(page 402)

Chef Rick Bayless, leader of the nanny activist group Chefs Collaborative 2000, joined the bandwagon of activists who are saying America's restaurant portions are too large. "In some cases, it's frightening. In more expensive restaurants, portions are usually smaller; in cheaper restaurants, they're enormously abundant," said Bayless.

The radical Rifkinites from the Organic Consumers Association are trying to stop any and all marketing of irradiated foods. The group calls on its supporters to call Hawaii Pride,…

Scotland's Glasgow University's head of nutrition Michael Lean, an eager candidate for a Nanny Awards 2000 nomination, suggests fighting obesity with an "economic requirement" to modify the food supply by removing high-fat foods. "Why are there still high-fat crisps on the market? Who would notice if you took them away? Let's think along the lines of phasing that type of product out." ("Phase out fatty food to tackle obesity - expert," The Dominion - Wellington, 4/3/00.)

Nannies have filed shareholder resolutions with seven corporations (McDonald's, General Mills, PepsiCo, Quaker Oats, Sara Lee, Proctor & Gamble, and Coca-Cola) urging the companies to stop using genetically engineered ingredients. As John Harrington, a board member of the anti-corporate nanny group Global Exchange, says, "We don't really expect these resolutions to pass, but they start to influence public attitudes."

The radically anti-pesticide nannies at the Environmental Working Group (EWG) are trying to scare people into buying organic produce, specifically apples. EWG has issued a new report that some…

Despite numerous peer-reviewed studies attesting to coffee's safety and benefits, British journalist Jane Clarke goes bonkers over your morning cuppa java. She cites many of CSPI's baseless complaints against caffeine and declares "[C]affeine is capable of completely undermining your body's natural state of well-being." ("Body & mind: a mug's game," The Observer, 4/2/00.)

Pollsters at the food-friendly Economic and Agricultural Trade 2000 website are asking informed consumers if the new USDA organic standards imply an unearned government seal-of-approval on organic rhetoric about safety, nutrition and health. Check ABC's 20/20 story to get the real scoop on organic food.

U.S. activists opposed to genetically engineered (GE) food are taking the battle to state legislatures. Bills have been introduced in 13 states, ranging from fear-prompting labeling requirements to multi-year moratoriums on cultivation. State-level battles are brewing in California, New York, Hawaii, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Vermont, Michigan, Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia, among others.

D.C. bound anarchist groups planning protests from April 8 thru 17, including those opposing conventionally grown and genetically engineered food, have issued a threatening letter to Washington law enforcement. "We can not accept the active participation of cops…while our main goal is shut down the IMF/World Bank meeting, it is quite predictable that the cops will aggressively attack those actions."

Mexico’s Senate voted unanimously yesterday to require mandatory labeling of foods, including American imports, that contain genetically engineered (GE) ingredients. And to the north, a national coalition of health food…