Welcome to the Fairfield County School Food Revolution

The CDC says that 1 of every 3 kids born after the year 2000 will have Type 2 Diabetes in their lifetime. 50% of those cases are predicted to occur in the pediatric years! They say that for the first time in American history our food practices are contributing to chronic diseases to such a great degree that our children are predicted to NOT live as long as their parents.
Your child will spend 180 days a year in school. Shouldn't the food message at school be the best it can possibly be and not the lowest common denominator? Given the pressure kids feel to conform shouldn't we be striving to offer them only healthy choices so they aren't tempted to eat junk just to fit in?
If your child is tempted by french fries and processed low-quality meats and cheeses 180 meals a year and moderation is the "key" what kind of options are the parents left with at home? If the schools were enforcing their published wellness policies, we parents could rest comfortably knowing that our children were offered only the best, freshest foods during school instead of trying to compete with the message that highly packaged, sugary, canned foods and snacks are desirable.
No one can do everything, but we can all do something! Raise your voice to encourage our schools to set the bar higher for food options in the cafeteria and the classroom.
Get informed, get involved!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Has anyone seen the monthly school lunch menu? Have you noticed on the flip side of the menu there's always a "helpful" recipe featuring a vegetable or fruit presumably to improve your home food options?
This month the featured vegetable is baby carrots. High in beta-carotene the district nutritionist offers a recipe to capitalize on their inherent healthiness.
The recipe suggests serving 2 cups of baby carrots with 3 tablespoons of butter, 1 tablespoon of honey, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and a 1/4 cup of orange juice!
Is this really the best we can strive for when it comes to introducing vegetables and reinforcing a healthy diet for our kids?
I'm left to wonder if all the food that is actually prepared by our cafeteria kitchens are similarly cloaked in sugar?
We can and should do better. Our kid's health and future depends on it.
We seem to be catering to the lowest common denominator in the schools by assuming kids won't eat healthy, life-affirming foods unless it's coated in a simple sugar syrup.
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