Following her cover story for Newsweek, the First Lady talked with Newsweek’s Editor Jon Meacham about her Let’s Move campaign at the Newseum in Washington D.C. today. She discussed the magnitude of the problem of childhood obesity, especially during current times as a busier culture.
We’re also a culture and a society right now that snacks a lot more. Just some of the statistics I talked about in my speech yesterday was that the average snack amount when I was growing up was one snack a day, if you were lucky. And now it’s averaging two to three. They say the average school-age kid is getting six snacks a day. So we’re taking 200 more calories than we were 40 years ago, 30 years ago just from snacks alone.
She explained the importance of food manufacturing industries providing clear food labels so people can easily make decisions about what foods are healthy. “Parents have to understand what’s in the Twinkie; again, how does it fit into the overall diet. So we don’t need a warning, we need information. And we need information that’s easy to understand.”
The First Lady also talked about passing legislation that will set nutritional guidelines for school lunch programs and vending machines. President Obama signed an Executive Order creating the Council on Childhood Obesity that will review every program and policy regarding education and nutrition.
Visit LetsMove.gov to learn more about the initiative to address the growing health epidemic of childhood obesity.
A short film about ‘what we eat, what we do, and why it matters’ written and directed by Denis van Waerebeke for the « Bon appétit » exhibition, aimed mainly at kids aged 9 to 14.
This video directed by Denis van Waerebeke for the « Bon appétit » exhibition, aimed mainly at kids aged 9 to 14, investigates why one in seven people is malnourished, how food dependency affects the poor, and how we can make sure we’ve all got enough to eat in the resource-strapped future. It’s pretty comprehensive.
It’s interesting that comparative advantage—that awesome win-win arrangement you learned about in economics 101—is actually responsible for the food dependency that makes life in parts of Africa, for example, so difficult.
This is a collection of thoughts by David Gillespie around where we are right now in the history of the Internet. David believes we’re getting ahead of ourselves, confusing the growth of the Internet with it growing up, but he also believes we’re doing some amazing things, and can draw a few lines in the sand, making some solid guesses on where we are going.
Building Personal Brand Within the Social Media Landscape.
At the Web 2.0 Expo, entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk gives a shot in the arm to dreamers and up-and-comers who face self-doubt. The Internet has made the formula for success simpler than ever, he argues. So there’s now no excuse not to do what makes you happy.
Poverty appears a complex issue. A minefield of an issue. But what if behind the obvious suspects, the causes lie deeper. And as such poverty becomes a more common experience than we assume.
Perhaps the answers to the experience of poverty lie somewhere within in the relationship between these two possibilities. And, in our ability to give fishing lessons in a particular fashion.
First, I want to take a quick opportunity to thank you for all of your work for the Haiti Choir Project. What a blessing it was to see all of you come together to help raise over $5000 for food, water, and shelter for the Haitian people. Be sure to check out Citizen Effect for updates on the project!
The second piece comes with the reality that we are not done. The Haitian people still need our support, especially as the rain seasons come. The tent cities will not be able to endure the harsh rains so shelter is an absolute necessity. That’s why, for the month of March, we’re coming alongside World Vision’s Haiti relief efforts. And we’re inviting you to join us. Here’s how we’re going to do it:
For each week of March, set aside just $10. Think about your coffee budget, gas budget, and the little extras that you purchase each week. Take a little bit out each week. Just $10. Then, on March 30th at 5PM EST, those who participate will all go to World Vision and donate the $40 we saved.
But there’s also a personal, creative touch to it that I’m absolutely thrilled about:
Throughout this month, we’d like for all of you who join to create something. It can be a poem, a sculpture, a sketch, a digital media piece, a video…I think you get the picture. Whatever you choose to make, do it as an expression of your personal response to the Haiti earthquake. Then submit the piece (if it’s a sculpture or art piece, take a photograph for us) to Colin- our awesome online media guru- at colin@zyozy.org by March 28th. Send it with brief info on who you are, where you’re from, and the story behind your contribution.
Colin will post the pictures and pieces to the Brighter Way website to create this beautiful digital media gallery. We’re thrilled to move forward on this. As always, if you have any questions, you can email me (Amy) at amy@zyozy.org. I love hearing from you!
It all starts March 1st! Will you join us? You can let us know by posting this to your facebook, tweeting the hashtag #10dollarM, or blogging about your experience!
Paul Polak isn’t your everyday global poverty fighter. He’s a 75-year old former psychiatrist who believes that the world’s poorest people, most of whom are farmers living on less than $2/day, are capable entrepreneurs and viable consumers. It’s a philosophy that drove him to start International Development Enterprises (IDE), a non-profit providing these $2/day farmers affordable irrigation & high-yield farming strategies. After 25 years, Dr. Polak and IDE succeeded in moving over 17 million people out of poverty. He has since turned over leadership of the organization to Al Doerkson but remains actively involved as a board member and advisor. Still driven to do more, he decided to start another non-profit venture, a for-profit venture, and to write a book, all aimed at harnessing the market to combat poverty. The non-profit, called D-Rev: Design for the Other 90%, aims to create a global “design revolution” to change the way the world’s best designers view and serve the 2.8 billion people who live on less than $2 a day. Dr. Polak outlines the principles for this design revolution in his book Out of Poverty: What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail, explaining how designers can profitably serve the world’s lowest-income consumers while simultaneously providing them a path out of poverty. His for-profit venture, called Windhorse International, will demonstrate that big business can be a part of this revolution. Poverty better watch out!
