact on whether or not her child develops allergies to food when they grow up.Dr Joachim Heinrich led a team from the GSF-Institute of Epidemiology in Neuherberg, Germany in the analysis of expectant mothers' diets during the last four weeks of pregnancy before comparing them to the allergies and eczema the offspring developed at two-years-old, reports Reuters.Overall, 17.7% of all children had doctor-diagnosed eczema at the age of two. A total of 9.3% were sensitised to food allergens - most commonly milk and eggs - and 4.8% were sensitised to inhaled allergens.The researchers concluded that according to their studies of the mother's diet prior to giving birth, high maternal intakes of margarine and vegetable oils during the last four weeks of pregnancy correlated with a number of offspring who suffered from eczema.Similarly, eating a lot of fish prior to birth appeared to provide some sort of protection against the development of eczema, while mums who eat a large amount of citrus fruits and celery often gave birth to kids with increased risk of being allergic to certain foods.Air-borne allergies were also found to be more common in the offspring whose mothers had indulged in a lot of deep-frying vegetable fat, raw sweet peppers and citrus fruits during the last month of pregnancy.The researchers have called for further testing to be done and stress that these results alone are not enough to dictate what a woman should and should not eat.Discuss this news item in our forums
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