Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there!

We’ve got another great group of articles this week. Hope you find them as interesting / insightful as we did.

(Also, just to point out for any new readers, clicking on an article’s title will take you to that article in a new browser window or tab.)

What America Spends On Groceries

Source: NPR’s Planet Money

NPR’s Planet Money breaks down how American spending on groceries has changed over the last 30 years in a super helpful set of graphs. The major takeaway: food has gotten a lot cheaper thanks to the industrial food industry, but the quality of the food we’re eating has dropped with the price. Most noticeably, we’re eating twice the amount of processed foods that we were 30 years ago, which is not good. As you may have already read, here’s why processed food is really bad for you.

These great posts offer some more detailed analysis and excellent explanations of how we got to where we are today.

• Guess What, Food is Too Cheap in America! (Fooducate)
• Food has gotten cheaper — but at what cost? (Grist)

Infographic: 9 Shocking Facts About the Food Industry

Source: Take Part

Super quick explanation of what’s wrong with the industrial food system and the American diet. Great for sharing with folks who are less plugged into the food scene.

Vanguard state: California might just lead the way on GMO labeling

Source: Grist

This would be a huge development – we’re strongly rooting for this GMO labeling initiative to pass.  It could very well create a ripple effect that would impact other states, almost immediately in fact.

Who benefits most from food stamps? Follow the money!

Source: Food Politics

Are food stamps really just another subsidy for the processed food industry? Marion Nestle breaks down how the big food companies benefit from the SNAP program and how they’re lobbying to prevent limiting food stamp expenditures to healthier items (i.e. restricting people from spending all of their food stamps on processed food). Here’s the full report if you want to give that a read: Food Stamps: Follow the Money.

Confused About Carbs? 5 Common Myths

Source: Huffpost Healthy Living

Some great facts about carbs. Most importantly, that you don’t need to get them from bread, pasta, cereal, rice, or potatoes – you can get all you need by eating enough fruits, vegetables, nuts / seeds, beans, and legumes.

Choosing a Sugar Substitute

Source: New York Times Well Blog

The NY Times Well blog does a deep dive on artificial sweeteners.  We found the last section to be the most interesting, which noted that “the human digestive system seems to overlook liquid calories. Someone who drinks the 140 calories in a 12-ounce can of Coke will not subconsciously eliminate 140 calories elsewhere in the diet” (as they would if those 140 calories came from a solid piece of food). This is a great read for anyone who’s trying to better understand the risks associated with both sugar and artificial sweeteners.

Are sugar substitutes hiding in your food?

Source: Well+Good NYC

Some great insights about why sugar alcohols aren’t good for you. Namely, they can be stressful on the GI tract (causing unpleasant digestive symptoms) and cause your body to store more fat. Check out the full post to see how they do this, which is very interesting.

Will the Butterball raid yield any real results?

Source: Grist

Let’s hope so. Their plant in Shannon, NC recently got raided by the local sheriff’s office in response to a 2 month undercover investigation by the Mercy For Animals (MFA) non-profit animal advocacy group. The level of animal abuse that was happening at this plant is sickening (you can watch the graphic video here if you’re up for it, but do be careful as it’s pretty intense).

18 Terrifying Facts About How Stress Can Totally Destroy Your Body

Source: Business Insider

The title is a bit sensational, but it’s good to be aware of this stuff. Stress can have a pretty big negative impact on your health, especially chronic stress.

4 reasons to eat more berries now

Source: Well+Good NYC

Eat your berries!

Interval Training, Redefined

Source: Equinox Blog

Sounds like a great quick workout, especially for runners. But you can apply this approach to any cardio routine (elliptical, bike, stairmaster, etc.).