feed them junk, no wonder they can't think straight

I just found this video and it is distressing to watch and see how many lobbyists and lawyers show up for a meeting on school lunch nutrition.  While it is certainly not the only reason that children in this country are overweight and unhealthy I am sure it is a contributing factor.  We need to do better for our children.  

HealthySchoolLunches.org is trying to make some changes.  Sponsored by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), they are working to educate government and education officials, food service workers, parents, and others to try to promote healthy choices in school nutrition. If this is something that interests you (and it should interest all of us) you can sign their petition. They aren't the only organization promoting education on this issue; there's also Two Angry Moms which is a movie that I think should be required viewing for every parent, school board official, educator, and public official. As this OpEd piece by Alice Waters says, "Every public school child in America deserves a healthful and delicious lunch that is prepared with fresh ingredients. " We frequently talk about the "hope of the future" resting in these children. But we are not giving them the nutrition to ensure that they learn and grow, to help them mature into that hope we are asking them to be.

Chef Jamie Oliver took on the British School Lunch program in London and apparently had quite a success there. Perhaps we can learn from their program, plus the programs we have right here at home created by people like Alice Waters and her Slow Food Slow School program which has created such successes as The Edible Schoolyard (you can see a video of the schoolyard in action here).  Let's do better for our kids, they deserve it and we do too.