Take a look at this morning's interview:
School Solutions with Kim Covington - CH 12 KPNX - Phoenix
Monday, August 9, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Food For Your Ears! Podcasts!
Believe it or not, I had never used an iPod prior to moving to Phoenix. Prior to moving here, I lived in a quiet, little neighborhood nestled in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I commuted to work on my bicycle. I LOVED commuting to work because it was my time to soak up the fresh air along the Charles river and watch the crews get in their morning workouts. Thinking about this makes me miss Boston...a lot!
Anyway, the point of this posting is not to reminisce about my life in beantown, but to highlight some of the new joys of commuting to work. It's hard to believe that the word "joy" and "commuting" can coexist in the same sentence, but I'm here to tell you that they do! I'll admit, I would have never gone out and bought an iPod myself. I enjoy listening to music but not so much that I need to have it plugged into my head 24-7 like most teenagers these days. My boyfriend realized I was next to losing my mind while enduring the 1-hour commute both ways to work upon re-locating to Arizona. As a loving gesture, the iPod was a gift that I half-heartedly accepted a few months after my move. I was thinking to myself, "men really are from mars!" A few months passed and I decided to rig the iPod to my car stereo (it was as easy as plugging it in) so that I could listen to my "tunes" while driving. I quickly got bored of my music and wanted to add some new music which is when I discovered iTunes and stumbled upon "podcasts."
Podcasts are basically audio broadcasts that you can download and listen to at your convenience. Now, you have to remember, the extent to my listening was in the car, so I was looking for stuff that was going to entertain me and keep me awake while driving. I wanted to use the hour as a productive time to "reset" my mood for the arrival home. I considered downloading a book or something but I have a relatively short attention span and a propensity for dozing while driving, so the search was on for something short and entertaining. A few of the first podcast discoveries are still my favorites -- NPR's "This American Life" and "The Moth." These are great podcasts that are along the lines of someone telling a story
...
As a Registered Dietitian, I quickly searched for podcasts that would help to keep me current on what's new in food, nutrition, health and otherwise. Here are a few that I listen to regularly:
Anyway, the point of this posting is not to reminisce about my life in beantown, but to highlight some of the new joys of commuting to work. It's hard to believe that the word "joy" and "commuting" can coexist in the same sentence, but I'm here to tell you that they do! I'll admit, I would have never gone out and bought an iPod myself. I enjoy listening to music but not so much that I need to have it plugged into my head 24-7 like most teenagers these days. My boyfriend realized I was next to losing my mind while enduring the 1-hour commute both ways to work upon re-locating to Arizona. As a loving gesture, the iPod was a gift that I half-heartedly accepted a few months after my move. I was thinking to myself, "men really are from mars!" A few months passed and I decided to rig the iPod to my car stereo (it was as easy as plugging it in) so that I could listen to my "tunes" while driving. I quickly got bored of my music and wanted to add some new music which is when I discovered iTunes and stumbled upon "podcasts."
Podcasts are basically audio broadcasts that you can download and listen to at your convenience. Now, you have to remember, the extent to my listening was in the car, so I was looking for stuff that was going to entertain me and keep me awake while driving. I wanted to use the hour as a productive time to "reset" my mood for the arrival home. I considered downloading a book or something but I have a relatively short attention span and a propensity for dozing while driving, so the search was on for something short and entertaining. A few of the first podcast discoveries are still my favorites -- NPR's "This American Life" and "The Moth." These are great podcasts that are along the lines of someone telling a story
...As a Registered Dietitian, I quickly searched for podcasts that would help to keep me current on what's new in food, nutrition, health and otherwise. Here are a few that I listen to regularly:
- The Ingles Information Aisle: Supermarket Dietitian, Leah McGrath is the dietitian for Ingles Markets based in Asheville, North Carolina with stores in Georgia, North and South Carolina(s), and Tennessee. Each month, Leah has a discussion with an expert on food, diet, nutrition or health. She keeps it interesting by inviting popular guests to talk on the show. Most recently she had an interview with Lisa Lillien, a.k.a "Hungry-Girl." Among other guests, she's had Dr. Diana Fleming from the "Full Plate Diet" and Nancy Piho, the author of "My Two Year Old Eats Octopus."
