Wednesday, March 11, 2009
In Honor of National Registered Dietitian Day
On this second annual National Registered Dietitian Day, March 11, 2009, RD's on the blogosphere everywhere have come together for a "blogfest" to get the word out about the great work that RD's do. While I am not yet a Registered Dietitian, I plan to be within the next few years and definitely know and respect their work. I am a member of the American Dietetic Association's Hunger & Environmental Nutrition (HEN) Dietetic Practice Group and want to especially thank my HEN colleagues for always sharing their incredible, endless wealth of knowledge with others. The HEN-listserve has been and will continue to be a great window into the world of just, wholesome, sustainable food systems that I can only attempt to relay to the rest of blogging world. If you are a HEN member, thank you for all you do. If you are an RD or "RD2B," I encourage you to join HEN. It is a decision you will not regret. If you fit neither of these categories, please at least check out Ashley Colpaart's post on the US Food Policy blog: Dietitians Working in Food Policy, the New Frontier. She's not only described many of the great ways RD's are working to bring food back to its roots, but has also listed many other RD's blogs as part of the blogfest.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
See into communities & give people a voice with Photovoice
This is what it looks like when you give people in "bad neighborhoods" a voice. The culturally rich sense of community speaks for itself. Not what most people think of when you say "Harlem."
My East Harlem
Here's another great video:
Health Food Disparities in Upper Manhattan
Here's a video by teenagers in Philadelphia, entitled "It's a Healthy Habit":
While these videos give great insight into communities, just as big of an impact can be made by having participants take still photos and write captions to explain what the picture means to them. It's a sure way for anyone - even kids! - to feel empowered and feel that they have a voice to speak out to truth. Photovoice can be a very powerful tool in terms of advocacy and showing the final product to decisionmakers. In terms of public health nutrition, the idea is for children to take pictures of a health issue (such as food) and write about what this means to them. Photovoice was developed by Dr. Caroline Wang, working with women in a remote Chinese village. For a great example of the power of photovoice, see Photovoice: A Youth Empowering Program. . Rickie Brawer and the Philadelphia Urban Food and Fitness Alliance have also successfully used photovoice with adolescents. On another note, the technique has even been shown to improve dietary recall data from kids, who are more willing to cooperate when given technology such as cameras. Here are a few more articles about photovoice:
Goodhart FW, Hsu J, Baek JH, Coleman, Maresca FM, Miller MB. (2006). A view through a different lens: photovoice as a tool for student advocacy. J Am Coll Health. 55(1):53-6.
Strack RW, Magill C, McDonagh K. (2004). Engaging Youth Through Photovoice. Health Promotion Practice. 5(1):49-58.
Wang C., Yi WK, Tao ZW, Carovano K. (1998). Photovoice as a participatory health promotion strategy. Health Promotion International. 13(1):75-86.
Wang C., Burris MA. (1997). Photovoice: Concept, Methodology, and Use for Participatory Needs Assessment. Health Education & Behavior. 24(3):369-387.
The American Public Health Association is currently accepting applications for its Photo Journal Demonstration Project. Additionally, FamilyCook Productions has created a School Community Food Assessment toolkit that outlines how to use photovoice in schools to change the school food environment - it's pretty cool.
My East Harlem
Here's another great video:
Health Food Disparities in Upper Manhattan
Here's a video by teenagers in Philadelphia, entitled "It's a Healthy Habit":
While these videos give great insight into communities, just as big of an impact can be made by having participants take still photos and write captions to explain what the picture means to them. It's a sure way for anyone - even kids! - to feel empowered and feel that they have a voice to speak out to truth. Photovoice can be a very powerful tool in terms of advocacy and showing the final product to decisionmakers. In terms of public health nutrition, the idea is for children to take pictures of a health issue (such as food) and write about what this means to them. Photovoice was developed by Dr. Caroline Wang, working with women in a remote Chinese village. For a great example of the power of photovoice, see Photovoice: A Youth Empowering Program. . Rickie Brawer and the Philadelphia Urban Food and Fitness Alliance have also successfully used photovoice with adolescents. On another note, the technique has even been shown to improve dietary recall data from kids, who are more willing to cooperate when given technology such as cameras. Here are a few more articles about photovoice:
Goodhart FW, Hsu J, Baek JH, Coleman, Maresca FM, Miller MB. (2006). A view through a different lens: photovoice as a tool for student advocacy. J Am Coll Health. 55(1):53-6.
