I was impressed when I learned about Hawaii’s goal of 100% renewable energy by 2045, but I was shocked to learn about some unintended impacts of wind energy development on Oahu’s north shore. Hearing from impacted residents was a great reminder that wind energy, like any tool, is not inherently good or bad – it comes down to how it is developed and used.
As part of my year-long climate adaptation leadership program, our cohort is participating in three intensive, in-person sessions at different locations throughout the Pacific. The first week was in Hawai’i, exploring impacts from climate change and adaptation strategies in place across the state. Before we did anything else, we spent some time in the classroom examining priority issues and best practices for engaging local communities.
Many people associate monosodium glutamate (MSG) with Chinese food, but it’s actually in a lot of what we eat, whether it is added to processed foods or naturally occurring in more umami foods, like cheese, fish, and mushrooms. While it gets a bad rap, recent studies indicate that it’s probably not the villain it has been painted to be over the years.
My cohort of climate leaders has already met a few times to kick off our year together in the Indo-Pacific Leadership Lab. I am thrilled and honored to be part of such an incredible group of people, and I’m already wrestling with some difficult concepts – notably that I can’t solve climate change on my own, and that we won’t solve it in our lifetime.
The growing use of semaglutide drugs for people who don’t medically need them is causing harm to people who do but also ripples across the business world, with risks and surprising benefits projected in different sectors. Ultimately we need to ask ourselves why weight loss is the goal – and whether thinness is worth the cost: our money, our health, or someone else’s health.
I’ve had several friends comment on this series (publicly and privately), reminding me that body image issues are more widespread than many of us realize. In our quest for thinness over health, we turn to fad diets and products to help us feel better about ourselves. And that desperation among people who don’t really need to lose weight is causing problems for people who really do.
I wrestled with some negative feelings when reading the book Fat Talk, and I wanted to understand the source of those reactions. I’ve since participated in a group discussion, some supplementary research, and a lot of reflection and writing. In the end, I think my disconnect is ultimately related less to my own biases and more to some of the concepts being presented in absolutes.
It goes without saying that parents want what’s best for their kids, but who decides what “best” is or the best way of achieving it? Mealtimes are dreaded in many households because of the potential for fights over what and how much needs to be consumed. And even the healthiest home environments don’t make kids immune to external standards and value judgments related to weight.
The more uncomfortable the topic, the less it tends to be discussed, and – chances are – the more likely it needs to be. One issue with which I’ve struggled over the years is weight and fat-phobia. Fortunately I had a great opportunity to tease apart my own baggage in the safe space of book club with “Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture”
It was a frustrating and disappointing week at work, with some losses for public health and climate action. I told my team that “if it were easy, someone would have figured it out already.” That said, I am grateful for the opportunity to figure it out with 15 other leaders from around the world this coming year as part of the Indo-Pacific Leadership Lab.