November 28, 2023 • 23 mins
Ever wondered how your daily meal impacts the economy, or how your phone usage affects your family and health? Brace yourselves as we dissect these layers of influence in our everyday existence. From deflation in the food industry, as indicated by Walmart CEO Doug McMillan, to probing the alarming decline in birth rates linked to certain agricultural chemicals, we unravel the intricate interplay of food, health, and economics.
Are today's retail dietitians standing firmly on ethical grounds or swaying to personal biases and paid endorsements? We scrutinize this question as we delve deeper into the role of dietitians, their commitment to providing accurate nutritional information, and navigating their personal beliefs. We also explore the fascinating world of phone usage, its impact on family dynamics, and how it intertwines with nutrition. Don't miss the chance to join our charged conversation about these pressing topics and more in our next episode.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Phil (00:05):
Welcome to the Lempert Report LIVE.
I hope you and your family hada great #FoodN ot Phones
Thanksgiving.
Now a big thanks goes out toMarion Nestle, who highlighted
#Food Not Phones Initiative inher 'Food Politics' Special
Thanksgiving newsletter.
Thanks, Marion.
On today's episode, Walmart CEOsignals hope on the horizon.
(00:27):
How our foods are affecting ourbirth rates.
University of Colorado offers atool to find where our foods
come from.
Is that good or bad?
And on Food Not Phones, itturns out that parents are the
problem.
On the Bullse ye.
A first-hand look at thecontroversy over registered
(00:48):
dietitians' endorsements.
Let's get started.
So Sally, Doug McMillan, CEO ofWalmart, said last week that the
US food industry may be headinginto a period of deflation.
After three years of pricehikes, food prices have
increased 25%, according to CNN,since the pandemic started.
(01:12):
He was very particular in hisstatement.
He's saying that dry groceryand consumables start to deflate
in the coming weeks and months,but certain staples such as
bacon, seafood and eggs havealready dropped.
I'm curious when I hear hisstatement, because what he
(01:33):
doesn't talk about?
While we might see deflationfrom where it's gone up 25%,
that doesn't mean that they'regoing to be less expensive
prices than it was before we hadthis food inflation and,
frankly, we still have theseconsumer packaged goods
companies fighting retailerslike Walmart wanting to take
(01:54):
increases.
Some retailers say justified,some retailers say not so much.
Sally (02:03):
Well, let's hope that Doug McMillan is right and that
people are going to get a breakon their grocery prices.
A 25% increase since thepandemic started is really
massive, and people have feltthat sting when they're shopping
in the grocery store, so itcould be good news.
(02:23):
On the other hand, we arewarned about periods of
deflation and how this can cause.
If consumers aren't spending asmuch, then we're looking at
these companies laying offworkers or raising costs, and so
it's a double-edged sword, Iguess, however you look at it.
(02:45):
But we hope that people willget a break in the grocery store
in the coming year.
Phil (02:51):
And also this morning the market research company Circana
has forecasted the same thingthat after three years of food
and beverage volume salesdecreases, the market will see
modest volume growth in 2024.
The dynamics that aresupporting it include easing of
inflation and improvingmacroeconomic environment and
(03:14):
food and beverage manufacturersgrowing their promotional
investments.
So that's the other thing thatwe really haven't seen a lot
since the pandemic, where a lotof these food and beverage
companies are adding morepromotions, adding more coupons,
really to help consumers everytime that they go to the
supermarket.
(03:35):
Also, the University ofMichigan survey of consumers
illustrates a cloud of consumerpessimism hanging over the US
economy.
What it's done is, in thefourth straight month, consumer
sentiment has slipped, falling5% just in November, and the
(03:55):
question is going to be, when welook at the higher interest
rates, we look at the wars inUkraine and in Israel, how
people really feel about thatand according to a lot of the
surveys that I'm reading,consumers are more apprehensive.
People are nervous.
They don't want to spend a lotof money as a result of all this
(04:18):
.
So it's something that we needto be watching and retailers
certainly need to be helpingconsumers wherever they can with
the added promotions frequentshopper cards, yada, yada, yada.
