Lobbyists Distort Our Idea of a Healthy Diet

by Anna Lappé for Al Jazeera America If you made National Geographic collages of the basic four food groups — meat, dairy, grains and fruits and vegetables — in elementary school as I did, you have the federal government’s dietary guidelines to thank. Every five years, the government reviews these recommendations and releases new advice to […]

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Don’t Be Fooled by the Food Industry’s Smart Labels

by Anna Lappé for Al Jazeera America American consumers are waking up to the fact that a lot remains hidden about what is in their food and how it is produced. As a result, they are increasingly demanding greater access to information about added sugar, potential allergens, irradiation, use of antibiotics and more. The food […]

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Q+A with Natasha Bowens

REAL FOOD READS WITH AUTHOR Natasha Bowens This month’s #realfoodreads selection, The Color of Food: Stories of Race, Resilience and Farming, features stories and portraits of farmers and food activists that Natasha Bowens has gathered over five years of conversations. Natasha is an author, beginning farmer and activist who focuses on building empowerment and community with food […]

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The Billion-Dollar Business to Sell Us Crappy Food

by Anna Lappé for Al Jazeera America At the turn of the last century, the father of public relations, Edward Bernays, launched the Celiac Project, whose medical professionals recommended bananas to benefit celiac disease sufferers. Those pitched on the sweet fruit’s miraculous properties didn’t know the project was actually created for the United Fruit Co., […]

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Q+A with Alissa Hamilton

REAL FOOD READS WITH AUTHOR ALISSA HAMILTON In this month’s #realfoodreads selection, Got Milked? The Great Dairy Deception and Why You’ll Thrive Without Milk, Alissa Hamilton refutes the milk industry’s overwhelmingly popular campaign—Got Milk?—which has convinced us that milk is essential. Her scientifically based expose, in the tradition of Wheat Belly and Grain Brain, proves why we […]

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Spinning Food: How Food Industry Front Groups and Covert Communications are Shaping the Story of Food

Today, my colleagues Kari Hamerschlag, Stacy Malkan and I are excited to share our new report: Spinning Food. Our findings are stunning (but probably won’t surprise you): The industrial food sector has spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the past few years on stealth PR tactics and deployed over a dozen front groups to push […]

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