From the monthly archives:

January 2011

Stop reading labels and start reading ingredients

January 29, 2011

All week I’ve been seeing stories about Walmart-style food reform and food manufacturers’ self-serving nutrition labels, about fake meat, fake blueberries and fake maple syrup. Stories about all the ways the food industry tricks us, and all the ways people get mad about the food industry tricking us.  So here’s a thought: Let’s stop playing the game. Ignore the labels. Don’t look at numbers. Don’t believe [...]

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The color of trouble

January 22, 2011

Before I started Spoonfed, I began collecting “kid food” advertisements with the intention of skewering them on a regular basis. But as those torn pages piled up, I realized they were all the same. Different products, different gimmicks: Lunchables give kids brain power! Pop-Tarts are the cornerstone of a balanced breakfast! McDonald’s is healthy for hipster moms and [...]

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Food donations revisited: Dealing with the junk

January 14, 2011

Just saw an interesting NPR story called Overburdened food banks can’t say no to junk. And that brought to mind a Spoonfed discussion from November: Would you feed your own kid the same food you donate to food pantries?  The NPR piece notes that most of the unhealthy food given to food banks comes from grocery [...]

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Daily (Show) dose of funny. With fries.

January 13, 2011

This bit on banning Happy Meal toys aired last week, but I couldn’t pass on a chance to cite The Daily Show and tweak McDonald’s at the same time. Because, really, while Comedy Central is poking fun at those of us who think food companies ought to lay off our kids (while we parents also parent), McDonald’s doesn’t exactly [...]

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Let’s talk Girl Scout cookies

January 7, 2011

I was talking to a friend this past fall about Brownies. The Girl Scout kind. Her daughter had just joined a troop, and, remembering how much I’d loved camping and earning badges as a Girl Scout myself, I asked for details, thinking my daughter might like to join, too. I’d kind of forgotten about the cookies. Years ago, [...]

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