No olives, no garden.

Ann Lappe of Grist.org wrote a great article on how The Darden Group, owners of Olive Garden and Red Lobster have committed to the First Lady Michelle Obama to cut 10% of calories on its menus in the next five years. Take a look at how Ms. Lappe breaks down how much you'll be saving in calories and is it all worth the hype?

"Let's imagine you're dining out at Olive Garden one evening. You've got an appetite, so you order your favorite, the fried calamari appetizer. For an entrée, you go for the braised beef and tortelloni dinner and for dessert you treat yourself to the Zeppoli with chocolate sauce and a Caffé Mocha. Worried about your calorie count, you skip the beer and go for a Limonata, not realizing its calories match or surpass most of the beers on offer. 

The grand total? 3,930 calories, nearly twice as many as you should be eating in an entire day. Fast forward five years and, if Darden sticks to its word -- and, keep in mind, there is no guarantee the company will -- that meal would set you back a mere 3,537 calories, or 177% of your daily caloric intake (and that's not even counting the bread basket)."

Read more at: Grist.org

I think I want me a Harvard boy ;)

Harvard is not a place known for its humility and taking on the US government is pretty audacious even for the Crimson Horde, but the Harvard School of Public Health apparently considers nutrition a cause worthy of rousing its anti-governmental spirit. On Wednesday, the school announced that it had developed its own "Healthy Eating Plate" in response to the USDA's controversial "MyPlate" guide to healthy eating.

Here's Harvard's proposed model:

Original Article: Huffington Post 

Change Is Coming

We simply can’t afford the healthcare costs incurred by the current system of cheap food and thanks to President Obama's Healthcare Reform law, the food movement is about to gain a powerful new partner, the health insurance industry.

Read more on Micheal Pollan's Essay in The Nation Magazine, http://www.thenation.com/article/163399/how-change-going-come-food-system. 

Movie Review: Forks Over Knives:

 Yes! another reason to be a vegetarian!