By Ken Walker- Now that three years have passed since Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution aired on ABC Television, it is reasonable to ask whether many people around Huntington still care about healthy lifestyles. Is the excitement that stirred then still alive? After participating in the volunteer crew that helped stage the latest Healthy Huntington Day…
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By Ken Walker- When I wrote a story for the March issue of Christianity Today on Russia’s pending ban on adoptions by American parents, I had more than a passing interest. For one, my mother’s parents emigrated from the Ukraine (part of the Soviet Union before Communism’s collapse) to western Canada in the late 1800s.…
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By Ken Walker- It is that time of year when chocolate eggs are all the rage, but after our Easter sugar rush subsides, it is worth looking at the literature continuing to emerge about the links between sweets and obesity. This problem threatens not only our nation’s health, but the future of our most precious…
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By Ken Walker- Since it’s been several years since I wrote a story about Christian comedians, I had forgotten how funny it was, until I re-read it after seeing one of the interview subjects in person recently. When I interviewed Chonda Pierce, she reeled off the one-liners that are her trademark, just as she did…
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By Ken Walker- Absent court intervention, New York’s ban on super-sized sweetened beverages will take effect next week. Of course, regardless of whether that state’s supreme court intervenes, the “nanny state” debate will rage on far into the future. I have mixed emotions about Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s step. Having lost weight after double-bypass surgery, I…
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By Ken Walker- The danger of emphasizing healthy living is sounding like a broken record or offending those who struggle with their weight. But since I still know what that struggle is like, I believe this message is one that never goes out of style. Besides the vegetarian lifestyle I adopted, the constant reminders of…
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By Ken Walker- When I saw New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on NBC News recently talking about his weight struggles at 50, I could relate. I will never forget my 50th birthday, and not just because my wife threw me a surprise birthday party. With dozens of guests, I got a lot of gifts that…
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By Ken Walker- The idea that grassroots action can make a long-term difference can often bring ridicule, as shown by Steve Willis’ appearance with Jamie Oliver on the David Letterman show. Steve writes in our book, Winning the Food Fight, “As Jamie discussed his efforts to alter Huntington’s eating habits, Letterman ridiculed the idea that…
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By Ken Walker- Jamie Oliver taught Steve Willis an important lesson. Three years ago the famed British chef and his army marched into Huntington, West Virginia in hopes of revolutionizing what many pundits had deemed “the unhealthiest city in America.” Our area earned that label because of a Centers for Disease Control report that listed…
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By Ken Walker- The recent panic over our nation’s “fiscal cliff” brought to mind another time some 25 years ago, when the Dow Jones average slid more than 500 points in one day. It marked an historic plunge. As we watched the latest news at a friend’s house, his wife walked in and asked, “Well,…
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