Desi Talk

www.desitalk.com – that’s all you need to know 5 CITY VIEWS January 16, 2026 HEALTH Combat Veteran Pulkit Desai Sworn-In As Mayor Of Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey P arsippany-Troy Hills township in northern New Jersey, made history, swearing-in an Indian American Mayor – Pulkit Desai – on January 3, 2026, who will now head the largest municipality in Morris County, with a population of around 56,000. Desai, a US Marine, defeated his rival James Barberio by less than 100 votes in last Novem- ber’s election. Currently on Mayor Desai’s website, only his photo is displayed and the bio is yet to be uploaded as of January 9. In the same November 3 elec- tion, another Indian American, Diya Patel, was elected as a city council member, as was the 3rd member of the team Matthew Kavanaugh. Desai, Patel and Kavanaugh unseated the Republicans last November, handing the city to Democrats after 40 years. His campaign website- teamparsippany2025.com – shows Desai is a Marine Corps veteran, a cybersecu- rity leader, and President of Lake Parsippany Property Owner’s Association. “Pulkit Desai is a problem solver dedicated to making Parsippany a more affordable, sustainable, and prosperous place to live,” the campaign web- site says, adding, “An immigrant who became a U.S. Citizen and proud veteran of our Armed Forces, Pulkit brings professional expertise and personal passion to the challenges facing our township.” Introduced to politics through his position as President of the Lake Parsippany Property Own- er’s Association, Desai is credited with championing improved in- frastructure and transparency in local decision-making. He built a coalition and was elected to lead the Association by his fellow residents. “Pulkit has worked with all corners of Lake Parsippany to implement solutions for the neighborhood. … Pulkit’s vision centers on safe neighborhoods, budget sanity, afford- ability, and transparency in your local government. He is committed to restoring trust at Town Hall and serving the residents of the community he’s proud to call home,” says the website. By a StaffWriter PHOTO:@teamparsippany2025.com PHOTO:Parsippany.net Pulkit Desai, incoming Mayor of Parsippany, NJ, with councilmembers Matthew Kavanaugh, left, and Diya Patel, center, on the campaign trail last year, for Parsippany, NJ council. Parsippany Mayor Pulkit Desai. T he Trump administration released updated nutrition guidelines that bring back a revamped version of the food pyramid, while urging people to eat less sugar and more protein. The latest version of the federal Dietary Guidelines, releasedWednesday (Janu- ary 7, 2026) by theWhite House, fall short of the dramatic overhaul health officials had pledged to undertake. Many of its key tenets, including eating fruits and vegetables and limiting sugar, have been mainstays of nutrition advice for years. Still, they emphasize many of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s key personal nutrition principles, includ- ing a protein-heavy diet and a stringent approach to added sugars and processed food. “These new guidelines are informed by the best and most reliable research on health and nutrition, particularly as it relates to the role of our diets in the preva- lence of chronic disease in the country,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt saidWednesday. “These guidelines are easy to read and understand, so every American, young and old, can access this information that literally has the power to change lives.” The overhaul comes with an updated version of the food pyramid, flipping it upside down to emphasize eating more fruits, vegetables and protein and a lim- ited amount of whole grains. It replaces the current MyPlate graphic, which has served to illustrate federal nutrition advice since 2011. The administration said the changes would impact what food was eligible for federal dollars under food stamp and school lunch programs. Kennedy called the change “the most significant reset of federal nutrition policy in history” and said the guidelines would discourage “highly processed foods and refined carbohydrates” while recom- mending that people consume no added sugars. “My message is clear,” Kennedy said. “Eat real food. Nothing matters more for healthcare outcomes, economic pro- ductivity, military readiness and fiscal stability.” Kennedy has said he tries to eat foods with no more than three ingredients and has described sugar as poison. The previous version of the dietary guidelines, updated in December 2020, had recommended cooking with vegeta- ble oil in place of fats with higher levels of saturated fat, including butter and lard. The dietary guidelines are typically revised every five years, shape what nearly 30 million children eat in school and influence what millions more consume through federal nutrition programs, including food stamps. They also are a foundation for the advice that doctors and dietitians dole out to patients, though most Americans fall short of meeting the standard. -Bloomberg US Unveils Dietary Guidelines That Up Protein, Urge Less Sugar By Kristina Peterson and Hadriana Lowenkron A shopper in the produce section of a grocery store in New York. PHOTO:YUKI IWAMURA/BLOOMBERG