Friday, June 11, 2010

Push to Cut Kids’ Obesity

Push to Cut Kids' Obesity: Michelle Obama and her City Allies

Neal Peirce / Jun 11 2010

For Release Sunday, June 13, 2010
© 2010 Washington Post Writers Group

WASHINGTON — Can we really slim down the next generation of Americans, help our school children shed the extra pounds that could spell lifetimes with high prospects of type 2 diabetes or heart problems?

Michelle Obama is trying hard to reach parents with her "Let's Move" campaign. Scientific evidence is being mustered. The link to America's military preparedness is being made. As Sen. Mark Udall (Colo.) wrote recently to the First Lady, nearly a third of 17-to-24 year olds are unfit for military service due to their weight or lack of fitness.

But the national effort shouldn't obscure individual cities' efforts. And a surprise leader is the Nation's Capital. The District of Columbia last month approved some of America's strictest rules, aiming to curb the overweight and obese conditions that plague no less than 43 percent of its public school children — one of the nation's highest rates.

Washington's school menus will be rewritten to ban trans fats and reduce salt and saturated fats. Strict calorie limits will be set. Diets will include whole grains each day, with varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables. Space for gardens and compost piles will be set aside at school sites, with special emphasis on organic and locally grown foods. Minimum times for physical exercise will be upped to 150 minutes a week in elementary schools and 225 minutes in middle schools.

And in Washington's public schools with moderate or high concentrations of poor children, the new law requires that breakfast will be served for all children without charge each day so that those kids heading to the cafeteria for free breakfast won't be stigmatized. Plus, lunch will be free for most children. (An sales tax increase on sodas, ferociously opposed by the industry, will pay the bill.)

The District law also encourages schools to buy organic products from Maryland and Virginia farmers — reflecting a national "farm to school" movement that's now reached over 2,000 schools in 40 states. The idea: fresh and nutritious food for children, and a consistent, reliable market for local farmers.

What a turnaround that suggests! Pizza, hamburgers, french fries, hot dogs and chicken nuggets — those are the school lunch offerings Americans first think of, according to a national poll just released by the Kellogg Foundation.

Facts underscore the poll findings. A U.S. Department of Agriculture survey shows that means served through virtually all school lunch programs meet the country's proclaimed nutrition standards for protein and calcium. They do a middling job on calories. Yet less than 30 percent of schools have shaped their menus to keep saturated fats under recommended levels.

And they face a dilemma: fresh foods do cost more. Processed foods — especially corn-laden products — are cheaper because federal farm price support policy has made them a glut on the market, driving down their cost.

A companion barrier: Federal reimbursement rates for school lunches are low, driving schools to serve cheaper processed, high-calorie foods. And many schools count on fees from vending machines — packed with high-calorie items such as sodas, sports drinks, cookies or chips — to pay for extracurricular expenses.

Slowly, schools are evicting the vending machines or requiring they offer healthy products. More are swapping out their deep fryers for salad bars. Increasing numbers are learning it's a mistake to stick with contracted food service management firms — that they do better with self-operated programs that are specifically tasked with preparing freshly cooked, unprocessed, tasty foods for youngsters.

The National League of Cities reports an array of range of city halls and school districts, among them Savannah (Ga.), Jackson (Tenn.) and Oakland (Calif.), have begun to partner in community-wide wellness programs aimed at the childhood obesity problem.

In Connecticut, the New Haven Food Policy Council sponsored a region-wide "Childhood Obesity Summit." It's tapped the experience of Yale's pace-setting sustainable food efforts for its students, and published an attractive "Primer on Federal, State and Local Policies that Impact School Food."

It's true, the obstacles are legion. Harried families often eat out at the high-fat chains, in place of healthier home-cooked meals. The food industry spends $1.6 billion a year advertising its calorie- and fat-laden products to children and adolescents. Scattered subdivision-type neighborhoods mean more kids have to be driven to school, or take school buses, rather than walking or biking. "Screen time" — television, computers, texting on cell-phones — has taken a toll on neighborhood sports.

In May Michelle Obama released the report of the administration's Childhood Obesity Task Force, including 70 specific steps. The bold goal: to "bend the curve" of today's child obesity rate — almost 20 percent — back to its 1972 level of 5 percent by 2030.

