Reading List for August 16-20

1. "Eat an Apple (Doctor's Orders)" from the NYTimes

• Produce by "prescription" seeks to address childhood obesity
• Doctors at three health centers in Massacusetts have begun adnising patients to eat "prescription produce" from local farmers' markets, in an effort to fight obesity in children of low-income families. Now they will give coupons amounting to $1 a day for each member of a patient's family to promote healthy meals.
• "The goal is to get them to increase their consumption of fruit and vegetables by one serving a day." - Dr. Suki Tepperberg, a family physician at Codman Square Health Center in Dorchester, MA

2. "A Hen's Space to Roost" from the NYTimes

"Animal welfare advocates and farmers [in Ohio, the second-largest producer of eggs after Iowa] agreed recently to phase out small crates for gestating hogs and veal calves, and to ban new cages for egg-laying hens. (Existing cages can remain.)"

In related news: "Egg Recall Tied to Salmonella Grows to 380 Million" (WSJ)

3. Food & the Economy

• "Wheat Prices Hit 2-Year Highs Following Russian Ban" (WSJ)
• "Reap What You Swap" - a farmer's perspective on derivates, aka agricultural swaps (NYTimes)
• "Commodity prices: The breakfast index" (The Economist) - Prices on the raw ingredients for breakfast (cereal, coffee, & orange juice) have risen 25% since June.

4. "Weekday Vegetarians" from TIME

• You don't have to completely forsake meat; being a "flexitarian" (i.e. reducing your intake to just a few days a week) can still offer benefits to your health & the environment.