Archives for the 'nutrition' tag
Calorie counts come to Oregon
“To better understand this movement against fast foods, one has to appreciate first of all that many individuals do not like fat persons.” — Gary Becker
A calorie count mandate may be coming to Oregon. Newly introduced legislation would require all restaurants operating in Oregon that have more than 10 locations nationwide to publish calorie information on their menus. Multnomah County, which contains Portland, already has similar rules going into effect on March 15, so the impact will be somewhat mitigated by the fact that many of these restaurants will already be forced to comply. Nonetheless, there are many reasons to oppose this bill.
Continue reading this post »
What Next … Mandatory Aerobics During Recess?
Students are now forced to become more creative to raise money and awareness for their causes at school:
The old-fashioned school bake sale, once as American as apple pie, is fast becoming obsolete in California, a result of strict new state nutrition standards for public schools that regulate the types of food that can be sold to students. The guidelines were passed by lawmakers in 2005 and took effect in July 2007. They require that snacks sold during the school day contain no more than 35 percent sugar by weight and derive no more than 35 percent of their calories from fat and no more than 10 percent of their calories from saturated fat.
[...]
In Guilford, Conn., the school district’s health advisory committee has decided that birthday parties belong at home. At A. W. Cox Elementary, birthdays are celebrated with an extra 15 minutes of recess, special pencils or a “birthday book club” with commemorative inserts. “The children have totally refocused,” said the principal, Merry Leventhal. “They’re happy to celebrate in these other ways.”
Props to California for trying to be healthy and prevent child obesity. I appreciate the effort and the purpose, but oftentimes bake sales are associated with raising awareness for important causes, and those delicious cupcakes and brownies bring in the dough! (pun intended) Without bake sales, students resort to selling items that people don’t really want (like pencils and wrapping paper), yielding less money for charity. Or they have to organize car washes, which really only can occur on the weekends. And, who trusts teenagers and pre-teens washing their cars? Or they just sell baked goods across the street from school, like “Tommy Cornelius and the other members of the Piedmont High School boys water polo team [who] never expected to find themselves running through school in their Speedos to promote a bake sale across the street.”
And birthdays have been overtaken too?? When I was little, all I wanted was to bring in my mom’s red velvet cupcakes so I could share them with my classmates. But now that sweets are banned, I get a special pencil rather than a cupcake. Or I can have fifteen minutes of valuable class time taken away from me so I can play outside. At least I won’t be fat though, right? Happy Birthday to me.
Thanks to reader Nasseem for forwarding the article.
Pizza Hut Tries Out a New Name: Pasta Hut
In an attempt to attract customers with a healthier and more diverse menu, Pizza Hut has announced plans to temporarily rename thirty of its UK restaurants Pasta Hut. Earlier this year, Pizza Hut introduced two pastas on its US menu: Creamy Chicken Alfredo and Meatball Marinara. And more recently, it started serving Bacon Mac N Cheese. Pizza Hut representative Alasdair Murdoch explained that for the past five years, they have been trying to offer more “variety and quality” for their customers:
The chain . . . is replacing its pizza-focused menu with a menu consisting mainly of pasta dishes.
This means that as well as the traditional deluxe pizzas, customers will also have the option of ordering more sophisticated dishes such as tomato and mozzarella mezzaluna and prawn and crayfish arrabiata.
[...]
Mr Murdoch said they have also upgraded their distinctive salad bar and have made improvements in areas including the nutrition and quality of ingredients in their pizzas and pastas.
A statement from the company also says that the restaurant plans to sneak ‘hidden vegetables in kids’ meals’.The re-naming is for a trial period only and customers can offer their thoughts on the new-look restaurants at Pastahut.co.uk.
While I applaud Pizza Hut for attempting to offer more variety and healthier options (although, looking at the nutritional facts, the pastas are not actually all that healthy), I’m not sure how well Pasta Hut would go over here in the States. Pizza Hut already announced the name change in the US earlier this year, but Pizza Hut claims it was merely an April Fools Day joke.
Pizza Hut has been doing pizza since before I was born, and they should stick to what they do best. Also, hiding vegetables in dishes like Creamy Chicken Alfredo or Bacon Mac N Cheese might not do so much for their nutritional value.