Okay, so let's talk about spermcount.
What a new survey has come outfrom the College of Public
(04:39):
Health at George MasonUniversity in Virginia is that
over the past 50 years, thesperm concentration has fallen
about 50% around the world.
What their study found isthere's a strong association
between insecticides, too, inparticular, and the decline of
sperm concentration.
(05:01):
These insecticides are used innerve gas, herbicides,
pesticides, insecticides alsoused to create plastics and
solvent.
They are obviously used inagriculture, but also within our
homes, within our buildings,apartment buildings and
ornamental lawn upkeep.
(05:22):
So we've got these substancesthat are there that, frankly,
are affecting our birth rates,our birth counts, and it's
really a very serious situationbecause when we look around the
world this study really and itwas published last week in the
Environmental Mental HealthPerspectives they looked at 25
(05:46):
studies around the globe onthese two chemicals.
They included 20 studies inmeta-analysis and 42 levels of
different impact across men 1774men and what they found is
sperm counts are down, inparticular, for those people who
(06:08):
are working in agriculture,because obviously they're more
on the front lines, moreexposure to it, and this could
really have some major impact onour future population and the
health and wellness of ouroffspring.
Sally (06:28):
Yes, Phil, and we have seen.
The CDC has reported that birthrates have been down,
particularly since 2007.
We've seen a big decline inbirth rates in the United States
.
It's not clear what the reasonis, but people speculate it's
cost of living, it's I have toomuch student debt, I can't raise
(06:50):
a child.
Women have more opportunitiesin the workforce right now.
That could be a reason.
There are a lot of differentreasons, but what this study
does is it brings us to take alook at physiologically, what's
going on with our bodies.
While we're talking about thesepesticides being an offender
(07:13):
and also being in all of theseplastics that we just talked
about a couple of weeks ago onthe show here, about how
plastics are getting even intonewborn babies, we've got these
plastics in our system and ifthose pesticides are in there,
that's really frightening.
But we also should be lookingat and the authors of this study
(07:38):
say this as well that we shouldjust be looking at overall
health of men.
We have a problem with obesity.
We have a problem with withheart disease.
We have diabetes.
We have all of these chronichealth conditions that have been
on the rise in the UnitedStates and that also could be
something that is affecting thislower sperm count in men.
Phil (08:00):
And the other thing that this study points out, and this
article points out from CNN, isthat a recent study of men, 18
to 22, who use their phones morethan 20 times a day that's,
either texting or verbal had a21% higher risk for a low
overall sperm count and a 30%higher risk for low sperm
(08:25):
concentration.
Now what can we do?
So, according to theEnvironmental Working Group,
what we can do is if we switchto an organic diet, the level of
pesticides are rapidlydecreasing in our systems.
So if you don't have organics,if you can't afford it or it's
(08:48):
just not available, what theyrecommend is peeling and washing
fruits and vegetablesthoroughly and just rinsing with
water.
Don't use the detergents orother produce washes.
They really are creating otherissues.
So just wash it with warm waterand hopefully we can turn the
(09:11):
tide on lower sperm counts andget those sperm counts back up.
So I'm really torn on our nextstory.
The CU Boulder and the Plot Linehas created a new product
(09:31):
called Food Twin.
It's a digital twin of thecountry's already sprawling and
potentially fragile food systemand basically it's a map where
you can look where the foodcomes from, from 25 critical
food crops, where it's comingfrom to your area and how it
(09:53):
flows both here in the US andoverseas, and it's really
interesting because when theychose how fragile and how
precarious our food network is.
So from an education standpoint, I think that this is great.
People can really understandthe path.
(10:15):
That's what we did with FoodSense on PBS over 10 years ago
following our food, so thatpeople pretend aware of that
path that our foods travel andwith that, really align them to
understanding why we need morevertical farms, why we need more
(10:35):
indoor farming and bring outcloser to where people are
consuming.
But I have some issues with itand I wanted to get your input.
Sally (10:51):
Yes, this map is very interesting, and two things I
learned from it, Phil, was I hadno idea how important Kern
County in California was as faras the crops that are produced
there.
