fast food

New ways to cover Food Deserts in your community

"Food deserts" — geographic areas that don’t have access to fresh, affordable, healthy food, such as fruits and vegetables — are often covered from an angle that reports simply on the fact that produce is lacking. But there are plenty of angles to take when tackling this tough subject. Here are just a few.

Burger King: Health Hazard or Obesity Scapegoat?

Can eating too many desserts cause diabetes? Yes. Is a Burger King advertising campaign to blame? That’s a tougher call, one that few reporters have tried to answer.

The Challenges to Healthy Eating for Low-Income Bostonians

As a National Health Journalism fellow, I will be examining the obstacles to healthy eating for low-income black families in Boston. Specifically, I will focus on the obstacles of food pricing, food access, and the “business of unhealthiness,” the web of market incentives that drive individuals towards unhealthy food choices. In addition, I will also examine the creative solutions local activists devise to overcome these barriers to a nutritious diet.

Healthy Hillsborough: Fast food county

It's 6 p.m. You're tired and hungry. Food is the No. 1 thing on your mind.Your favorite fast-food restaurants line the roads home – McDonald's, Taco Bell, Domino's. So what's for dinner?

Q&A with Michele Simon: Helping consumers see past junk food "nutriwashing"

William Heisel interviews Michele Simon, public health attorney and author of Appetite for Profit, who wants people to rethink what they are eating and why. She peers through the food industry marketing to see what big packaged food manufacturers and restaurant giants are really selling.

Q&A with Michele Simon: Behind the Battle Lines of Local Food Wars

We all know that people in the United States spend a lot of time eating. By the latest global estimates, we are among the most overweight people on the planet. But we also spend a lot of time talking about what we eat, writing about it and legislating about it. William Heisel interviews Michele Simon, author of "Appetite for Profit."

Healthy Homework: Committed to nutrition

Candy bars, Pop-Tarts and french fries were always on the menu in Ruth Sanchez's daily diet.

For years, the 17-year-old consistently made poor eating choices. "Fast food is what I would eat the most," she recalled.

Ruth, a former Merced Scholars Charter School student, said the two main reasons she turned to fast food were because it was affordable and easy to get.

"You are on the run, and you are going to get something from the $1 menu," she explained. "It's quick and it's the cheapest."

Not only did Ruth, who weighs 183 pounds, make the wrong choices when it came to eating, she also didn't live an active life.

That's no longer the case. She has made a dramatic change in her habits.

This is part two in a four-part series.

Part one: Convenience often trumps nutrition

Part three: Providing healthier choices

Part four: No escape from healthy lifestyle effort

Healthy Homework: Convenience often trumps nutrition

Low prices, availability and aggressive targeted marketing are all factors that ensure children and teenagers are eating more fast food than ever before. The Network for a Healthy California is pushing for outdoor advertising that encourages healthier choices. This is part one in a four-part series.

Part two: Committed to nutrition

Part three: Providing healthier choices

Part four: No escape from healthy lifestyle effort

In the kingdom of fats and sugar

With limited access to affordable fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods, Mexicans living in New York are frequenting fast food restaurants instead of farmers' markets. The result is a spike in obesity and diabetes among this immigrant group.

This story was originally published in Spanish. Below is the English translation.

Part 3: In a sedentary country

What's for lunch?

A group of parents, educators and nutrition experts are making strides to break the cycle of unhealthy food choices among students in the Del Norte County Unified School District.

New ways to cover Food Deserts in your community

Burger King: Health Hazard or Obesity Scapegoat?

The Challenges to Healthy Eating for Low-Income Bostonians

Healthy Hillsborough: Fast food county

Q&A with Michele Simon: Helping consumers see past junk food "nutriwashing"

Q&A with Michele Simon: Behind the Battle Lines of Local Food Wars

Healthy Homework: Committed to nutrition

Healthy Homework: Convenience often trumps nutrition

In the kingdom of fats and sugar

What's for lunch?

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