I’m experimenting with a new format for our weekly Snacky Bits posts. Rather than dropping a few links at the bottom of a post, I’m going to round-up the highs and lows (and I gotta say there are a lot of lows) of what’s been doing the rounds in headlines and on socials that month.
I’d like to know how you find this format, if it feels easier to have all these links in one place like this, or if there’s something in here you’d like me to cover in a future podcast or essay? LMK!
CW: pathologising of body weight and use of the O word for most of these.
In the Increasingly Rapid Descent into Fascism News:
There have been a fair few think pieces like this in the NYT over the past 6 months or so, but this one feels like it names something that others haven’t; the way that ‘crunchy’ values have shifted from being about something radically inclusive and communal, to something deeply individualistic and protectionist.
Birthday cakes, sweets, fruit juice, chicken nuggets, and sweetened cereals are all off the menu in Scottish nurseries as of this summer, or so the headlines make it seem. The reality is a bit more nuanced; a tightening up – and in some cases a clarification of – nutrition standards in nurseries set out in a new report by the Scottish government. Under the new guidance, baked desserts and puddings are still allowed three times a week, but the advice is to base them on fruit. This is pretty standard nutrition policy and I think is less austere than the National School Food Standards where schools are told to measure out the amount of ketchup kids get. I couldn’t see anything about parents not being allowed to bring cake in to celebrate their child’s birthdays and suspect that would be down to local nursery policy. My biggest issue with the policy is that it’s predicated on anti-fatness and not improving nutrition standards for all children. But the tl;dr is don’t get your news from LBC.