Over 600 billion calories worthof crops every year come from
Kern County and, in addition, Idid not know that Boulder,
(11:14):
colorado, was also anothervulnerable area where we are
getting a lot of our calories.
That also is a pathway for howour food gets distributed
throughout.
What I do like about this mapis that there is the intention
(11:34):
that this could be created on aglobal level, so that we can see
globally where our food iscoming from, and this could be
really helpful, particularly intwo days, the United Nations
will be having their big COP28climate change meeting in Dubai,
(11:55):
and this could be somethingvery, very useful for leaders
that are meeting about climatechange and how we all globally
need to come together.
On a consumer level, yes, it'sgreat to be aware and know where
our food comes from, but I canonly imagine, Phil, that
consumers might be scratchingtheir head seeing well, what am
(12:17):
I supposed to do about it?
Phil (12:20):
Great, and I think information is always good and
helpful to your point.
You know, once you have theinformation, what can you do
about it?
Maybe it gets people to buymore local as a result of that
reduce their carbon footprint.
But here's my concern about.
My concern is what this foodtwin does.
(12:43):
Is it really points out, as Isaid before, how precarious, how
fragile our food system is?
My concern and I know I'm gonnacome under a lot of criticism
for bringing this up and sayingit, my concern is we're also
pulling back the veil on ourfood touch points that can be
(13:08):
affected either in terrorism ormilitary actions.
If we take a look at what'sgone on in Gaza and Israel, what
we've found is, by cutting offwater and food supply, you know,
quickly it becomes ahumanitarian problem and I'm
just concerned.
I love the fact that they'vedone this.
(13:30):
I'd like it to be more internaland not consumer facing, which
is just the opposite ofeverything that I always talk
about.
That I'd like things moretransparent.
But this makes me nervous thatit's just online to say you know
, if you do some blockades fromKern County, the rest of the
(13:56):
country shuts down from a foodstandpoint.
So let's use this informationwidely.
On Food Not Phones today,there's a great story.
I love this story.
Pamela Paul did this in theopinion today newsletter and she
talks about the fact that thehardest rule that she ever had
(14:16):
to set for her kids was refusingthem to use cell phones until
high school that she brings upand I didn't know this.
I mean you might know thisbecause of your kids that
schools have really integratedthe use of cell phones within
(14:37):
the curriculum, whether it's toyou know, register for a course
using a QR code or just you knowconstant use of cell phone or
mobile devices in order to getinformation and you know what
they've done is really created aproblem and there's been a
(14:59):
couple of examples of placesaround the world that have
stopped this use of mobiledevices in schools and they've
had some pretty good, you knowresults.
Sally (15:14):
Yes, and you know this article is really interesting to
me as well.
I applaud Pamela for being ableto say no to the cell phones
until her kids were in highschool.
I know that must have been very, very difficult, especially
considering that so many kidsenjoy having a phone now and
(15:35):
also as parents, you know itfeels like an extra way to.
You know, make sure our kidsare safe.
My kids ride publictransportation back home from
school.
They have to get on two busesand so I do like having that.
I like that they have a phoneand I can keep track of where
they are on the bus.
But the but.
(15:57):
Then there's the other side ofit, where it where.
You know we have to have aphone to do some things.
And, phil, it was reallyinteresting.
Last week I was in Kroger and Iwanted to get the 49 cent per
pound special they had onturkeys for Thanksgiving.
But the only way that I couldget that was not through my
loyalty card, was I had to usemy phone to scan a QR code to
(16:21):
get that deal.
And I thought about well, whatabout people who don't use
smartphones?
What about older generations?
That this might be tricky to do?
And I wondered you know there,there there should be another
alternative than having to usethe phone.
But getting back to this, youknow our we, as parents, are
(16:43):
using our phones a lot in frontof our kids and and they see how
dependent we are and ourbehavior affects their choices
and the and the healthy orunhealthy habits they choose to
live by.
But what I like about ourinitiative #Food Not Phones is
that we are not asking people tojust give up those phones
(17:06):
completely because we knowthat's not realistic.