Strack RW, Magill C, McDonagh K. (2004). Engaging Youth Through Photovoice. Health Promotion Practice. 5(1):49-58.
Wang C., Yi WK, Tao ZW, Carovano K. (1998). Photovoice as a participatory health promotion strategy. Health Promotion International. 13(1):75-86.
Wang C., Burris MA. (1997). Photovoice: Concept, Methodology, and Use for Participatory Needs Assessment. Health Education & Behavior. 24(3):369-387.
The American Public Health Association is currently accepting applications for its Photo Journal Demonstration Project. Additionally, FamilyCook Productions has created a School Community Food Assessment toolkit that outlines how to use photovoice in schools to change the school food environment - it's pretty cool.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
California farms lose main water source to drought
California farms lose main water source to drought
Too bad it takes devastation in the US before our country MIGHT wake up and smell the climate change (that I might add, is disproportionately affecting developing countries - see here and here and here). This is yet another reason why it's a bad, bad thing for the rest of the country to be so dependent on produce from California. I hate buying strawberries from the other side of the country - but that's the only thing that's ever sold in the grocery store!
If you haven't done so already, please sign the Food Democracy Now petition. They do good work.
Too bad it takes devastation in the US before our country MIGHT wake up and smell the climate change (that I might add, is disproportionately affecting developing countries - see here and here and here). This is yet another reason why it's a bad, bad thing for the rest of the country to be so dependent on produce from California. I hate buying strawberries from the other side of the country - but that's the only thing that's ever sold in the grocery store!
If you haven't done so already, please sign the Food Democracy Now petition. They do good work.
Food Politics, Social Marketing, the Art of Persuasion and People's Values
Food politics. Ever heard of it? Well this video should give you a good idea: The Food Lobby Goes to School.
Here's a recent NY Times story by Alice Waters.
And if that's not enough, read Food Politics by Marion Nestle. And Food Marketing to Children and Youth by the Institute of Medicine.
This is why we need to do something! Children today are expected to be the first generation to die at a younger age than their parents, and obese teenagers are as likely to die prematurely as smokers. THIS IS NOT OKAY. And it seems like conventional public health interventions aren't working. So why don't we give the industry a taste of their own medicine, by using social marketing? Basically, social marketing is taking the strategies of the corporate industry - the one that has successfully brainwashed society into thinking fast food is "in" and that has even brainwashed people in developing countries into seeing fast food as a sign of prosperity (more on that later) - and using their marketing strategies to positively influence public health. It's all about the art of persuasion and knowing how to get to people's core value systems. If you know what people value, you can get them to do what you want. This is particularly helpful if the thing you want them to do is a habit which is good for them, such as successfully getting a village in Ghana to wash their hands with soap with the "Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing With Soap." So as you can see, the art of persuasion and social marketing can be adapted for a variety of public health interventions - understanding people and their value systems doesn't always have to be used for worsening society :)
Here's a recent NY Times story by Alice Waters.
And if that's not enough, read Food Politics by Marion Nestle. And Food Marketing to Children and Youth by the Institute of Medicine.
This is why we need to do something! Children today are expected to be the first generation to die at a younger age than their parents, and obese teenagers are as likely to die prematurely as smokers. THIS IS NOT OKAY. And it seems like conventional public health interventions aren't working. So why don't we give the industry a taste of their own medicine, by using social marketing? Basically, social marketing is taking the strategies of the corporate industry - the one that has successfully brainwashed society into thinking fast food is "in" and that has even brainwashed people in developing countries into seeing fast food as a sign of prosperity (more on that later) - and using their marketing strategies to positively influence public health. It's all about the art of persuasion and knowing how to get to people's core value systems. If you know what people value, you can get them to do what you want. This is particularly helpful if the thing you want them to do is a habit which is good for them, such as successfully getting a village in Ghana to wash their hands with soap with the "Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing With Soap." So as you can see, the art of persuasion and social marketing can be adapted for a variety of public health interventions - understanding people and their value systems doesn't always have to be used for worsening society :)
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Why you should question authority
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to hear Irshad Manji [see great bio on her Facebook page] speak at NYU, during a conference on social entrepreneurship through Wagner's Bridge group. She is the author of "The Trouble with Islam Today" and has been described as "Osama bin Laden's worst nightmare." How did she become the person she is today? She knows the importance of questioning authority. As a little girl in Canada, where her family escaped as refugees from Uganda, she attended the madressa, where she was taught that women should be subservient to men and not to ask too many questions about her faith. Well, she was expelled, to say the least. Since, she's critically analyzed the Quran and been a strong proponent of ijtihad - Islam's word for the concept of critical thinking. Ever since learning about her, she's become one of my favorite role models. I truly find many parallels between her and Shane Claiborne, author of "The Irresistible Revolution." I've gone through a similar journey of questioning in my own religious upbringing in the Catholic Church, especially after reading Shane's book. As a little girl in the madressa, Irshad Manji had this question: "What if I'm not being educated? What if I'm being indoctrinated?" So, I challenge you to question your own educators.
