The problem with studies, especially around food and nutrition, is that so many have contradicted other studies from over the years that no one knows what to believe.

I have almost certainly mentioned before that I typically weigh or measure the food I eat, because I have way too much data on what happens when I wing it. I'm quite sure I've said before that I don't mind high quality food, but I'm much rather have unlimited piles of mediocre food and dainty portions of the finest cuisine. That's just true, period.

So anyway: We'd been searching for quite a while to replace the two food scales we keep in our kitchen, which were of the same type and gave out within perhaps a month of each other after long years of operation.

Me and Georgie ... and Shmuley Boteach? At Huffpost, as passed on by my sister, reading from Israel.

Georgie and I have instituted 'Friday Night Dinner" at our house, which consists of a date — not romantic (well, not necessarily), but a commitment to dine together, at the dinner table, without any electronics on, at least on this one night. As often as we can, we share this repast with friends, and look forward to when Joe is part of the tradition — he's a big reason we're doing it.

In "The End of Overeating," Dr. David Kessler sketches this very useful, very accurate image: When customers step up to the McDonald's counter and pull out their $4.50 (or whatever), it's as though Uncle Sam is standing next to them, pulling out his wallet and paying another dollar (or whatever), because of the ways the federal government subsidizes corn.

I dunno about this:

Many thanks (and a little "woo-hoo!") to childhoodobesitynews.com, which referenced some of my reporting in a blog post a couple of days ago.

I hope it won't be the last time Oprah and I appear in the same sentence:

That is regrettable, but, fortunately, there are people like Oprah Winfrey and Michael Prager, who are doing their best to raise consciousness and offer the beacon of hope to fellow addicts.

I haven't checked it out yet, but I'm very interested in Steven McFadden's "The Call of the Land," in which he profiles members of a group he calls Millennial Agrarians, who are working to create a secure and sustainable food system.

Been meaning to get to this for a while; the video above was released by the TED organization in May. It is of Harvard professor Nicholas Christakis, speaking about the value of connection and social networks — the actual kind, as opposed to merely the virtual kind.

What caught my interest is the first example of his research, obesity. He says his research showed that if your friends are obese, your chance of being obese is 45 percent higher.

Just want to give a nod to Crop To Cuisine, which I only recently became aware of. A good site for food news, such as this apparent example of fast-food rage.