W e're sort of treating itlike like a diet that doesn't
restrict everything.
You know, if you want to eathealthier, if you take
everything away that you enjoyand you know brings you pleasure
and comfort, then it makes itreally, really easy to fail on
(17:27):
that diet.
You set yourself up for that.
But with our phones, you knowwe can use that same concept as
we do with our food and tryingto eat healthier.
We can limit our use and whatwe're talking about is just
putting it down.
When you sit down to have ameal with your family, engaging
more in face-to-facecommunication and pausing from
it, for that, you know 45minutes that you sit down to
(17:50):
dinner with your family.
Phil (17:53):
And what we're seeing around school districts around
the country, and in Ireland,matter of fact, where they're
banning the use of cell phonesone district in Florida, orange
County, who has banned phonesduring the entire school day.
What they found is lessbullying, increased student
(18:13):
engagement, even actual eyecontact between students and
teachers in the hallway.
The result in Ireland, whenthey banned cell phones in
schools in 2018, was asignificant increase in
students' face-to-face socialinteractions.
So, whether it's around thedining room table with mealtime
(18:37):
as we're talking about with FoodNot Phones or in schools, what
we need to do is pay attentionto each other.
More eye contact is a goodthing, and just relating to
another.
So thanks, Sally, appreciate it.
On the Bulls eye, the WashingtonPost and the Examination, which
is a nonprofit newsroom thatfocuses on global health
(19:00):
reporting, published theirinvestigation of how brands have
made registered dieticians topromote their products, their
studies or commodities.
There's nothing wrong with that.
What is wrong is that thesocial media posts of these RD's
did not disclose that they werepaid to promote these brands or
(19:21):
trade groups.
What's also wrong is that insome cases, their postings were
in direct conflict with basicnutritional science.
Yup, a pure pay for play.
Now one could mislead and harmconsumers with bad or incorrect
information for sure, and theFTC is now involved and the
(19:42):
investigation will change howall health professionals post
their opinions and provenscientific findings.
As you know, over a decade ago Ifounded the Retail Dietitians
Business Alliance as anorganization for those
registered dietitians to reachout beyond their organizations
and foster relationships withretail dietitians throughout the
(20:05):
US and, in some cases, theworld, and to further their
careers through business skills.
Paramount to the effort was toadhere to the guidelines that
are set by the Academy ofNutrition and Dietetics,
especially as it relates towhat's going on in our stores
(20:26):
and ethical standards.
At each of our in-person andvirtual events, there was always
presentations and discussionsabout the importance of shoppers
being able to trust theirretail dietitians, and I'm proud
to say that, in the retail RDspace, these consummate
professionals have done justthat.
The supermarket industry needsto applaud and recognize our
(20:50):
retail dietitians' ethicalstandards, which not only is an
important part of their training, but also fundamental to their
everyday lives.
We need to call out thestandards that our retail
dietitians and theirorganizations have set in
offering nutritional advice andinformation.
We need to promote thesestandards in order to really
(21:13):
educate shoppers, to reinforcethe difference between popular,
pseudo-celebrity RD's, whosemain goal it is, frankly, to
build their followers in orderto get the biggest payday,
versus the retail dietitians whoare on the front lines helping
shoppers every day of the week.
There's a huge differencebetween them and their
(21:35):
objectives are very different.
Our retail dietitians are inthe aisles, they're in schools
and they're in businesses.
They're in the community tooffer science-based nutritional
guidance to their shoppers.
Early on in RDBA, I recall adiscussion between members about
the importance of separatingtheir own beliefs from those of
(21:58):
their shoppers.
One RD who was vegan talkedabout how they worked hard to
understand all aspects of animaland fish protein, beef, pork,
chicken, salmon and the like sothat they could answer and
recommend these foods to theirshoppers without any bias.
That's the commitment and ethosthat retail dietitians make to
(22:21):
their organizations and to theirshoppers.
As the controversy thatsurrounds a few dietitians that
step over the line continues andI'm sure it will and get even
more negative press as anindustry, we need to reinforce
the difference between ourdietitians and celebrate them
internally and to our shoppers.
