Walmart To Make And Sell Healthier Foods

WASHINGTON — Wal-Mart, the nation's largest grocer, says it will reformulate thousands of products to make them healthier and push its suppliers to do the same, joining first lady Michelle Obama's effort to combat childhood obesity.

The first lady accompanied Wal-Mart executives Thursday as they announced the effort in Washington. The company plans to reduce sodium and added sugars in some items, build stores in poor areas that don't already have grocery stores, reduce prices on produce and develop a logo for healthier items.

"No family should have to choose between food that is healthier for them and food they can afford," said Bill Simon, president and CEO of Wal-Mart's U.S. division.

As the largest grocer in the United States, Wal-Mart's size gives it unique power to shape what people eat. The grocery business is nearly twice the size of No. 2 competitor Kroger. The company also has massive influence on products made by other manufacturers and sold at the store.

Mrs. Obama said the announcement has "the potential to transform the marketplace and help Americans put healthier foods on their tables every single day."

"We are really gaining some momentum on this issue, we're beginning to see things move," she said.

The nation's largest retailer plans to reduce sodium by a quarter and cut added sugars in some of its private label products by 2015. It also plans to remove remaining industrially produced trans fats. The foods Wal-Mart will concentrate on our products like lunch meats, fruit juices and salad dressings, items that contain high levels of sugar or sodium that consumers don't know they're ingesting..

A number of food makers have made similar moves, lowering sodium in their products based on shopper demand and increasing scrutiny by health groups. Bumble Bee Foods, General Mills Inc., Campbell Soup Co., PepsiCo Inc. and Kraft Foods Inc. all announced sodium reductions to their products last year.

During the press conference Wednesday, Andrea Thomas, Wal-Mart's senior vice president of sustainability acknowledged those industry efforts but said,"Our goal is not to supplant these efforts, but to encourage their widespread adoption. We see our role as a convener and a catalyst. 

Food makers say they are trying to reduce sodium gradually, making it a more palatable change to its customers and giving the industry time to reformulate products. Most said they support efforts to curb sodium in American's diets but are waiting to see if the Food and Drug Administration decides to mandate a reduction.

Wal-Mart said it would reduce prices on fruits and vegetables by $1 billion a year by attempting to cut unnecessary costs from the supply chain. The company also said it would work to reduce price premiums on healthier items made with more expensive ingredients.

"Our customers often ask us why whole wheat pasta sometimes costs more than regular pasta made by the same manufacturer," said Thomas.

Mrs. Obama has a history of working with Wal-Mart. She once served on the board of Westchester, Ill.-based TreeHouse Foods Inc., a food supplier for the store, but resigned in 2007 while her husband was campaigning for the presidency. Barack Obama had criticized the store over wages and benefits it pays employees.

RUMOR NOT TRUE! POSTAL SERVICE WILL CONTINUE BLACK HERITAGE STAMP SERIES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts: Frances Frazier 202-268-2898
February 6, 2004 Web Site: www.usps.com
Stamp News Release Number: 04-009



WASHINGTON - The Postal Service is committed to honoring African Americans on stamps and will continue to do so.

Recent newspaper articles and fast spreading Internet rumors stating that the U.S. Postal Service will discontinue its long-standing Black Heritage stamp series are totally untrue, as is the allegation that the Postal Service has directed that current stamps be destroyed. 

"This rumor is totally false," said Executive Director of Stamp Services David Failor. "In fact, on Jan. 20, we issued the Paul Robeson commemorative stamp, the 27th in our popular Black Heritage series." 

Currently, two Black Heritage series stamps are available - Paul Robeson and Thurgood Marshall. "If a local Post Office has sold out of these stamps and hasn't had a chance to reorder, customers can easily and quickly order the Black Heritage series stamps online at The Postal Store (www.usps.com/shop) or by phone at 800-STAMP24," added Failor.

Facts about the Black Heritage series:

The Black Heritage stamp series is one of the most popular of the Postal Service's U.S. commemorative stamp series. As a result of customer demand for the stamps, the Postal Service recently began producing a higher-than-average quantity.

It is not the policy of the Postal Service to destroy stamps while they remain available for sale. Generally, commemorative stamps are available for sale for about a year after they are issued.

The Black Heritage series began in 1978 with a stamp honoring American abolitionist Harriet Tubman. Each fall, the honoree for the following year is announced.

Since 1775, the U.S. Postal Service has connected friends, families, neighbors and businesses by mail. An independent federal agency, the Postal Service makes deliveries to about 140 million addresses every day and is the only service provider to deliver to every address in the nation. The Postal Service receives no taxpayer dollars for routine operations, but derives its operating revenues solely from the sale of postage, products and services. With annual revenues of more than $66 billion, it is the world's leading provider of mail and delivery services, offering some of the most affordable postage rates in the world. Moreover, today's postage rates will remain stable until at least 2006. The U.S. Postal Service delivers more than 43 percent of the world's mail volume - some 203 billion letters, advertisements, periodicals and packages a year - and serves seven million customers each day at its 38,000 retail locations nationwide. 

Dr. Cornel West offers Hope in Latest Paperback Book

*New York, NY — When Dr. Cornel West speaks, people not only listen, they grab a pen to take notes. As a New York Times best-selling author, Princeton University professor, renowned speaker, and one of America’s most respected public intellectuals, this cultural rock star speaks boldly about issues others sidestep and delivers knowledge that is potent, challenging, and liberating. “Uncompromising and unconventional . . . Cornel West is an eloquent prophet with attitude,” says Newsweek.

West’s latest paperback release, Hope on a Tightrope: Words & Wisdom, an Essence bestseller and NAACP Image Award nominee reveals why his wisdom is frequently a “top tweet” on Twitter.

This accessible and indispensible collection, filled with provocative commentary on a wide range of issues – including Social Justice, Identity and Race, Courage, Faith, Music, and Leadership – has the power to not only change the way people think; it motivates them to act.

Topics in Hope on a Tightrope include:

* America’s future: We are now in one of the most truly prophetic moments in the history of America. The poor and very poor are sleeping with self-destruction. The working and middle classes are struggling against paralyzing pessimism and the privileged are swinging between cynicism and hedonism. Yes, these are the circumstances that people of conscience must operate under during this moment of national truth or consequences.

* The Obama administration: The depth and substance of the Obama victory remains an open-ended question and is sometimes downright disappointing . . . How I wish that President Obama’s economic team treated poor and working people with the same respect and support given to the financial oligarchs and corporate elites. Yet our task remains two-fold: While we must vigilantly fight the vicious attacks of the right-wing media on Brother Obama designed to destroy his presidency and undermine our democracy, we must also apply unrelenting pressure on the Obama administration to support poor and working people.

* Speaking truth to power: There is always a fundamental tension between a commitment to truth and a quest for power. The two are never compatible. It could be Socrates, Jesus, Martin Luther King, Jr., or Fannie Lou Hamer. You always need a prophetic critique of those in power. Power intoxicates. Power seduces. Power corrupts. There is always a need for somebody to tell the truth to the powerful.

* Music’s influence: Our literary giants view themselves in many ways as intellectual literary extensions of those great musical geniuses. It’s no accident that our greatest writer, Toni Morrison, has often said that she would like to write the way Sarah Vaughan sings. And did not Ralph Ellison try to write like Louis Armstrong blew his horn?

High Quality Speakers Bureau will be hosting a series of nationwide Cornel West Hope on a Tight Rope “Tweet and Greets” beginning with a taping of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in Los Angeles on January 19 and a special event at California State University, Northridge on February 3. For location details on how to join Dr. West and special guests visitwww.cornelwest.com/HOAT.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Educator and philosopher Cornel West is the Class of 1943 University Professor at Princeton University. Known as one of America’s most gifted and important public intellectuals, he is the author of the contemporary classic Race Matters, which changed the course of America’s dialogue on race and justice, the New York Times bestseller Democracy Matters, and the memoir Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud. His latest project, co-hosting Smiley & West with his longtime friend Tavis Smiley, is featured on Public Radio International (PRI). Dr. West is the recipient of the American Book Award and holds more than 20 honorary degrees.

If you would like more information about Hope on a Tightrope, or if you wish to schedule an interview with Dr. Cornel West, please contact Kira Citron at kcitron@hayhouse.com or call 646-484-4963.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Hope on a Tightrope: Words & Wisdom
SmileyBooks, January 2010 (Paperback / ISBN: 978-1-4019-3076-9, $14.95)

Don't overeat like Oprah

By Elizabeth Cohen, CNN

January 20, 2011 7:57 a.m. EST

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Binge eaters often eat huge amounts, and overeat at least once a week for three months
• Just before a binge, remind yourself why you're binging
• When something is truly sad, sometimes you just have to feel it

RELATED TOPICS

• American Psychological Association
• Eating Disorders
• Mental Health
• Bulimia
• Anorexia Nervosa

(CNN) -- Just like the rest of us, Oprah Winfrey has her dark moments.

Winfrey's was in 1998, when a segment on her show, "Remembering Your Spirit" was coming under fire for being too New Age-y and her new movie, "Beloved," had a disappointing performance at the box office.

"All of that kind of happened on the same day," Winfrey said a year later on her television show. "All of these stories were coming out about letting the Oprah backlash begin."

Winfrey handled the stress by asking her chef to make her macaroni and cheese and bread pudding.

Recently, CNN's Piers Morgan asked her about that time.

"How much macaroni did you eat?" he asked.

"I ate about 30 pounds worth. I'm not kidding," Winfrey told Morgan. "I really, literally, went into a tailspin with it."

Winfrey's not alone in using food to fight emotional distress. A 2007 study by Harvard Medical School psychiatrists found binge eating disorder is more common than either anorexia or bulimia, affecting 3.5% of women and 2% of men.

Binge eating is included only provisionally in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The manual is the standard by which psychiatrists diagnose mental illnesses and has implications for insurance coverage. For the fifth edition of the DSM,many experts are recommending that binge eating be listed as its own diagnosis.

Binge eaters don't just eat too much dessert at their favorite restaurant or pig out at a party. Binge eaters often eat huge amounts -- entire large pizzas and cartons of ice cream, for example -- and overeat at least once a week for three months, according to experts. They often eat alone because they're embarrassed over how much they're eating, and then feel disgusted with themselves and guilty afterward.

Counselors say what fuels the binges is a desire to get away from an unpleasant feeling. In Winfrey's case, that was feeling bad about the criticism of her show and the lower-than-expected box office numbers.

"It's not really about the mac and cheese," says Mary O'Malley, a counselor who treats binge eaters in Kirkland, Washington. "You're eating because you want something inside of you to numb out."

Some people with binge eating need professional counseling, and the American Psychological Association has advice for choosing a treatment program.

Other binge eaters find help in support groups, such as those run by Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous and Overeaters Anonymous.

Many binge eaters say they've managed to stop by using self-help techniques. Here from experts, former binge eaters and Winfrey herself is advice on what to do if you're a binge eater.

1. Realize you can change

"The most pervasive misconception about binge eating is that it's hopeless, that I'm hopeless," says Ellen Shuman, vice president of the Binge Eating Disorder Association.

"There is recovery from binge eating disorders."

Self-help treatment effective for binge eating, researchers say

2. Identify your emotional distress

Winfrey says at first, she thought it was all about the food.

"I thought I just wanted some macaroni," she said on her show in 1999.

On the show, Winfrey told book author Gary Zukav it took her a while to connect the eating with her emotional distress.

"I didn't connect the powerlessness until just this moment," she said.

3. Just before a binge, remind yourself why you're binging

Let's dissect a binge. Before the actual eating occurs, the binger has what Shuman calls a "food thought" -- a thought that eating would be a good idea.

Before that thought turns into action, try to figure out why you're eating, Shuman suggests.

Just last weekend, Shuman, who suffered binge eating disorder for decades, had a food thought that could have turned into a binge but didn't.

"I asked myself, 'What am I feeling right now?' she says. "I realized I had food thoughts because I had to write something for my website, but I didn't want to do it. I just wanted to watch two DVDs I had at home and have dinner with my friends."

She decided instead of eating, she'd write for three hours, which would leave her enough time to watch one of the DVDs and have dinner. She says making that plan averted using food as an emotional crutch.

4. Figure out if you're distorting the truth

Once you identify the emotion that's leading to the binge, you should then ask yourself whether you're upset over nothing.

"I remember once I was upset because someone at work passed my desk and kept going," Shuman remembers. "I thought to myself, 'Did I do something to upset them? Did I do something that made them not like me anymore?' Later I learned they had an emergency call from their kid, and they were running to their office to take the call."

The lesson: "I learned I was binging over something that wasn't even true."

Shuman says if she'd been counseling Winfrey at the time, she would have encouraged her to think about the significance of her disappointing movie sales and the criticism of her show.

"I would have told her the critics and the public have the right to their opinion, and it shouldn't cause Oprah to feel badly about Oprah because their opinions didn't match hers," she says.

"I would have said, 'Does it mean you'll never be able to make a good movie ever again? No. And while you have every right to feel upset, what value is there to doing damage to yourself by binging?' "

5. Feel the sadness

When something is truly sad, sometimes you just have to feel it, O'Malley says.

"On the morning of September 11, I woke up and turned on the TV," she remembers. "I was overwhelmed with calls from clients, and we had a group that evening and as soon as the last person left, I felt panicked and overwhelmed inside."

She went to the bedroom to get her purse, and then to the car, intending to buy food for a binge.

"I recognized what was going on inside me. My compulsion said to go to the store, and I said to my compulsion, 'We can go to the store, but I'll remind you we don't feel very well when we do that.' I said to my compulsion, 'Can you give me five minutes?' "

Then, O'Malley went to the porch and cried for five minutes. When she was done, the urge to binge was gone.

"I don't know exactly what was going on, maybe just sadness or maybe fear of the terrorists," she says. "All I know is I had this uncomfortable, yucky feeling, and I wanted to get away from it. But when I let the sadness arrive and pass through me, there was no need to binge."

CNN's Sabriya Rice contributed to this report.

Surgeon General: Breastfeeding Should Be Less Hassle

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WASHINGTON — How long a new mom breast-feeds can boil down to hassles at work, whether her doctor ever stressed how super-healthy it is, even whether Grandma approves.

The surgeon general is issuing a call Thursday to eliminate obstacles to breast-feeding – and working moms may see the first steps: The new health care law requires that many employers start offering "reasonable" break times to pump milk and a private place to do it. No, the company bathroom no longer counts.

Breast-feeding benefits both baby and mother but it isn't always easy. Three-quarters of U.S. mothers say they breast-feed during their baby's first days and weeks. But within six months, that drops to 43 percent who are breast-feeding at least sometimes and just 13 percent who follow recommendations that babies receive only breast milk during that first half-year of life.

"The hardest thing is to keep it up, because our society and our culture aren't there to support them," said Surgeon General Regina Benjamin. "They really shouldn't have to go it alone."

Research has long made clear the benefits of breast-feeding. Breast-fed babies suffer fewer illnesses such as diarrhea, earaches and pneumonia, because breast milk contains antibodies that help fend off infections. They're also less likely to develop asthma, or even to become fat later in childhood. Nursing mothers shed pregnancy pounds faster, and if they breast-feed long enough can decrease their risk of breast or ovarian cancer.

The American Academy of Pediatrics says breast milk alone provides optimal nutrition for babies for about the first six months, the time when most babies begin solid foods, and that breast-feeding should continue to age 1.

By 2020, the government hopes to have 82 percent of women start breast-feeding and raise to about a quarter those whose babies are exclusively breast-fed for about six months. Today, those rates are lowest for black babies, with 58 percent starting out breast-fed and 8 percent exclusively breast-fed for six months.

Mothers who cannot or choose not to breast-feed shouldn't be made to feel guilty, Benjamin said.

But for those who want to, her office took a closer look at the obstacles and found plenty.

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Women whose own mothers and grandmothers didn't breast-feed lack support and even may face skepticism, said Benjamin. She urged education of family members, including dad, during prenatal visits – and noted that breast-feeding can save up to $1,500 in infant formula in the first year of life.

Doctors and hospitals should stress the benefits of breast-feeding, before and at delivery. Certified lactation consultants can help ensure women get help with such issues as how the baby latches on and how to ease breast discomfort, she said.

But a big focus is on employers, to make sure moms have the time and privacy to pump milk when they return to work.

"It makes economic sense for the company," Benjamin stressed. "Women miss less time at work when the babies are healthy, and there's retention of their good employees."

That's why AOL Inc. created what it calls "mothers' rooms" in its offices in 15 cities around the country. They're quiet nursing spots that come equipped with two different kinds of breast pumps so moms don't have to haul as much gear, and part of a broader program that also includes access to lactation consultants that serves about 100 families a year.

The investment paid off, said vice president Gillian Pon: Since 2003, the company has seen a jump in employee breast-feeding and a drop in health claims for sick newborns.