fighting obesity

Stop Fighting Obesity – The War on Weightloss is Useless

Gavin Wren Food Education, Food Opinion Pieces, Writing

The bathroom scales have petrified me for weeks. I feel fear in the depths of my stomach when I see them, because I’m worried that I’ve eaten too much food recently. Adamant that my slender figure was consigned to history, I felt doomed to life in the third circle of hell with the gluttons. If you need me before I die, I’ll be in a branch of Chicken Cottage.

What’s the big problem? The problem is being overweight. 10 years ago my jeans required nearly eight inches more fabric around the waist and I nudged my trusty bathroom scales to nearly thirty kilograms more than this morning’s reading. I’m proud of having fought hard to remove that excess weight and I’ll be damned if it’s going to creep back into my life.

Losing that mass uncovered neurosis around food, which endures today in paranoia and hypervigilance about my weight. It… come and read more…

Global Nutrition Report 2016

Global Nutrition Report 2016 – It Affects You.

Gavin Wren Food Education, Writing

I was recently invited to attend the UK launch of the Global Nutrition Report in London. The report is a huge group effort created by over 100 contributors from around the world, looking at how nutrition is experienced on a global level. My invitation was due to my imminent commencement of the Food Policy MSc course at City University London, a course which looks in detail at all aspects of the global food chain and …

Close up shot of a pair of cucumbers

Food Bloggers. Stop what you’re writing. Think.

Gavin Wren Food Blogging, Writing

This week I witnessed a new low in the world of food blogging. I’m not talking about another one of those sugar-fuelled, chocolate filled ‘breakfast’ recipes which seem to be unnervingly common from certain parts of the food blogging world and in no way helping the overconsumption and obesity problems in certain developed countries. In fact, I’m talking about sliding off the other end of the calorific scale, into the doldrums of malnourishment. But first, …