It's a tall order. But the growing local moves are a clear signal. And national leadership too– This initiative is so crucial for the nation's future that, if it succeeds, it might just be the Obama administration's most important legacy.

Neal Peirce's e-mail is npeirce@citistates.com.

For reprints of Neal Peirce's column, please contact Washington Post Permissions, c/o PARS International Corp., WPPermissions@parsintl.com, fax 212-221-9195. For newspaper syndication sales, Washington Post Writers Group, 202-334-5375, wpwgsales@washpost.com.

African statues introduced as public art

One of these sculptures is dedicated to my long-time friend Gerry Reed, emeritus professor of French at Lawrence University. Gerry died in a bicycle accident three years ago.

clipped from media.www.lawrentian.com

African statues introduced as public art

Amy Sandquist

Issue date: 4/30/10

Media Credit: Oren Jakobson

Lawrence is slowly introducing newly donated Zimbabwean sculptures to the campus landscape. The sculptures were donated late last December by David Barnett, a Milwaukee art dealer whose wife, Susan Frend, graduated from Lawrence in 1981. Barnett gave seven pieces of sculpture to Lawrence and seven pieces to the Appleton Art Center on College Avenue.

Two weeks ago, two of the seven sculptures were placed on Hurvis Crossing. Tom and Julie Hurvis selected the two sculptures for the bridge. One of the sculptures on Hurvis Crossing is titled "Resting Man" and was dedicated in memory of former Lawrence French professor Gervais Reed.

The two tallest sculptures were placed on the river walk below the Warch Campus Center. The river walk is expected to open later this spring, and sculptures created by studio art students will eventually be added to the path.

One Shona sculpture will be placed in Memorial Hall and the other two will be placed in the Wriston Art Center. One of the sculptures to be placed in Wriston, "Traditional Dancer," was given in memory of Lawrence student Kaitlin Mahr.

All 14 sculptures originate from the Shona tribe, a large ethnic population in Zimbabwe. Most of the sculptures are composed of serpentine, though a few are carved from springstone. The seven sculptures that Lawrence received were crafted by seven different artists, and each artist carved his or her sculpture from one slab of stone.

Lynn Hagee, director of conferences and summer programs, explained that the sculptures have yet to be placed in these locations because of their weight.

"The sculptures are tremendously heavy," Hagee noted. In order to ensure that the top-heavy sculptures are sufficiently anchored down, their bases, or plinths, must be increased in size. Hagee expects that the sculptures and their strong plinths will be introduced to Memorial Hall and the Wriston Art Center during the second week of May.
The sculptures' history remains largely unknown. Director of Exhibits at the Wriston Art Gallery Frank Lewis explained that art and art history students will have the opportunity to research them for class.
"The works will be an exciting opportunity for students interning at the Wriston Art Galleries to research and study," Lewis said. "These seven works are, at present, the only Shona works in our collection."

Hagee, a Lawrence alumna who majored in studio art and art history, is excited for the new artwork. Hagee expressed her enthusiasm for the new river walk as well. "It is very important to me to have art not only within campus buildings but also outside," she said.
"It's great that we can be friends with the river," she noted and explained that displaying art in a natural setting by the river will "add a whole new dimension to the campus."

In the midst of numerous acts of vandalism on the Lawrence campus, however, Hagee expressed concern for the sculptures. After returning from a weekend out of town, Hagee had to peel posters off of the back of one of the sculptures on the Hurvis Crossing.

"[The Shona sculptures] belong to all of us," Hagee said, and urged students to celebrate and respect the artwork "as well as everything else on campus."

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

OctoCam

clipped from www.oregonlive.com

Long arms of Newport octopus stretch around the world via 'OctoCam'

Published: Tuesday, June 08, 2010, 6:46 PM Updated: Wednesday, June 09, 2010, 10:27 AM

Lori Tobias, The Oregonian

Bill HanshumakerDeriq

The octopus is currently on display all over the world via the OctoCam at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport.

NEWPORT – At first, the camera shows only a tank inhabited by sea stars and anemones. Then a shadow falls across the water. There's a flash of pink, then a slithering arm curling and uncurling over the rocks.

