Providing accurate and timely information about what matters in Franklin, MA since 2007. * Working in collaboration with Franklin TV and Radio (wfpr.fm) since October 2019 *
Saturday, October 18, 2025
The Franklin Food Pantry is looking to hire a dietician for a part-time assignment
Friday, March 3, 2023
Franklin Health Department: Wellness Update - National Nutrition Month
It is National Nutrition Month.
Fill your plate with 50% veggies, 25% whole grains, and 25% lean protein.
Visit MyPlate.gov to learn more.
Saturday, August 28, 2021
Study gives pause for consideration of the foods we eat
If you consider a 'balanced diet' as offsetting a hotdog with nuts, why should you put your body through the trouble?
"Eating a hot dog could cost you 36 minutes of healthy life, while choosing to eat a serving of nuts instead could help you gain 26 minutes of extra healthy life, according to a University of Michigan study.The study, published in the journal Nature Food, evaluated more than 5,800 foods, ranking them by their nutritional disease burden to humans and their impact on the environment. It found that substituting 10% of daily caloric intake from beef and processed meats for a mix of fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes and select seafood could reduce your dietary carbon footprint by one-third and allow people to gain 48 minutes of healthy minutes per day.“Generally, dietary recommendations lack specific and actionable direction to motivate people to change their behavior, and rarely do dietary recommendations address environmental impacts,” said Katerina Stylianou, who did the research as a doctoral candidate and postdoctoral fellow in the the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at U-M’s School of Public Health. She currently works as the Director of Public Health Information and Data Strategy at the Detroit Health Department.
...
Based on their findings, the researchers suggest:
- Decreasing foods with the most negative health and environmental impacts including high processed meat, beef, shrimp, followed by pork, lamb and greenhouse-grown vegetables.
- Increasing the most nutritionally beneficial foods, including field-grown fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts and low-environmental impact seafood."
![]() |
Study gives pause for consideration of the foods we eat |
Friday, December 4, 2020
FM #404 Board of Health Meeting - 12/02/20 (audio)
FM #404 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 404 in the series.
This session shares the Franklin, MA Board of Health meeting held on Wednesday, Dec 2, 2020.
The meeting was conducted in a hybrid format: some of the Health Dept were in the Municipal Building, the remainder, Committee, (and public) were remote via conference bridge, all to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.
The show notes contain links to the meeting agenda and to my notes.
The recording runs about 38 minutes. Let’s listen to the Board of Health meeting held on Wednesday, Dec 2. Audio file = https://www.hipcast.com/podcast/HrszndkS
Agenda doc
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/12/franklin-ma-board-of-health-agenda-dec.html
Health Dept/Board of Health page https://www.franklinma.gov/health-department
My notes from the meeting
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/12/franklin-ma-board-of-health-meeting.html
We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.
How can you help?
- If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
- If you don't like something here, please let me know
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
------------------
You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
Friday, June 3, 2011
Goodbye pyramid, hello plate!
Here is a round up of some articles covering the changes in the presentation of the food guidelines as a plate:
5 Things to Know About the New Nutritional Guidelines
Goodbye, Food Pyramid: USDA to Announce a New 'Food Icon'
And last but not least, the Choose My Plate website can be found here
Franklin, MA
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Time to wake up on obesity
Franklin's budget problem is minor. The trash fee is minuscule.
Jamie Oliver gave this talk at TED recently. It is a powerful and yet easy message to take a step on. Today.
Powerful? Wait until you see the wheelbarrow!
What are you going to do?
When are you going to start?