Having a garden at school might influence whether vegetables are available to children at home, a forthcoming study in Preventive Medicine finds.
Author Michael Pollan discussed the Farm Bill’s far-reaching impact on the U.S. food system and the environment, how journalists can better cover food policy, and more during a visit to Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media Politics and Public Policy. Below are the highlights:
Policymakers pay a lot of attention to the meals served in public schools. In the midst of a nationwide childhood obesity epidemic, lawmakers are working to improve the nutritional value of foods and beverages served on campus. Some research suggests healthier lunches lead to higher test scores and that many kids rely on school meals as their main source of food.
Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel The Jungle described unhygienic practices that were common across the U.S. meat industry. The public outcry following its publication spurred some of the nation’s first food safety legislation. More than a century later, the United States has made considerable progress on food safety, but foodborne illness remains a serious public health problem.
Update: The USDA’s “Cost of Raising a Child” report has been released for 2011.
Americans’ diets are as varied as Americans themselves — from classic meat-and-potatoes to veganism, from the “caveman” regime to fast food in all its cholesterol-charged glory.