Soon, there are more arms and then the bulbous red body of the octopus floating dance-like across the screen.

For 45 years, the guest octopus in the lobby of the OSU Mark O. Hatfield Marine Science Center has been a star attraction, luring people to visit again and again.

Now, people from all over the globe can share in the fascination. This week, the marine education and research center unveiled the OctoCam, two webcams streaming live video from inside and out of the octopus tank.

"It's mesmerizing," said Bill Hanshumaker, public marine education specialist at Hatfield. "It's something you don't see on a regular basis. It's unique."

The center has kept an octopus on display since opening in 1965. They are typically brought in by fishermen who find them clinging to their gear. The center keeps them around for a while, then releases them back into the wild. The current resident is Deriq, named by a visitor in a public naming contest. The original Deriq, was found in some derelict fishing gear – hence the name. But octopuses are like cats, said Hanshumaker.

"Some love people and some are aloof." Alas, the first Deriq was no people octopus, and a second critter was brought to take his place – and name.

"This one was brought in by a crab fisherman," Hanshumaker said. "He pulled up one pot and it was full of empty crab shells. He pulled up a second, more empty crab shells. He pulled up a third and there was the octopus with empty crab shells and a crab. He was still eating."

And eating is something octopuses do very well, and very slowly, making the 1 p.m. daily public feeding quite the show. About 100 visitors show up at the center daily during the summer months just to watch.

"When we put the crab in, we don't hand him the crab," said Hanshumaker. "We let them find it. When they discover the crab, they touch it with a single arm. They undergo a rapid color change from bright red to white. They create a net with their arms, envelope the crab and pull it up and bite it."

They have to be quick with the bite or the crab could pinch the octopus and hurt it, he said. The bite paralyzes the crab with a neurotoxin, then enzymes begin breaking down the meat.

"It turns the inside of the prey animal into a milkshake," Hanshumaker said. "While it's processing the meat with toxin, it's just holding on to it. Once its consistency is shake-like, it licks it clean."

As entertaining as the show may be, the OctoCam has an even more important role: education. People who've never seen the ocean can now watch one of its most unusual creatures up close and live, said Nancee Hunter, director of education with Oregon Sea Grant, which oversees the visitor's center.

Recently, a school teacher in Iowa used the webcam to do a live class for second graders.

"The students were really excited. They'd never seen anything like it," Hunter said. The teacher, Joan McKim, was pretty awed, too.

In a note to the center, she wrote, "This is one of the most authentic education experiences of my 33 years of teaching."

Of course, Deriq doesn't always cooperate. Octopuses can be shy and tend to want to hide in nooks and crannies. That's where the second camera from the outside helps. They are also smart and curious. Which might explain why on Tuesday morning, the view suddenly took a mysterious turn, switching from live color to eerie black and white. Seems Deriq had enveloped the camera with his arm, darkening the lens save for a close up of one pearly white sucker stuck dead in the center of the screen.

And then, pop, he released it and, with all eight arms undulating across the water, floated away.

-- Lori Tobias

Mexico

by Robert Hass

I have just crossed the Rio Grande,
And by a string of clever switchbacks
Have, for the moment, outwitted the posse.

Ahead lie the ghosts of Sierra Madre.
Behind, I have nothing but sun,
While the condor's shadow circles over my bones.

Though the mountains are steep, my horse doesn't falter,
And now I know why starving bandoleros
Will never shoot their animals for food.

Beyond my mirage, I see the white adobe—
Yes, the one with the red-tiled roof—
Which one afternoon I will lean against, with my hat down
And knees up, after a bottle of tequila.

In that siesta, I am sure to dream
Of the lovely senorita
Who has stolen away from her father
To meet me in the orchard.

But enough of that. There is work to be done.
I have cattle to rustle and horses to steal
Before the posse picks up my trail.

(In a poem of Mexico, it would be unwise
For a poet to mention the posse is his wife.)

So, mi amigo, if you find her
Prowling my mountains
With a wooden spoon in her hand,
Tell her I am not here.

Tell her I have run off
With Cormac McCarthy and Louis L'Amour,
That I ride like the wind
To join up with the great Pancho Villa.