- Food Sleuth (89.5 KOPN in Missouri): Melinda Hemmelgarn is the Registered Dietitian host for this show that is chock-full of useful information. She regularly hosts interviews with the nation's leading experts on food, agriculture, and health. Guests have included: Phil Lempert, a.k.a "The Supermarket Guru," Diane Welland, RD, "The Complete Idiots Guide to Eating Clean and more.
- The Meal Makeover Moms, "Cooking with the Moms Podcast": Janice Newell Bissex and Liz Weiss are registered dietitians and the Meal Makeover Moms. They provide a weekly 30-minute show that provides helpful mealtime tips, kitchen creations and cooking insights to help any Mom feed healthy & fun meals that kids will actually eat!
- KCRW's Good Food: Join Evan Kleinman each week to hear about the Santa Monica's farmer's market report (what's in season?), hear about current events happening "in" food and get down & dirty with the politics and issues around eating.
- APM's The Splendid Table: American Public Media (APM) offers a variety of great podcasts, this is just one about food. Hosted by Lynne Rossetto Kasper, this is a broadcasts that celebrates food, culture and different food personalities (authors, chefs, etc.)
- Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity: You can hear lectures from leading experts on health, medicine, nutrition and obesity speak at Yale -- without having to travel to Connecticut!
- Cornell University - Cornellcast (*iTunes U): Search on iTunes but these will not be in the "podcast" section but rather a different section, entitled "iTunes U." CornellCast has a bunch of recent videos and recordings of compelling lectures, discussions on a variety of topics. Listen to Dr. Brian Wansink discuss "Mindless Eating" or listen to Chef Nutritionist, Ellie Krieger talk about her experiences as the award-winning Food Network personality.
- Food Policy: A World of Possibilities (*iTunes U): Listen in on experts speak on current issues facing food and our environment. This podcasts even downloads with study guides!
There are many, many more great things to listen and learn about on your iPod. So maybe men really AREN'T from mars after all! This was one of the BEST gifts that I've ever received (next to the Barbie Dream House, of course -- Christmas circa 1980). I'm even considering giving my Mom an iPod for her birthday this year...but I'm not sure I'll be able to handle the cross-continental, virtual instruction on this one!
Feel free to share me your favorites. These are just a few that I've discovered recently. Enjoy more than music to your ears!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Food Company Sponsorships - American Dietetic Association Partners with Hersheys
Recently the American Dietetic Association (ADA) announced a partnership with Hershey's Center for Health & Nutrition (yes the candy folks). As a dietitian and member of ADA, I belong to a few Dietetic Practice Groups. These are sub-groups of the ADA that focus on specific issues dietitians are interested in. So, I belong to the Food and Culinary Professionals (FCP) DPG and the Hunger & Environmental (HEN) DPG...among others. You can visit the ADA's website to read more about what these DPGs are about the American Dietetic Association's website.
The FCP DPG has many dietitians that work in the food industry in many different capacities...as supermarket RDs (like me), chefs for restaurants or food companies, public relations professionals, etc. Anyway, there wasn't much of a peep on the FCP listserv when this announcement (press release) came out on July 19th, however the HEN listserv was going bonkers with dietitians outraged at the idea that ADA would partner with Hershey's.
Now, I've never been one to sell my soul to the devil and I can honestly say that working hand-in-hand with corporate food-America has actually broadened my perspective and flexed my intellectual muscles in regards to what my ethical responsibilities are as a dietitian. Here, I will say it - I am not against ADA obtaining corporate sponsorships with Coca Cola or PepsiCo or even Hershey's. I do think there are boundaries and guidelines to be established. I'll admit, I don't know what they are currently for ADA, but as a dietitian who has been on both sides of the table (sort of speak), it might be helpful for you to hear the perspective of a dietitian that works closely with the industry.
In my opinion, it is easy to sit on a soap box and profess disgust with a health organization accepting money for sponsorship(s), however, I also strongly believe that it is absolutely necessary for dietitians to work with industry to improve the health of Americans. It sure is easy to get persuaded by money, but it also takes a lot of guts, thoughts and energy to find ways to create win-wins. There is no easy solution here nor is there one-way to do things - I don't think all of the dietitians
in opposition of corporate sponsorship really understand what that means for the American Dietetic Association.... corporate sponsorships are NOT just about defraying costs (that is a nice PERK which makes our conferences, dues and other ADA events more affordable)...there is a BIGGER picture here. Working together with multi-billion dollar industries like Hershey's, Coca-Cola, Kraft (et al.) offers a world of opportunities...
