Rudd Sound Bites

Prevention Each Day Keeps Health Care Costs Away

by Jennifer F.

Recent polls reflect America’s growing discontent with the current state of health care, as it consistently ranks among the top three voting priorities.  For the upcoming elections, health care is again emerging as a prominent issue.  While the discussions focus on important changes like providing coverage for the uninsured, the most important yet most overlooked issue is the need for prevention.  Four of the leading causes of death—heart disease (#1), cancer (#2), stroke (#3), and diabetes (#6)—are among the most expensive to treat but are also among the most preventable, largely through modifications in diet. Ignoring this fact has been a costly mistake.

Advocating for a New Farm Bill

by Michelle Castañeda

The USDA and public health advocates recognize that Americans are eating too much fat and sugar, and too few fruits and vegetables. The Food Guide Pyramid recommends eating several times more servings of fruits & vegetables than meat, yet the government pours much more funding into farming livestock than growing fresh produce. The explanation for this has nothing to do with logic or reason; what we have is a policy that values corporate interests over the heartbeats of the American people.

What You Might Not Know About Fat Camp...

This past semester, Marjie Galler, a sophomore from Florida, took a course called "Modern Prose." Her thought-provoking essay on going to fat camp, called "The Chubby Child," was passed along from her professor to the Rudd Center's own Marlene Schwartz. We're happy to share the essay with you all as well.

Eating better than organic

by Melina Shannon-DiPietro

Of the countless eating decisions we make daily, local vs. organic might not seem very important. Some might even assume local and organic produce are the same thing. In a recent Time magazine cover story, journalist John Cloud asks whether an apple grown organically across the coast is better than an apple grown locally with pesticides. Which apple will taste better? Which apple was produced with less damage to our ecosystem? Cloud concludes that eating locally is better than eating organically, and he is right. Yet a sense of constraint pervades his article: that farmers will continue the production of particular crops into perpetuity; that eating responsibly dooms one to ascetisim or stressful menu planning; that no decision around food will ever beget pleasure.

McDonald's has done it again

My name is Pong Sirioput, and I have no affiliation with any educational or political body, but I recently felt compelled to contribute to your blog. McDonald's has just released a new campaign, complete with Happy Meal toys and a television commercial featuring Nintendo's Super Mario character.