I can't decide which part of this story of foodmanufacture.co.uk bothers me more, but I guess I'll opt for its complete lack of acknowledgment that diabetes is a serious health condition that degrades life on the way to early demise.

From foodnavigator-usa.com: "One ingredient that could have potential in the weight management market was Dow Chemical Co.'s Satisfit, a soluble, low temperature gelling methyl cellulose [emphasis added] which formed a gel mass in the stomach that lingered for more than two hours, unlike conventional methylcellulose, which cleared the stomach rapidly.

The theorizing has become reality: In July, a round of commentary (including mine) swelled after researchers suggested that foster custody might be preferable to bariatric surgery as a remedy for a child's severe obesity.

I've been pretty sluggy recently about blogging, having been thrown off my game by the Thanksgiving interlude and some low-grade depression. Not that you asked.

Unquestionably, I am a biomimicry groupie, and have referenced it many times. I venerate Janine Benyus and Dayna Baumeister, its leaders, and consider the movement to be one of the best combinations of simple and clever that I've ever encountered.

This is the last in a series of posts based on a recent f.a.c.t.s. (“food advertising to children and teens score”) report on sugary sodas issued by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale. A while ago, the center did a similar report on the advertising of junk food to children, and you can read my excerpts from that here.

Welcome to another installment of “10 Words or Less,” in which I ask for short answers to short questions. Today’s participant just opened The Madrona Tree, a self-described "local eatery" in Arlington, Mass., that carries its commitment to local/whole even to its organic condiments. Please remember: No counting! 10 words is a goal, not a rule, and besides, let’s see you do it.

Name Tanya Abraham
Born when, where June 1, 1971, Weymouth, Mass.
Residence now North Reading, Mass.
Family situation Married, with a wife, Christie, and son, Frederick, 2
What did you want to be when you grew up "A coach and a restaurant owner."
A transformative event in your life "Working in hospice."
When did you do that? "For 10 years, until last year. I was director of business operations for Group Health Cooperative, Home Health & Hospice in Seattle."
Outside your family, someone whom you consider influential "Ruth Gregersen. She was a coworker of mine in hospice."

Congress keeps telling us that if we let them, they will keep selling out community interests in favor of self- and corporate interests. The only way it is going to stop is if we stop them. 

I won't be able to be there, but I will be there.

One of the strongest parts of Lawrence Lessig's campaign to change Congress is that Congress keeps on proving that it needs to be changed.

This is another in a series of posts based on a recent f.a.c.t.s. (“food advertising to children and teens score”) report on sugary sodas issued by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale. A while ago, the center did a similar report on the advertising of junk food to children, and you can read my excerpts from that here.

The fractures of mass media have forced marketers to develop new ways of reaching their targets, and the sugary beverage industry is a particularly relentless hunter. One older example is Coke's purchase of space at the judges' table on American Idol for its logo-ed cups, but the Rudd Center report adds plenty more: