According to Men’s Health Texas has 5 of the Top 10 Fattest Cities in the nation. There are many factors that contribute to this astonishing number, but there is one thing you can do to improve not only the health of Texas, but of the entire nation; rethink the food label.
Rethink the Food Label is a project by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism’s News21 program and Good Magazine. They are asking the public, food thinkers, nutritionists, and designers to redesign the Nutrition Facts Label to make it easier to read and more useful to people who want to consume healthier, more nutritious and wholesome food.
Your design could incorporate the nutrition label’s existing break down of fats, sugars, vitamins, calorie counts and percent daily values. Or, you could re-imagine the label to include geography, food quality, food justice, carbon footprint, or lesser-known chemosensory characteristics. The objective is to inspire better food and nutrition literacy with clear, simple, easy-to-understand labels.
Many people read food labels, but don’t always understand what they mean. Is 3 grams of fiber enough? How much is a gram? How many grams of fat fit in a teaspoon? How many calories from fat should you have?
People are confused about what and how to eat and so it seems many American’s are giving up. In fact, Americans and it looks like Texans especially are eating too much of everything. Two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. The obesity rate among preschoolers has doubled since 1970. Type 2 diabetes has become an epidemic.
Last year at the Grocery Manufacturers Association conference Michelle Obama said, “We need clear, consistent, front-of-the-package, labels that give people the information they’ve been asking for, in a format they understand.”
Redesign the food label. Incorporate the existing nutrition facts and calorie counts. Or reimagine a label entirely based on food quality, food justice, or lesser-known chemosensory characteristics. Consider a food's carbon footprint or its cultural significance. Above all, make the redesigned label informative, instructive, and memorable.Follow this link to learn more Rethink the Food Label.
Take this opportunity to make a difference. There may be no better opportunity to Educate & Inspire.
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