Friday, February 10, 2012
Monday, February 06, 2012
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Hershey Will Offer Certified Chocolate Following Consumer-Driven Campaign
Company announces new commitment to buying Rainforest Alliance certified cocoa after hearing from over 100,000 consumers; takes first step to addressing child labor
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WASHINGTON, D.C.///February 1, 2012/// The Hershey Company announced yesterday that it will make its first commitment to sourcing independently certified cocoa for its Bliss line by the end of 2012. The announcement was made days before International Labor Right Forum was scheduled to run a Super Bowl ad highlighting Hershey’s use of child labor and follows a multi-year campaign that generated over 100,000 letters to Hershey, including from 50,000 supporters on Change.org asking Hershey to improve its cocoa sourcing practices.
The “Raise the Bar, Hershey! Coalition”, a group of responsible cocoa advocates led by Global Exchange, Green America, and International Labor Rights Forum, started the campaign after identifying Hershey as behind its competitors on addressing child labor, forced labor, and other abuses in the cocoa industry.
"We are heartened to see Hershey's taking this first step towards accountability in their supply chain and we will continue to dialogue with them about how to ensure they no longer depend on forced child labor," said Judy Gearhart, executive director of the International Labor Rights Forum. "The threat of a Super Bowl ad forced the announcement, but Hershey’s new moves are really the result of thousands of consumers, students, church congregations and community groups writing to them over the past two years.”
The Raise the Bar, Hershey Coalition has been increasing pressure on Hershey, including launching a petition on Change.org, creating “brand-jamming” photos and videos of Hershey products, blanketing the company’s Facebook wall in messages, organizing rallies at Hershey flagship stores, and delivering more than 100,000 letters from concerned consumers to Hershey’s corporate headquarters on Halloween.
“The Raise the Bar, Hershey! Coalition is excited to see Hershey listening to consumer demand for ethically sourced cocoa,” said Elizabeth O’Connell, fair trade campaigns director for Green America, “but we also recognize there is much more work to be done to fight child labor and other abuses in the cocoa industry, and we will continue to encourage Hershey to develop ethical sourcing practices.”
“The growth and ultimate success of Raise the Bar, Hershey’s petition on Change.org is incredible,” said Change.org Director of Organizing Amanda Kloer. “Hershey responded to consumer pressure with a significant improvement in cocoa sourcing transparency. It has been empowering to watch this group of concerned organizations and individuals use Change.org’s tools to fight for changes at the Hershey Company.”
In response to Hershey’s announcement, eighth grader Jasper Perry-Anderson has created a follow-up campaign on Change.org asking the Hershey Trust to ensure the Hershey Company expands its commitment to certified cocoa to all its products in the future.
Journalists interested in contacting Hershey’s public relations staff should try:
Andy McCormick, Vice President, Public Affairs
717-534-5739
anccormick@hersheys.com
717-534-5739
anccormick@hersheys.com
Kirk Saville, Spokesperson
800-468-1714
ksaville@hersheys.com
800-468-1714
ksaville@hersheys.com
The Raise the Bar, Hershey! Coalition is led by the following organizations:
GREEN AMERICA is the nation’s leading green economy organization. Founded in 1982, Green America (formerly Co-op America) provides the economic strategies, organizing power and practical tools for businesses and individuals to solve today's social and environmental problems. http://www.GreenAmerica.org
GLOBAL EXCHANGE is a membership-based international human rights organization dedicated to promoting social, economic and environmental justice around the world.http://www.GlobalExchange.org
INTERNATIONAL LABOR RIGHTS FORUM is an advocacy organization dedicated to achieving just and humane treatment for workers worldwide.http://www.LaborRights.org
ABOUT CHANGE.ORG
Change.org is the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change — growing by more than 500,000 new members a month, and empowering millions of people to start, join, and win campaigns for social change in their community, city and country. For more information on Change.org, please visit: http://www.change.org/about
GLOBAL EXCHANGE is a membership-based international human rights organization dedicated to promoting social, economic and environmental justice around the world.http://www.GlobalExchange.org
INTERNATIONAL LABOR RIGHTS FORUM is an advocacy organization dedicated to achieving just and humane treatment for workers worldwide.http://www.LaborRights.org
ABOUT CHANGE.ORG
Change.org is the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change — growing by more than 500,000 new members a month, and empowering millions of people to start, join, and win campaigns for social change in their community, city and country. For more information on Change.org, please visit: http://www.change.org/about
Friday, January 27, 2012
Good fats and vitamins keep the brain young!