+ Many of these corporations fund research or have their own research
institutions; influence development of new products with research
findings; leverage research relationship to uncover other information
not related to the promotion of a particular product but rather gain
valuable insights I the areas of shopper behavior, taste preferences,
nutrition knowledge.
+ Corporate America has extremely strong relationships with the media
and could help set the record straight on health information, etc.
+ Companies love tax write-offs...great $ to fund dietetic scholarships,
education, nutrition education projects, etc.
+ There are many other benefits that I'm sure I missed! There are also challenges in these sort of corporate sponsorships but that is why we have educated minds to identify and set boundaries so that they are transparent relationships that ultimately benefit the consumer (or eaters!)
I think the instinctual (egoic) gut reaction is to blame ADA for "selling their soul for money," but more importantly, as dietitians, we need to find more ways to join forces with the food industry to change the eating environment (and choices) to improve what is on everyones plate. I'm not going to poke fun at ADA or criticize -- I'm going to provide some insight, thoughts and solutions. Sure, these "sponsorships" can send a confusing message to the public but it's up to us to set the record straight. Are you up to the challenge Jane Doe Dietitian?!
I'd love to hear your thoughts....Some wise man once said, "smooth seas never made a skilled mariner"...
Thanks for listening.
The FCP DPG has many dietitians that work in the food industry in many different capacities...as supermarket RDs (like me), chefs for restaurants or food companies, public relations professionals, etc. Anyway, there wasn't much of a peep on the FCP listserv when this announcement (press release) came out on July 19th, however the HEN listserv was going bonkers with dietitians outraged at the idea that ADA would partner with Hershey's.
Now, I've never been one to sell my soul to the devil and I can honestly say that working hand-in-hand with corporate food-America has actually broadened my perspective and flexed my intellectual muscles in regards to what my ethical responsibilities are as a dietitian. Here, I will say it - I am not against ADA obtaining corporate sponsorships with Coca Cola or PepsiCo or even Hershey's. I do think there are boundaries and guidelines to be established. I'll admit, I don't know what they are currently for ADA, but as a dietitian who has been on both sides of the table (sort of speak), it might be helpful for you to hear the perspective of a dietitian that works closely with the industry.
In my opinion, it is easy to sit on a soap box and profess disgust with a health organization accepting money for sponsorship(s), however, I also strongly believe that it is absolutely necessary for dietitians to work with industry to improve the health of Americans. It sure is easy to get persuaded by money, but it also takes a lot of guts, thoughts and energy to find ways to create win-wins. There is no easy solution here nor is there one-way to do things - I don't think all of the dietitians
in opposition of corporate sponsorship really understand what that means for the American Dietetic Association.... corporate sponsorships are NOT just about defraying costs (that is a nice PERK which makes our conferences, dues and other ADA events more affordable)...there is a BIGGER picture here. Working together with multi-billion dollar industries like Hershey's, Coca-Cola, Kraft (et al.) offers a world of opportunities...
+ Many of these corporations fund research or have their own research
institutions; influence development of new products with research
findings; leverage research relationship to uncover other information
not related to the promotion of a particular product but rather gain
valuable insights I the areas of shopper behavior, taste preferences,
nutrition knowledge.
+ Corporate America has extremely strong relationships with the media
and could help set the record straight on health information, etc.
+ Companies love tax write-offs...great $ to fund dietetic scholarships,
education, nutrition education projects, etc.
+ There are many other benefits that I'm sure I missed! There are also challenges in these sort of corporate sponsorships but that is why we have educated minds to identify and set boundaries so that they are transparent relationships that ultimately benefit the consumer (or eaters!)
I think the instinctual (egoic) gut reaction is to blame ADA for "selling their soul for money," but more importantly, as dietitians, we need to find more ways to join forces with the food industry to change the eating environment (and choices) to improve what is on everyones plate. I'm not going to poke fun at ADA or criticize -- I'm going to provide some insight, thoughts and solutions. Sure, these "sponsorships" can send a confusing message to the public but it's up to us to set the record straight. Are you up to the challenge Jane Doe Dietitian?!
I'd love to hear your thoughts....Some wise man once said, "smooth seas never made a skilled mariner"...
Thanks for listening.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)