Good Food is Everybody's Business
The recent establishment of an Employees Stock Ownership Plan, made it possible for Bob and Charlee Moore, founders of Bob’s Red Mill, to liquidate part of their ownership in the company and donate $5 million to a new research center at Oregon State University that will focus on whole grain foods nutrition. The center will be called the Moore Family Center for Whole Grain Foods, Nutrition, and Preventative Health.
It turns out that bread made with KAMUT® Brand Khorasan Wheat is not jut good tasting but good for you too. A recently published study confirms antioxidant properties of Kamut® Khorasan Wheat and its role in protecting against oxidative stress.
A new study by the Society of Actuaries – those folks who figure out all the odds that help insurance companies make money – estimates that the total economic cost of overweight and obese people in the U.S. and Canada is $300 billion a year.
First Lady Michelle Obama added the power of her presence to Walmart’s announcement of its Nutrition Charter, an initiative for healthy eating. Walmart will reformulate products to improve nutrition by 2015 by reducing sodium 25% and added sugars 10%, and removing all trans fats; make healthy food more affordable by reducing the cost of fruits and vegetables and healthier options; developing a healthy seal to make it easier for customers to make healthy choices.
Michelle Obama’s handshake with Walmart is center stage news today. The whole emphasis is on price as if the organic and natural food movement is responsible for low income people not being able to eat right and Walmart is ready to save the day by making good food affordable.
Nearly 40% of US consumers buy products that are – or contain – certified organic ingredients, a number that has held steady for the last three years. Where those consumers are shopping for those products has changed toward conventional and mass market outlets and away from natural food stores.
In a new market report by Global Industry Analysts (GIA), the global market for soy foods is forecast to reach US$42.3 billion by 2015. Good news for soybean growers and processors; is it good news for consumers? Consumers need to be aware of a solvent called hexane used to extract the oil from soybeans.
In the spring of 2008, huge jumps in food prices – up nearly double in the previous two years – triggered food riots around the world. Are we likely to see the same thing happen this year? The price of commodities – of which wheat is one – has become extremely volatile as a result of changing supply and demand. Weather conditions, reflective of changing climate, have caused a variety of disasters that make commodity prices fluctuate wildly.
