Carnism and Melanie Joy
We don’t see meat eating as we do vegetarianism – as a choice, based on a set of assumptions about animals, our world, and ourselves. Rather, we see it as a given, the “natural” thing to do, the way things have always been and the way things will always be. We eat animals without thinking about what we are doing and why, because the belief system that underlies this behavior is invisible. This invisible belief system is what I call carnism. ~Melanie Joy
Medical School and Nutrition Education
Doctors…..cannot be expected to properly treat patients or guide the prevention of cardiovascular disease, obesity, cancer, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome if they are not trained to identify and modify the contributing lifestyle factors. ~Kathaleen Briggs Early, Kelly M Adams, and Martin Kohlmeier
Recently, my friend (a doctor) told me her son graduated from University of Virginia’s medical school and had no more than a few hours of nutrition education throughout the four-year program. Although I heard that medical students are rarely required to take a course on nutrition, I didn’t know the specifics which led me to do some research which revealed the following information: Read more 
Bring Back Home Economics
Why is so much classroom time spent on Math, Science, English, and History and so little on Health and Nutrition?
Kids and teenagers are overwhelmed with homework, standardized tests, AP courses, sports, and extracurricular activities – all of which require the brain and the body to perform at an optimum level for success. Yet, time is rarely allocated to learning about what it takes to properly nourish the body because parents, schools, and outside sources (i.e. McDonald’s, Five Guys, Chick-fil-A, Dunkin Donuts, Chipotle) provide the finished product (food) to our kids. Read more
COWSPIRACY: The Sustainability Secret
Why doesn’t The Sierra Club, Oceana, Greenpeace, Surfrider Foundation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Rainforest Action Network, and Amazon Watch loudly communicate about the number one environmental problem in the world?
News outlets recently reported that Bill Gates, Peter Thiel, Jerry Yang, and Jessica Powell are investing in Hampton Creek – a small company based in San Francisco focused on developing new ways of utilizing plants to replace eggs and animal products in a variety of different foods. Why would the co-founders of Microsoft, PayPal, Yahoo, and Google invest in a company promoting plant-based foods? The answer is surprisingly simple: there is one single industry that is destroying the planet more than any other: animal agriculture (which includes animal livestock and fishing). Hard to believe? It’s true but it’s one of the best kept secrets on this planet because no one wants to talk about it. Why? That’s a good question. Read more
“The SAT Is Not Fair”
The cover story of the New York Times Magazine (March 9, 2014) was the SAT – the standardized test designed to put high school students on a level playing field when it comes to college admissions in the US. Written by Todd Balf, the article is humorously (but truthfully) titled “The SAT Is Hated By…All Of The Above” meaning the most widely used college admissions test is despised by “stressed-out students, frustrated educators, hamstrung admissions officers, and anxious parents.” Designed as a tool by which all students could be compared, the SAT doesn’t do what it was designed to do and is, in fact unfair because students have unequal access to two systems: education and test-prep. Read more
“F in Exams”
My daughter was in a French school from 1st – 4th grade and a bilingual French/English school from 5th – 8th grade which used an International Baccalaureate grading system of 1-7, where 1 is the lowest score, 4 is passing, and 7 is a perfect score. When she came back to the US to attend a high school school where the primary language was English, she had to abandon the metric system of measurements, adjust to the language, and adopt a letter grading system which led to this conversation: Read more
Facing Consequences
Several months ago I received an e-mail from my daughter’s school alerting me to contact the school should a pair of crutches turn up. Seems someone stole an injured student’s crutches from the gym. At first I thought this was a prank but then I realized the crutches had to have been missing for a while for the school to send out a community-wide e-mail. Who on earth would steal a pair of crutches from an injured student who couldn’t walk without assistance? Read more
IB Diploma Schools in Florida: Mean Scores
My daughter attended a middle school in Switzerland that provided dual tracts to the International Baccalaureate (“IB”) or the French Baccalaureate Diploma; alternatives to a typical high school diploma. When we decided to move back to the United States, I contacted the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) in Geneva, Switzerland to find out about IB Diploma schools since we preferred to continue with the program. Read more
The IB Diploma School: Asking the Right Questions
Understanding the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program
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