Teach the children well
Recently I participated in a conference call with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. By participated I mean that I told him a thing or two about feeding our nation’s children and doing right by our schools. Either that, or I listened quietly and jotted down a note or two. It’s kind of hard to remember.
The call centered around Michelle Obama’s campaign to end childhood obesity and the possible role that the FDA might play, particularly with regard to school lunches. If you don’t have kids in public school you may not know that current lunches are almost as nutritious as chocolate coated bike tires.
We’re gearing up for a change. But it’s going to cost money. And it’s going to ruffle feathers.
I know this because our district got a jump start on this by hiring Renegade Lunch Lady Ann Cooper to remake the face of lunch in Boulder County Schools. She is clearing out the high fructose corn syrup and the chemically constructed chicken nuggets. She is offering fresh fruits and vegetables and locally sourced hormone-free milk.
Inconceivably, it’s got some folks really upset. Grown-up folks.
It’s mind boggling to me, because surely they love their kids. And I know that they want what’s best. And yet they are stomping their feet because someone took away their chocolate milk?
We want our kids to be healthy. To grow strong. To have every opportunity to learn. So why are we sitting back and watching as their brain cells are taxed with highly processed foods? How can we challenge teachers to feed their minds when we’re not doing our best to nourish their bodies?
Why are we okay with this? Other countries aren’t. Other countries have stepped up and said no to things like hormones and antibiotics in their food. They aren’t thinking about chocolate milk. They are planning for the future.
It’s high time we take some steps towards ours.
I’m glad the schools are putting the brakes on shoveling bad stuff into our kids. Now we need to start figuring out our food. What’s in that snack we throw into their backpacks each morning? We need to know, because then we can help our kids make smart choices.
We’re the grown-ups here; if we don’t sell it there’s no way the kids are buying.