By James J. Gormley
“Get rid of all trans fats in your diet!” is the main takeaway message from a December 28 study on vitamins and the brain in the journal Neurology.
According to lead author Gene Bowman ND MPH, an assistant professor of neurology at the NIA-Layton Center for Aging & Alzheimer Research at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, the study, entitled “Nutrient biomarker patterns, cognitive function, and MRI measures of brain aging,” looked at the relationship between nutrient status, cognitive function and brain health in 104 elderly participants, 62 percent of whom were women.
Utilizing eight distinct nutrient biomarker patterns (NBPs) out of 30 that were originally developed, the authors were able to see, by using psychological and cognitive tests, blood tests and nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) which participants had less brain shrinkage, or atrophy, and what these nutrient profiles suggest as to what dietary practices may be associated with better cognitive health as we age.
The nutrient biomarker pattern (NBP) was first tested and validated against food frequency questionnaire studies by Bowman and his colleagues in an earlier 2011 study which appeared in the journal, Alzheimer’s Disease & Related Disorders.
“What we’re doing is picking up on the plasma signatures of different nutrient combinations, which will help us come up with better nutritional and public health recommendations,” said Bowman, in a December 29 phone interview.
The results indicated that those who had the highest blood (plasma) levels of vitamins B, C, D and E and omega-3 fats (good fats) did the best on cognitive tests and had the healthiest brains; those who had the most bad fat, specifically trans fat, in their blood did the worst on cognitive tests and had the least healthy brains – meaning their brains showed some initial signs of volume loss, or shrinkage, an early warning for potential dementia or Alzheimer’s disease down the road.
According to Jeffrey Blumberg PhD, director of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston, the results of “the Bowman study are consistent with several of the studies completed by Martha Clare Morris (and her colleague, Christy Tangney).
“They are also consistent with those showing a beneficial relationship of B vitamins (especially B12) and brain volume published a couple years ago (from a British group). Similarly, observational studies have shown an inverse correlation between folate [folic acid] intake/status and risk for age-related dementias. The Physicians Health Study found beta-carotene is associated with less cognitive decline in aging. And some (but not all) studies have found a benefit of vitamin E supplementation on cognitive performance and/or rate of decline in Alzheimer’s disease.”
It is known that trans fats, which are found in deep-fried foods and as partially hydrogenated oils found in packaged snack and other processed foods, are bad. This study, however, is “the first study to look at trans fats in the context of brain health and functioning,’ added Bowman.
This study, said Bowman, was funded by the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). A future study, one that is in the works, will look at the impact of diet on cognition in people over many years or even decades, which is called a longitudinal study.
“Is all that frozen pizza really worth it?,” asked Bowman, who suggests, on the positive side, that people should consider eating more “fish, beans, citrus fruits [and] dark green leafy vegetables.”
Gormley Files Take-Away: Is pizza bad? No, it can be pretty healthy, and frozen pizza at your local health-food store is probably very healthy! But the takeaway here is the very real science that shows that diets drenched in nasty, oxidized trans fats and saturated fats, and low in nutrients makes the brain atrophy, or shrink. Diets rich in omega-3 fats, B vitamins and antioxidants (and low in the bad stuff) keep the old neuroprocessor between our ears healthy and peppy!
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Friday, December 23, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
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