(22:42):
Thanks for joining us and we'llsee you back here next week for
more of the Lempert Report LIVE.
Sally (22:49):
Be sure to visit SupermarketGuru.
com for the latest marketinganalysis issues and trends, and
don't forget to join us backhere next Tuesday at 2:30 pm
Eastern for more.
Welcome to the Lempert Report LIVE.
I hope you and your family hada great #FoodN ot Phones
Thanksgiving.
Now a big thanks goes out toMarion Nestle, who highlighted
#Food Not Phones Initiative inher 'Food Politics' Special
Thanksgiving newsletter.
Thanks, Marion.
On today's episode, Walmart CEOsignals hope on the horizon.
(00:27):
How our foods are affecting ourbirth rates.
University of Colorado offers atool to find where our foods
come from.
Is that good or bad?
And on Food Not Phones, itturns out that parents are the
problem.
On the Bullse ye.
A first-hand look at thecontroversy over registered
(00:48):
dietitians' endorsements.
Let's get started.
So Sally, Doug McMillan, CEO ofWalmart, said last week that the
US food industry may be headinginto a period of deflation.
After three years of pricehikes, food prices have
increased 25%, according to CNN,since the pandemic started.
(01:12):
He was very particular in hisstatement.
He's saying that dry groceryand consumables start to deflate
in the coming weeks and months,but certain staples such as
bacon, seafood and eggs havealready dropped.
I'm curious when I hear hisstatement, because what he
(01:33):
doesn't talk about?
While we might see deflationfrom where it's gone up 25%,
that doesn't mean that they'regoing to be less expensive
prices than it was before we hadthis food inflation and,
frankly, we still have theseconsumer packaged goods
companies fighting retailerslike Walmart wanting to take
(01:54):
increases.
Some retailers say justified,some retailers say not so much.
Sally (02:03):
Well, let's hope that Doug McMillan is right and that
people are going to get a breakon their grocery prices.
A 25% increase since thepandemic started is really
massive, and people have feltthat sting when they're shopping
in the grocery store, so itcould be good news.
(02:23):
On the other hand, we arewarned about periods of
deflation and how this can cause.
If consumers aren't spending asmuch, then we're looking at
these companies laying offworkers or raising costs, and so
it's a double-edged sword, Iguess, however you look at it.
(02:45):
But we hope that people willget a break in the grocery store
in the coming year.
Phil (02:51):
And also this morning the market research company Circana
has forecasted the same thingthat after three years of food
and beverage volume salesdecreases, the market will see
modest volume growth in 2024.
The dynamics that aresupporting it include easing of
inflation and improvingmacroeconomic environment and
(03:14):
food and beverage manufacturersgrowing their promotional
investments.
So that's the other thing thatwe really haven't seen a lot
since the pandemic, where a lotof these food and beverage
companies are adding morepromotions, adding more coupons,
really to help consumers everytime that they go to the
supermarket.
(03:35):
Also, the University ofMichigan survey of consumers
illustrates a cloud of consumerpessimism hanging over the US
economy.
What it's done is, in thefourth straight month, consumer
sentiment has slipped, falling5% just in November, and the
(03:55):
question is going to be, when welook at the higher interest
rates, we look at the wars inUkraine and in Israel, how
people really feel about thatand according to a lot of the
surveys that I'm reading,consumers are more apprehensive.
People are nervous.
They don't want to spend a lotof money as a result of all this
(04:18):
.
So it's something that we needto be watching and retailers
certainly need to be helpingconsumers wherever they can with
the added promotions frequentshopper cards, yada, yada, yada.
Okay, so let's talk about spermcount.
What a new survey has come outfrom the College of Public
(04:39):
Health at George MasonUniversity in Virginia is that
over the past 50 years, thesperm concentration has fallen
about 50% around the world.
What their study found isthere's a strong association
between insecticides, too, inparticular, and the decline of
sperm concentration.
