< Previous28 | TALK MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2020 COLLEGE NEWS continued from page 5 enter the nursing profession. The University’s education program, offering post-baccalaureate certifications in special educa- tion and advanced studies in autism, is accredited by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. “We complete a thorough review of the programs before granting the honors,” said Tyson Schritter, Chief Operating Officer for Colleges of Distinc- tion. “We’re looking for qualities such as accredi- tation, breadth of program, advising and mento- ring, integration of career services, and successful outcomes for students. It’s wonderful to see how La Roche really exemplifies these qualities.” Since 2000 the Colleges of Distinction website and guidebook have honored schools throughout the U.S. for their excellence in undergraduate-fo- cused higher education. The cohort of schools in the Colleges of Distinction consortium distin- guish themselves through their focus on the un- dergraduate experience. The website and annual guidebooks provide dynamic college profiles, customized tools, and resources for students, parents and high school counselors. Cornbread: Co-founders Adenah Bayoh and Elzadie Smith started Cornbread, a fast-casual chain, as a way to offer healthy “farm to soul” food. Order online to try breakfast specials like whiting and grits, combo platters, vegetable-for- ward sides, and drinks like lemonade and sweet tea. 2351 Century Dr., West Mifflin; (412) 853-3019; 2010 Village Center Dr., Tarentum; (724) 826-1796; 2200 Greengate Center Cir., Greensburg; (724) 989-5909 Black-Owned Food Businesses continued from page 8 Jessi Silverman, a policy associate at the Cen- ter for Science in the Public Interest, said she was especially concerned with draft comments from the panel suggesting there was limited evidence about the role of sugary beverages in weight gain. “We think that the evidence is strong,” she said. “We don’t want to see any weakening of the advice around added sugars and sugary beverages.” Nina Teicholz, executive director of The Nutri- tion Coalition, who has championed the health benefits of diets low in carbohydrates and high in fat, said the panel had largely overlooked recent studies, some of them controversial, that ques- tion longstanding admonitions against consum- ing excess saturated fats. She said she feared the agency would continue to promote patterns of eating that are overly reliant on grains and other carbohydrates. “It’s pretty self-evident that the guidelines have done nothing to prevent our country’s epidemics of obesity and diabetes,” she said. Then there is the matter of conflicts of inter- est. More than half the advisory panel members this year have ties to the International Life Sciences Institute, an industry group largely sup- ported by agribusiness, food and pharmaceutical companies. The group, created by a Coca-Cola executive four decades ago, has long been accused by the World Health Organization and others of trying to undermine public health recommen- dations to advance the interests of its corporate members. In a report issued in April, Corporate Ac- countability noted that the two newly created subcommittees considering dietary issues for pregnant and lactating women and children under 24 months were led by scientists who have worked for Danone, Gerber and other makers of toddler food products. Marion Nestle, a nutrition expert at New York University who served on the advisory panel in 1995, said the large number of experts with industry ties reflected the dearth of public funding for nutrition science, which forces many researchers to accept funding from food com- panies and industry associations. “Anyone who thinks it’s not OK to accept corporate money would never get appointed to that committee,” she said. “That’s considered so biased that you’re too biased to function.” Despite concerns about this year’s process, Ms. Nestle said she believed the new guidelines would likely resemble the recommendations that were issued five years ago. The bigger issue, she said, is that most Americans will find the guide- lines hard to decipher and unsure how to apply them to their own eating habits. “Every five years, the guidelines get longer and more complicated,” she said. “In my view, the advice is the same: Eat your vegetables, don’t gain too much weight and avoid junk foods with a lot of salt, sugar and saturated fat.” New Dietary Guidelines continued from page 12 Talk Magazine is Pennsylvania’s only statewide publication produced by African-Americans and our mission is to bring timely, informative, and educational articles on events and issues that effect and influence Pennsylvanian’s everyday lives. Talk Magazine is obtained through subscription only. 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