Hungry

When healthy foods are expensive and processed carbs are cheap, you end up with expanding waistlines and long lines at food banks.

The Biden administration might need more help from Congress for such an ambitious goal, but any effort that starts with a science-based approach will help save and improve many lives. The narrative seems obvious the same way it must have seemed obvious for a long time that the Earth was the center of the universe. In that narrative, only those with the most willpower and self-discipline stay thin. It wouldn’t be the first time our understanding of obesity got a major overhaul. The old thinking that all calories are alike and obesity was caused by lack of willpower couldn’t explain why poverty, food deserts and obesity have been concentrated in the same communities. Those hormones trigger teens to eat voraciously and to use the excess calories for growth. When in the form of fruits, vegetables, beans or some whole grains, they are absorbed slowly because of the fibrous plant material surrounding the carbohydrates, but in white bread or sugary cereal or soda they’re absorbed fast and generate spikes of insulin. Something similar happens in pregnancy when hormones trigger a woman to feel hungrier; the extra energy goes into growth of the fetus and placenta. But emerging from the fray is some agreement about the kind of diet that’s harmful to human health. Calories measure the amount of energy available from food, but the human body can’t be fueled up the way a car can. Under this new understanding, people eating the wrong kind of diet can suffer from both hunger and obesity. Obesity affects about 40% of the U.S.

Beet hummus. Rhubarb mint lemonade. Potato salad. Pizza with squash.

When Dan Erwin arrived at Kenner Discovery in March as an assistant football coach, he couldn't believe his eyes.

Half of consumers call conscious eating a top priority; one-third say sustainable eating is too. But people are dissatisfied with today's choices.

Our latest US pulse survey finds that 74 percent of consumers are changing their shopping behavior to get more for their money, including buying food in bulk, adjusting the quantities purchased, and purchasing a less expensive brand or private label. Consumers are especially critical of the lack of plastic-free products; small, independent brands; and organic foods. Less than half of consumers believe that their principal grocery store stocks the products they need for healthy and sustainable eating. The survey, however, identified four obstacles to the expansion of conscious eating that retailers and food companies can help overcome. Most survey respondents, especially in the United States, consume plant-based products to benefit their own health much more than the health of the environment. Just a small percentage of the consumers surveyed identify as vegan or vegetarian (3 to 6 percent across the markets studied), and that number has increased only slightly over the years. About 33 percent call themselves consumers of plant-based products, especially plant-based milk and meat. Across the countries studied, about 33 percent of consumers under the age of 44 would pay more for foods Consumers admit that their willingness to take steps to advance sustainability depends on the effort required. One in two consumers surveyed say that the pandemic changed the way they eat, and one in six made major changes. Food is essential to achieving that goal, and about 50 percent of consumers, across age groups, say healthy eating is a top priority for them. We found that conscious eating is here to stay, but consumers are confused about what food is healthy and sustainable.

As Mayor Louie Trujillo says, “Las Vegas and San Miguel County have been through a lot. The pandemic, The Hermits Peak/ Calf Canyon Wildfire, the flooding, ...