(05:01):
These insecticides are used innerve gas, herbicides,
pesticides, insecticides alsoused to create plastics and
solvent.
They are obviously used inagriculture, but also within our
homes, within our buildings,apartment buildings and
ornamental lawn upkeep.
(05:22):
So we've got these substancesthat are there that, frankly,
are affecting our birth rates,our birth counts, and it's
really a very serious situationbecause when we look around the
world this study really and itwas published last week in the
Environmental Mental HealthPerspectives they looked at 25
(05:46):
studies around the globe onthese two chemicals.
They included 20 studies inmeta-analysis and 42 levels of
different impact across men 1774men and what they found is
sperm counts are down, inparticular, for those people who
(06:08):
are working in agriculture,because obviously they're more
on the front lines, moreexposure to it, and this could
really have some major impact onour future population and the
health and wellness of ouroffspring.
Sally (06:28):
Yes, Phil, and we have seen.
The CDC has reported that birthrates have been down,
particularly since 2007.
We've seen a big decline inbirth rates in the United States
.
It's not clear what the reasonis, but people speculate it's
cost of living, it's I have toomuch student debt, I can't raise
(06:50):
a child.
Women have more opportunitiesin the workforce right now.
That could be a reason.
There are a lot of differentreasons, but what this study
does is it brings us to take alook at physiologically, what's
going on with our bodies.
While we're talking about thesepesticides being an offender
(07:13):
and also being in all of theseplastics that we just talked
about a couple of weeks ago onthe show here, about how
plastics are getting even intonewborn babies, we've got these
plastics in our system and ifthose pesticides are in there,
that's really frightening.
But we also should be lookingat and the authors of this study
(07:38):
say this as well that we shouldjust be looking at overall
health of men.
We have a problem with obesity.
We have a problem with withheart disease.
We have diabetes.
We have all of these chronichealth conditions that have been
on the rise in the UnitedStates and that also could be
something that is affecting thislower sperm count in men.
Phil (08:00):
And the other thing that this study points out, and this
article points out from CNN, isthat a recent study of men, 18
to 22, who use their phones morethan 20 times a day that's,
either texting or verbal had a21% higher risk for a low
overall sperm count and a 30%higher risk for low sperm
(08:25):
concentration.
Now what can we do?
So, according to theEnvironmental Working Group,
what we can do is if we switchto an organic diet, the level of
pesticides are rapidlydecreasing in our systems.
So if you don't have organics,if you can't afford it or it's
(08:48):
just not available, what theyrecommend is peeling and washing
fruits and vegetablesthoroughly and just rinsing with
water.
Don't use the detergents orother produce washes.
They really are creating otherissues.
So just wash it with warm waterand hopefully we can turn the
(09:11):
tide on lower sperm counts andget those sperm counts back up.
So I'm really torn on our nextstory.
The CU Boulder and the Plot Linehas created a new product
(09:31):
called Food Twin.
It's a digital twin of thecountry's already sprawling and
potentially fragile food systemand basically it's a map where
you can look where the foodcomes from, from 25 critical
food crops, where it's comingfrom to your area and how it
(09:53):
flows both here in the US andoverseas, and it's really
interesting because when theychose how fragile and how
precarious our food network is.
So from an education standpoint, I think that this is great.
People can really understandthe path.
(10:15):
That's what we did with FoodSense on PBS over 10 years ago
following our food, so thatpeople pretend aware of that
path that our foods travel andwith that, really align them to
understanding why we need morevertical farms, why we need more
(10:35):
indoor farming and bring outcloser to where people are
consuming.
But I have some issues with itand I wanted to get your input.
Sally (10:51):
Yes, this map is very interesting, and two things I
learned from it, Phil, was I hadno idea how important Kern
County in California was as faras the crops that are produced
there.
Over 600 billion calories worthof crops every year come from
Kern County and, in addition, Idid not know that Boulder,
(11:14):
colorado, was also anothervulnerable area where we are
getting a lot of our calories.
That also is a pathway for howour food gets distributed
throughout.
