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The issue of food scarcity and food deserts have led to protests and shined a spotlight on deep-rooted inequities in Chicago. "It is an abomination to think that 10 miles from Englewood people are living twenty years longer because they have access to things they need," said Ameya Pawar, Economic Security Project. The non-profit Economic Security Project and the city are partnering to explore the creation of a municipally owned grocery store. "Really it's filling the gaps for the market and making sure that people have access to all the goods and resources that they need to survive and thrive,"...

(CNSNews.com) – At a summit by the Aspen Institute’s Project Play, first lady Michelle Obama said Tuesday that some U.S. communities are “play deserts,” because they don’t have sufficient opportunities for kids to participate in sports and other outdoor activities, compared to wealthy communities. “So many communities are becoming play deserts, but in wealthy communities, there is a wealth of resources. You can be in field hockey, or you can learn how to swim. There are aquatic centers and -- I’ve seen the difference. The disparities are amazing to me,” she said. As CNSNews.com previously reported, the Obama administration coined...

glaringly missing from the summary was mention of $15 million in fees paid by Burkle's Yucaipa Global Opportunities Fund since 2002

I mentioned two days ago the decision of schools to ban birthday cupcakes. Michelle Obama is essentially fighting with students to get them to change what they eat. But what is missing from this story is the proper context. The fact is that our bad eating habits are getting encouraged by taxpayer money. In fact, the government arguably changed our dietary habits to their present behavior. The Foundation for Economic Education came out with an article yesterday about dealing with “food deserts.”

(CNSNews.com) – First lady Michelle Obama is praising what has often been one of the left’s biggest targets, Walmart, for helping to fight obesity and “food deserts” in the United States. “At Walmart, you can believe that as America’s largest retailer, you have an obligation that goes far beyond the bottom line,” Obama said Thursday at a Walmart in Springfield, Mo. “You know that every day, with the products you sell, you’re helping parents get by on a budget -- which is what everybody in this country is trying to do. You’re helping kids get the nutrition they need to...

Michigan politicians met in downtown Detroit on May 14 to break ground on a new Whole Foods Market with hopes of boosting the area’s economy and bringing new jobs to the city. The new store is said to be part of an incentive package that includes $4.2 million in state and local funds. The store will receive tax credits and promise to remain open for seven years after receiving the first installment, Spero News reported.

Among the food-related bogeymen that activists blame for America’s bulging waistlines is the so-called “food desert,” an urban or rural area that has a shortage of supermarkets. At first blush, it might seem like living in one of these “deserts” would to reduce a person’s access to fresh fruits and vegetables. However, there’s little evidence that these conditions are actually preventing people from finding nutritious foods if they want them. Regardless, activists ask for “supermarket subsidies” and restaurant zoning prohibitions. But there’s now more evidence that “food deserts” aren’t causing America’s kids to get fat. Researchers from the RAND Corporation...

Bowing to pressure from health advocates and parents, McDonald’s is putting the Happy Meal on a diet. The company announced Tuesday that it would more than halve the amount of French fries and add fruit to its popular children’s meal in an effort to reduce the overall calorie count by 20 percent. But McDonald’s appeasement only went so far. A toy will still come with each Happy Meal despite criticism that the trinkets, often with tie-ins to movies like “Toy Story,” foster a powerful connection between children and the often calorie-laden meals. While Happy Meals account for less than 10...

What a first lady, a chain store and others are doing to try to make fresh fruits and vegetables more available in poor communities. Nothing’s ever as simple as we’d like it to be. A case in point: Policies that simply increase access to supermarkets may not get people to choose an apple over ice cream, a recent study reported. Changing people’s eating habits is difficult, in other words. One reason is money. Healthful foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and dairy, can often be pricey. For the cost of a couple of peaches, a person...

Michelle Obama is a cover girl this week – see the new issue of Better Homes and Gardens – and it’s just what her husband needs. In fact, here’s a pretty good rule of thumb for any president: When the going gets tough, put the inevitably more-popular first lady out front – preferably doing something fun and breezy. Give the public a break from all that stressful talk of debt ceilings and economic calamity and scorching heat.

WASHINGTON -- President Obama's rocky relationship with unions took a few more lumps Wednesday as labor groups pounded both a deficit-cutting proposal he embraced as well as the White House's praise of Walmart. AFL-CIO boss Richard Trumka started by hammering the Gang of Six proposal released Tuesday that would cut the deficit by $3.7 trillion over 10 years, in part by limiting popular middle class deductions for home mortgages, health insurance and retirement savings -- a plan Obama hailed Tuesday. "Both parties keep telling us that deficit reduction requires 'tough choices' and 'shared sacrifice' and 'taking on sacred cows,'" Trumka...

First Lady Michele Obama today announced that several large grocery chains, including Walmart, will add 1,500 new grocery stores over the next five years in poor communities that lack access to fresh foods. The stores are expected to reach 9.5 million people. The First Lady called the initiative a "game-changer for kids and communities all across this country." "We can give people all the information and advice in the world about healthy eating and exercise, but if parents can't buy the food they need to prepare those meals because their only options for groceries are the gas station or the...

First lady takes on ‘food deserts’ Posted by: CNN White House Producer Alexander Mooney Michelle Obama unveiled the latest push in her healthy-eating campaign Wednesday, announcing several national and regional food retailers have pledged to expand into a string of low-income markets where finding nutritious food options is nearly impossible. “If a parent wants to pack a piece of fruit in a child’s lunch, if a parent wants to add some lettuce to a salad at dinner, they shouldn’t have to take three city busses…to go to another community to make that possible,” the first lady said at during a...

A company that serves meals to 2½ million schoolchildren daily in more than 500 districts nationwide, with multimillion-dollar contracts in both Washington and Chicago, has a history of marginal quality and food-safety scares amid concerns over the nutritional content of its school menus, according to school and company records. Chartwells-Thompson School Dining Services, a subsidiary of the Charlotte, N.C.-based Compass Group, owner of Burger King, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, is one of North America's largest school cafeteria operators — its contracts with the Chicago Public Schools from 2001 to 2009 totaling more than $289 million and a D.C. operation...

(CNSNews.com) – The latest “Golden Hookah” award for outrageous government spending, presented by CNSNews.com, goes to First Lady Michelle Obama for calling on Congress to create a $400-million-a-year program to encourage the establishment of supermarkets in places she calls “food deserts.”“To do that,” the first lady has said, “we’re creating a Healthy Food Financing Initiative that’s going to invest $400 million a year -- and leverage hundreds of millions more from the private sector -- to bring grocery stores to underserved areas and help places like convenience stores carry healthier options.”Pushing this $400-million food-desert-eradication plan has been a staple of Michelle...

Those who want to see better public policy in America owe a high five to LeBron James. His highly publicized decision to sign with the Miami Heat brought forth a torrent of articles noting that the star basketball player stood to save a lot on state and local taxes by moving to Florida. Although conservative media noted the incentive early, eventually it hit the New York Times and other mainstream media outlets. It was a great teaching moment, in which the costs of a public policy – in this case high state and local taxes – could be clearly seen....

Michelle Obama, appearing on Mike Huckabee's FNC show over the weekend, raised fears about so-called "food deserts" all over the US, yet she didn't know how to properly define them, even as she lectured down to Americans about the urgency to do something about them. Seizing on fighting childhood obesity as her signature issue, Michelle Obama spoke to Mike Huckabee about the epidemic of kids becoming fatter and more unhealthy in the US, yet she derailed her own cause by coming across as not knowledgeable at all about exactly what she was referring to. Raising fears about "food deserts" all...