From Writer's Almanac

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Move over Starbucks

Sea Salt Latte: Is 85C The Next Coffee Craze?

by Neda Ulaby
June 8, 2010

To Listen to Story Click Here.

A coffee company from Taiwan hopes to teach Americans to love squid-ink buns and iced sea salt lattes. Stores in the 85C chain also sell cheap, and unusual, pastries. Just as Starbucks brought venti triple lattes to Main Street, U.S.A., 85C hopes that adding a little saltiness to the caffeine is a hit with American consumers.

"It's really unique," says Stephanie Peng, manager of the company's flagship U.S. store in Irvine, Calif. "The sea salt's in the cream, the foam part, so it just brings out more coffee essence."

Neda Ulaby/NPR
Manager Stephanie Peng says of the American version of 85C coffee, "We made it a little sweeter here, a little saltier here -- more flavor actually."

The lattes sound exotic, but the salt flavor is incredibly subtle — you have to tease it out with your tongue. Sea salt lattes have helped establish 85C as the "Starbucks of Asia." The chain has more than 300 stores across Taiwan, and it plans to expand its presence across China, Australia and the U.S. over the next few years.

Key to the company's U.S. outreach is Peng, 24, a Taiwanese-American who grew up in Orange County. She's helped 85C work out its kinks since the Irvine store opened about a year and a half ago, by finding local sources and working with company chefs to tweak the menu to appeal to U.S. palates.

"We made it a little sweeter here, a little saltier here — more flavor actually," Peng says of the American version of 85C's coffee. The chain's name comes from the centigrade temperature at which it brews its coffee.

Unlike Starbucks, with its oft-criticized slight and dry pastry selection, 85C is also a bustling, high-powered bakery. Every few minutes, workers burst from the kitchen with trays of fragrant golden rolls, to cries of, "Fresh bread! Fresh bread!"

Some trays don't even reach their destination before eager customers snatch up every steaming roll. While bread and coffee may not sound typically Taiwanese, the food reflects our global era. Some soft buns come stuffed with red bean paste or dried pork; alternately, muffin- or pizza-like offerings feature fruit or hot dogs.

One surprise crossover hit is a black squid-ink bread, made with Vermont sharp cheddar cheese and garlic paste. Each roll costs less than a dollar, meaning there's incentive to stray outside your flavor comfort zone. According to Julia Huang, CEO of a company that tracks Asian trends in the United States, 85C could gain real traction in the U.S. market.

"For some reason, in the past four to five years, American tastes — and we're not talking about cuisine, we're talking about snacks — [and] comfort food has changed so much," she says.

Now, I like Sriracha hot sauce and bubble tea as much as the next Midwestern gal — probably even more. But comfort food, for me, is generally not the same color as Barney. So I was skeptical when faced with a deeply purple piece of bread flavored with taro root.

"Marbled taro is actually one of our top sellers," Peng said. "We make our own taro filling, so it's really soft, really flaky. Our customers love it."

And I'll be damned if it didn't taste like an incredible soft, flaky, tasty — purple — donut. A week later, and I'm still craving another one.

Courtesy 85C
The lunch line forms at the 85C coffee shop in Irvine, where the Taiwanese chain opened its first U.S. store in the fall of 2008.

Peng says that when the store first opened, most of their customers were Asian. Now, almost 50 percent are non-Asian. Catalina Jiménez, originally from Spain, works in finance. She says she spends a disproportionate amount of time waiting in 85C's regularly long lunch line.

"It's horrible," Jiménez says. "When [85C] first opened, I would see the crowds outside and say, 'Oh my god,' and I would say, 'Losers!' — and now here I am. I do the line every day."

Jiménez is partial to the chain's blueberry brioche. Another 85C regular is Abraham Walker, a South African native who never expected to enjoy Taiwanese coffee and cake in the United States.

"Quite honestly, I wouldn't mind having a share in this business," he says, "because it's busy all the time."

Walker may get his chance. 85C goes public in Hong Kong later this year, timed to coincide with the planned opening of its second U.S. store, in Hacienda Heights, Calif.

In a phone call from Taiwan, spokeswoman Kathy Chung said that company executives occasionally joke that their "ultimate dream" would be to open an 85C across the street from a Starbucks store in Seattle. But, she said, "That would also be an honor."