What I do like about this mapis that there is the intention
(11:34):
that this could be created on aglobal level, so that we can see
globally where our food iscoming from, and this could be
really helpful, particularly intwo days, the United Nations
will be having their big COP28climate change meeting in Dubai,
(11:55):
and this could be somethingvery, very useful for leaders
that are meeting about climatechange and how we all globally
need to come together.
On a consumer level, yes, it'sgreat to be aware and know where
our food comes from, but I canonly imagine, Phil, that
consumers might be scratchingtheir head seeing well, what am
(12:17):
I supposed to do about it?
Phil (12:20):
Great, and I think information is always good and
helpful to your point.
You know, once you have theinformation, what can you do
about it?
Maybe it gets people to buymore local as a result of that
reduce their carbon footprint.
But here's my concern about.
My concern is what this foodtwin does.
(12:43):
Is it really points out, as Isaid before, how precarious, how
fragile our food system is?
My concern and I know I'm gonnacome under a lot of criticism
for bringing this up and sayingit, my concern is we're also
pulling back the veil on ourfood touch points that can be
(13:08):
affected either in terrorism ormilitary actions.
If we take a look at what'sgone on in Gaza and Israel, what
we've found is, by cutting offwater and food supply, you know,
quickly it becomes ahumanitarian problem and I'm
just concerned.
I love the fact that they'vedone this.
(13:30):
I'd like it to be more internaland not consumer facing, which
is just the opposite ofeverything that I always talk
about.
That I'd like things moretransparent.
But this makes me nervous thatit's just online to say you know
, if you do some blockades fromKern County, the rest of the
(13:56):
country shuts down from a foodstandpoint.
So let's use this informationwidely.
On Food Not Phones today,there's a great story.
I love this story.
Pamela Paul did this in theopinion today newsletter and she
talks about the fact that thehardest rule that she ever had
(14:16):
to set for her kids was refusingthem to use cell phones until
high school that she brings upand I didn't know this.
I mean you might know thisbecause of your kids that
schools have really integratedthe use of cell phones within
(14:37):
the curriculum, whether it's toyou know, register for a course
using a QR code or just you knowconstant use of cell phone or
mobile devices in order to getinformation and you know what
they've done is really created aproblem and there's been a
(14:59):
couple of examples of placesaround the world that have
stopped this use of mobiledevices in schools and they've
had some pretty good, you knowresults.
Sally (15:14):
Yes, and you know this article is really interesting to
me as well.
I applaud Pamela for being ableto say no to the cell phones
until her kids were in highschool.
I know that must have been very, very difficult, especially
considering that so many kidsenjoy having a phone now and
(15:35):
also as parents, you know itfeels like an extra way to.
You know, make sure our kidsare safe.
My kids ride publictransportation back home from
school.
They have to get on two busesand so I do like having that.
I like that they have a phoneand I can keep track of where
they are on the bus.
But the but.
(15:57):
Then there's the other side ofit, where it where.
You know we have to have aphone to do some things.
And, phil, it was reallyinteresting.
Last week I was in Kroger and Iwanted to get the 49 cent per
pound special they had onturkeys for Thanksgiving.
But the only way that I couldget that was not through my
loyalty card, was I had to usemy phone to scan a QR code to
(16:21):
get that deal.
And I thought about well, whatabout people who don't use
smartphones?
What about older generations?
That this might be tricky to do?
And I wondered you know there,there there should be another
alternative than having to usethe phone.
But getting back to this, youknow our we, as parents, are
(16:43):
using our phones a lot in frontof our kids and and they see how
dependent we are and ourbehavior affects their choices
and the and the healthy orunhealthy habits they choose to
live by.
But what I like about ourinitiative #Food Not Phones is
that we are not asking people tojust give up those phones
(17:06):
completely because we knowthat's not realistic.
W e're sort of treating itlike like a diet that doesn't
restrict everything.
You know, if you want to eathealthier, if you take
everything away that you enjoyand you know brings you pleasure
and comfort, then it makes itreally, really easy to fail on
(17:27):
that diet.
You set yourself up for that.
But with our phones, you knowwe can use that same concept as
we do with our food and tryingto eat healthier.
