I’ve said many times that the causes of disordered eating are extremely complicated, a condition that muddles any conversation about overcoming the personal and societal ills that result. Obesity is a very noticeable outcome, and there are others, of course.

One such muddler is the phenomenon of craving, which is well known to addicts of every stripe. It’s the biochemically driven desire to ingest more of the addictive substance or engage again in the addictive experience, because the body has become habituated to the addictive action.

One of the patently dishonest threads of the healthy food/processed food debate has been Big Food’s complaint that they can put healthy options on their menus, but they can’t make people buy them.

It’s a variant of its explanation of why kids’ menus only have hot dogs, fries, and other crap. “It’s all they’ll eat,” they complain. One defect of this strain is that it’s just not true — and besides, “I’m the daddy.”.

Tweets the deserve a longer moment in the sun:

Surrendering just may save your life  [RT from @wtpicketfence]

Worst marketing practice of the week: Crayons functional kids’ drinks  [RT from @YaleRuddCenter]

Oh dear...!!! 8% of Brits think strawberry ice cream counts towards your "five a day" - Mirror Online  [RT from @NutritionRocks1]

ChildObesity180.org, an initiative of Tufts University, is offering $500,000 in prizes to reward and disseminate innovative school programs that help get children active.

The competition, which is has dubbed the Active School Acceleration Project, is open to teachers and institutions who have come up with fresh ways to get kids moving. More information is at a website created for the purpose.

Deadline for entries is April 2.

In April 2009, I attended an invitation-only conference on obesity in Bainbridge Island, Wash., and it was one of the best strokes of good fortune I’ve yet encountered, not only for the knowledge that was shared but for the relationships I got to form.

   If your doctor wants to address the excess weight you’re carrying, she’s being advised not to use loaded words such as “obesity” – even if it’s the proper medical term.
    According to a new study of 390 obese patients, certain phrases can lead people to clam up and stop talking about the issue with their physician.

When I maybe 12 years old, I talked Donald, the sometimes-shaven caretaker at the synagogue my family attended, to let me take home the leftover challah after Saturday services. It was just a few slices, but they was free, and I wouldn’t have to share them with anyone.

Are you sure it’s OK with your folks, Donald would ask, and of course, I’d assure him it was, just as assuredly that it was not.

I don’t remember how many times he gave me the leftovers, but I remember why he stopped: My mother found a crumb-filled bag under my bed, and the jig was up.

As many readers know, I used to weigh as much as 365 pounds. Today, I hover between 205 and 210, with a height of 5-foot-10 1/2. I often say that for 20-years-plus, I’ve had a normal-sized body.

I choose that description because I’m certainly not thin, and besides, during the dark years when most people knew I was freakishly fat before they knew a single other fact about me, normal-sized was as lofty as my goals ever got.

I saw this over at Dances With Fat, Ragen Chastain's blog, and am passing on.

Welcome to another installment of "10 Words or Less," in which I ask brief questions, and request brief answers, of interesting people. Today’s contestant is a chef and food-justice activist who circulates an exhaustive compendium of food-related news. Remember: the 10-words thing is a goal, not a rule, so please, no counting. And besides, let’s see you do it.
Name Jenny Huston
Born when, where San Francisco, February 1959
Resides Oakland
Occupation Food services consultant
How long have you been doing your weekly news update? “Since 2003.”
How much time does it take you? “Only a couple hours. As I come across things, they just get stuck into the list.”