by Olivia Olson
Whether blended into smoothies, drizzled with balsamic vinegar, or mashed into guacamole, one feature remains constant: America’s love for avocados. With an extensive array of health benefits, an increase in Latino population, and a delicious buttery flavor―not to mention their social media trendiness―our avocado consumption has unsurprisingly skyrocketed in recent years …
by Olivia Olson
While consumers frequently vilify fat, salt, or red meat, most fail to acknowledge sugar’s role in obesity and overweight. In the past 60 years of increased health consciousness, sugar has managed to largely avoid blame, and indeed increase its presence in a wide variety of ‘fat free,’ ‘gluten free,’ or ‘all natural’ ‘health foods.’
by Olivia Olson
40 million Americans live in a state of perpetual uncertainty. Food insecurity, the condition that plagues these 40 million, leaves them without consistent access to healthy food or the resources to feed themselves and their families. This hardship manifests itself differently across income brackets and geographical locations―forcing families to skip meals, eat less and with less frequency, depend on unhealthy food options, or struggle to find their next meal.
by Olivia Olson
Those living in poverty are among the victims of a system that renders fast food and other such unhealthy products the only viable options for low-income citizens. From commodity crop subsidies, to federal programs that place fast food in the heart of urban areas, obesity is not “a moral lapse of a brain chemical but the effect of poverty.”
by Olivia Olson
Not on a cob. Not served with peas. But in your soft drinks, condiments, fast food, and salad dressing. The term ‘corn-fed’ once harkened back to Midwestern children with rosy cheeks, but has taken on a whole new meaning with the pervasiveness of industrialized corn.
Paula Daniels is Executive Director of California Central, a USC Villaraigosa Initiative. She is the founder and chair emeritus of the LA Food Policy Council, a board member with the National Organic Standards Board, and a 2015 Pritzker Environment and Sustainability Education Fellow at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability …
Daniels joined us as guest in our Lunch with a Leader series on Tuesday, November 17th, 2015.
by Justine Dodgen Paula Daniels has long been an advocate for environmental causes. Raised in Hawaii, Daniels has said she’s cared about water from a young age, and remembers learning about the importance of malama aina – stewardship of the land- from her grandfather. In a LA Weekly interview in 2012, Daniels says she even asked…