Yale's Peabody Museum Hosts Exhibition on ‘Big Food'
Visitors to the newest exhibition at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History will have an opportunity to investigate humans' origins as hunter-gatherers, explore an interactive timeline on the history of food, and identify popular processed foods by only their ingredients.
Big Food: Health, Culture and the Evolution of Eating opens on February 12 and will be displayed through December 2. The exhibition is a collaboration between the Yale Peabody Museum, Yale's Community Alliance for Research and Engagement (CARE), and the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity.
Big Food explores the neuroscience of appetite, genetics of obesity, and how food and energy are stored in the body. It examines behavioral choice in nutrition and exercise and the influence of social, environmental, and cultural settings. The exhibition investigates societal pressures such as the progressive growth of portion sizes; tackles media influences on food preferences; and considers serious health consequences that have increased the burden of chronic diseases.
USDA Sets Healthier Standards for School Meals
The United States Department of Agriculture and First Lady Michelle Obama recently unveiled new standards for school meals that will improve the health and nutrition of 32 million children who participate in the school meal program.
"These new standards represent a significant step forward for school meals," said Marlene Schwartz, Ph.D., Deputy Director of the Rudd Center. "The USDA did a remarkable job responding to the comments from nutrition advocates, food service professionals, and parents."
Starting next fall, school meals will offer a variety of both fruits and vegetables to students every day, increase the use of whole grains, and continue to reduce sodium, saturated fat and trans fats in meals.
For the first time, schools will offer only fat-free and low-fat milk - a change that will significantly decrease the amount of statuarated fat in school beverages.
Another noteworthy change is that for the first time schools meals will have calorie minimums and maximums based on the child's age.
"These federal standards set a much stronger floor for regulating school meals" said Kathryn Henderson, Ph.D., Rudd Center Director of School and Community Initiatives. "Many states and individual districts have already built upon federal requirements and promoted even better nutrition in schools. That opportunity still exists, and it will be exciting to see how school food evolves in the coming years."
The new meal requirements are part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, signed by President Obama.
Legislation Update: Advertisements on School Buses
Corporations spend billions of dollars each year to market their products to children. Cash-strapped school districts around the country are selling ad space on the interior and exterior of their school buses to raise money to support transportation costs and school programs. Unless prohibited by state law or district policies, school districts have the authority to pursue the sale of advertising space on buses, but many state legislators are nevertheless filing bills to support the practice.
Read about these bills in our Legislation Database (click Marketing/Advertising to Children) and a fact sheet on the issue.
Healthy Beverage Campaign Slides
Communities across North America are launching creative campaigns and policy changes to reduce sugary drink consumption and promote healthy alternatives, especially for children. The Rudd Center created slides to review these diverse and inspiring efforts, which include media campaigns, art and video contests, pledges, and local policy changes.
Employment Opportunities at the Rudd Center
If you would like to work toward improving the world's diet and preventing obesity, read about the open positions at the Rudd Center: Director of Advocacy Resources and Research Associate (Part-Time).