We can limit our use and whatwe're talking about is just
putting it down.
When you sit down to have ameal with your family, engaging
more in face-to-facecommunication and pausing from
it, for that, you know 45minutes that you sit down to
(17:50):
dinner with your family.
Phil (17:53):
And what we're seeing around school districts around
the country, and in Ireland,matter of fact, where they're
banning the use of cell phonesone district in Florida, orange
County, who has banned phonesduring the entire school day.
What they found is lessbullying, increased student
(18:13):
engagement, even actual eyecontact between students and
teachers in the hallway.
The result in Ireland, whenthey banned cell phones in
schools in 2018, was asignificant increase in
students' face-to-face socialinteractions.
So, whether it's around thedining room table with mealtime
(18:37):
as we're talking about with FoodNot Phones or in schools, what
we need to do is pay attentionto each other.
More eye contact is a goodthing, and just relating to
another.
So thanks, Sally, appreciate it.
On the Bulls eye, the WashingtonPost and the Examination, which
is a nonprofit newsroom thatfocuses on global health
(19:00):
reporting, published theirinvestigation of how brands have
made registered dieticians topromote their products, their
studies or commodities.
There's nothing wrong with that.
What is wrong is that thesocial media posts of these RD's
did not disclose that they werepaid to promote these brands or
(19:21):
trade groups.
What's also wrong is that insome cases, their postings were
in direct conflict with basicnutritional science.
Yup, a pure pay for play.
Now one could mislead and harmconsumers with bad or incorrect
information for sure, and theFTC is now involved and the
(19:42):
investigation will change howall health professionals post
their opinions and provenscientific findings.
As you know, over a decade ago Ifounded the Retail Dietitians
Business Alliance as anorganization for those
registered dietitians to reachout beyond their organizations
and foster relationships withretail dietitians throughout the
(20:05):
US and, in some cases, theworld, and to further their
careers through business skills.
Paramount to the effort was toadhere to the guidelines that
are set by the Academy ofNutrition and Dietetics,
especially as it relates towhat's going on in our stores
(20:26):
and ethical standards.
At each of our in-person andvirtual events, there was always
presentations and discussionsabout the importance of shoppers
being able to trust theirretail dietitians, and I'm proud
to say that, in the retail RDspace, these consummate
professionals have done justthat.
The supermarket industry needsto applaud and recognize our
(20:50):
retail dietitians' ethicalstandards, which not only is an
important part of their training, but also fundamental to their
everyday lives.
We need to call out thestandards that our retail
dietitians and theirorganizations have set in
offering nutritional advice andinformation.
We need to promote thesestandards in order to really
(21:13):
educate shoppers, to reinforcethe difference between popular,
pseudo-celebrity RD's, whosemain goal it is, frankly, to
build their followers in orderto get the biggest payday,
versus the retail dietitians whoare on the front lines helping
shoppers every day of the week.
There's a huge differencebetween them and their
(21:35):
objectives are very different.
Our retail dietitians are inthe aisles, they're in schools
and they're in businesses.
They're in the community tooffer science-based nutritional
guidance to their shoppers.
Early on in RDBA, I recall adiscussion between members about
the importance of separatingtheir own beliefs from those of
(21:58):
their shoppers.
One RD who was vegan talkedabout how they worked hard to
understand all aspects of animaland fish protein, beef, pork,
chicken, salmon and the like sothat they could answer and
recommend these foods to theirshoppers without any bias.
That's the commitment and ethosthat retail dietitians make to
(22:21):
their organizations and to theirshoppers.
As the controversy thatsurrounds a few dietitians that
step over the line continues andI'm sure it will and get even
more negative press as anindustry, we need to reinforce
the difference between ourdietitians and celebrate them
internally and to our shoppers.
(22:42):
Thanks for joining us and we'llsee you back here next week for
more of the Lempert Report LIVE.
Sally (22:49):
Be sure to visit SupermarketGuru.
com for the latest marketinganalysis issues and trends, and
don't forget to join us backhere next Tuesday at 2:30 pm
Eastern for more.
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