Reading List for Nov 29 - Dec 3

1. Food Safety Bill (aka the Food Safety Modernization Act)
- Michael Pollan & Eric Schlosser expressed their support for the bill on Monday: "A Stale Food Fight" from NYTimes
- The Senate passed the bill on Tuesday night: "Senate Passes Overhaul of Food Safety Regulations" from NYTimes
- But the bill might be held up in the House due to a technical error by the Senate: "House May Block Food Safety Bill over Senate Error" from Roll Call
- Final passage of the bill is still uncertain: "Fingers Crossed When It Comes to Food Safety" by Marion Nestle in The Atlantic

2. Child Nutrition Bill (aka the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act)
- Mark Bittman blogged on Tuesday about ways to improve the bill: "Want Healthy Kids? Cut Soda, Not Food Stamps"
- On Thursday the House passed the bill (approved by the Senate in August): "Congress Approves Child Nutrition Bill" from NYTimes

3. Vitamin D (aka the "sunshine vitamin")
- "New vitamin D recommendations" from Washington Post's The Checkup blog
- "Extra Vitamin D and Calcium Aren’t Needed, Report Says" from NYTimes

4. "Overeating, Like Drug Use, Rewards and Alters Brain" from NPR

Researchers from Yale University have "found that, at least in animals, sweet or fatty foods can act a lot like a drug in the brain, ... And there's growing evidence that eating too much of these foods can cause long-term changes in the brain circuits that control eating behavior. ... That doesn't necessarily mean food is addictive the way cocaine is, ... [but] there is growing evidence that eating a lot of certain foods early in life can alter your brain the way drugs do."

5. "The new front in the culture wars: food" from Washington Post

"… [M]any in this country who have access to good food and can afford it simply don't think it's important. To them, food has become a front in America's culture wars, and the crusade against fast and processed food is an obsession of 'elites,' not 'real Americans.' "

"... The Golden Arches long ago replaced Mom's apple pie as a symbol of the all-American meal. Thus, 'Don't let them take away your Big Mac!' becomes a rallying cry."

"… For the good-food revolution to have a chance, people have to make finding and preparing fresh food a priority at a time when everything about our modern food system urges us not to bother. And that won't happen if people think healthy food is an elitist plot to take away their McRib."

Happy reading, and have a great weekend!