Barack Obama understands the dangers of not questioning authority. He specifically appointed strong-minded people to his Cabinet to avoid groupthink.
I question the definition of “conservative." What is being conserved? A way of life particular to the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries? With all due respect, in the long history of the world I would not pick this particular time period to conserve. I would conserve the way God made the planet. He gave us food that grows from the ground to eat - food that is whole and protects us from chronic diseases, not chemically modified artificial food in packages. He provided grass for the cows to eat. Water from springs to drink - not from plastic bottles. He gave us an ozone layer to protect us from the sun. Legs to get from place to place instead of burning fossil fuels and letting our muscles waste away and our waists get bigger. He gave us sunlight as solar energy. THOSE are things I would choose to conserve.
My Research Methods textbook agrees with the idea of questioning what you are taught. I've always wondered whether or not I wanted to get a PhD and "do research for the rest of my life." Well, what if the traditional, keeping-your-distance-from-your-subjects way of doing research wasn't the only way to do research? Perhaps community-based participatory research is an even more effective method. When researchers come to the conclusion that the IRB is more than often a bureaucratic barrier than a way to protect people, and the Belmont Report concludes that its guidelines may not be sufficient in dealing with studies of social programs (versus biomedical research), we should indeed question what we are taught. Community-based participatory research allows the researchers to interact with community members. The success of grassroots organizing has always come from involving the stakeholders in the decision process. Why should the research process be any different? If you want to design a program to help the community, for God's sake, involve the community in the program planning!
During Irshad Manji's speech, she mentioned a conversation between Oprah and Will Smith right after Obama one the election. Oprah asked Will Smith his thoughts on Obama. Will Smith replied, "all of our excuses are gone now, Oprah. GONE."
So now I ask, what do you question in your life? Will you be bold enough to be a "social entrepreneur" and do something about it? It only takes one person to make a difference.
Barack Obama understands the dangers of not questioning authority. He specifically appointed strong-minded people to his Cabinet to avoid groupthink.
I question the definition of “conservative." What is being conserved? A way of life particular to the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries? With all due respect, in the long history of the world I would not pick this particular time period to conserve. I would conserve the way God made the planet. He gave us food that grows from the ground to eat - food that is whole and protects us from chronic diseases, not chemically modified artificial food in packages. He provided grass for the cows to eat. Water from springs to drink - not from plastic bottles. He gave us an ozone layer to protect us from the sun. Legs to get from place to place instead of burning fossil fuels and letting our muscles waste away and our waists get bigger. He gave us sunlight as solar energy. THOSE are things I would choose to conserve.
My Research Methods textbook agrees with the idea of questioning what you are taught. I've always wondered whether or not I wanted to get a PhD and "do research for the rest of my life." Well, what if the traditional, keeping-your-distance-from-your-subjects way of doing research wasn't the only way to do research? Perhaps community-based participatory research is an even more effective method. When researchers come to the conclusion that the IRB is more than often a bureaucratic barrier than a way to protect people, and the Belmont Report concludes that its guidelines may not be sufficient in dealing with studies of social programs (versus biomedical research), we should indeed question what we are taught. Community-based participatory research allows the researchers to interact with community members. The success of grassroots organizing has always come from involving the stakeholders in the decision process. Why should the research process be any different? If you want to design a program to help the community, for God's sake, involve the community in the program planning!
During Irshad Manji's speech, she mentioned a conversation between Oprah and Will Smith right after Obama one the election. Oprah asked Will Smith his thoughts on Obama. Will Smith replied, "all of our excuses are gone now, Oprah. GONE."
So now I ask, what do you question in your life? Will you be bold enough to be a "social entrepreneur" and do something about it? It only takes one person to make a difference.
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