School Information System

School garden programs hope to change kids' relationship with food

Dina Maccabee:

One warm winter day at Ruus Elementary in south Hayward, Chef Tiffany sweeps a roomful of second-graders into their only cooking class of the year. Before long, they're shouting out the names of body parts that benefit from fresh veggies: "Eyes!" "Teeth!" "Heart!" And even if Swiss chard elicits a wary silence, the kids already know spinach from bok choy, and Chef Tiffany, known to adults as Tiffany Chenoweth, smoothly transitions from her talking points about leafy greens into the hands-on section of the class (after delivering a squirt of antibacterial gel onto the palms of each child). Meanwhile, out past the bustling blacktop, garden instructor Rachel Harris walks an ethnically diverse group of third graders through the concept of soil enrichment.

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Contraband candy = Skittles suspension

AP:

Contraband candy has led to big trouble for an eighth-grade honors student in Connecticut.

Michael Sheridan was stripped of his title as class vice president, barred from attending an honors student dinner and suspended for a day after buying a bag of Skittles from a classmate.

School spokeswoman Catherine Sullivan-DeCarlo says the New Haven school system banned candy sales in 2003 as part of a district wide school wellness policy.

Michael's suspension has been reduced from three days to one, but he has not been reinstated as class vice president.

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The Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch Program

WKOW-TV:

The Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch program helps Madison school kids understand where food really comes from.

Joe LaBarbera takes us on a journey that follows some of the students to the farm where some of it grows.

Doug Wubben is a project coordinator for Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch -- working to give kids their first real taste of life on the farm -- and a lesson in the first link of the food chain that eventually leads to their plate.

While this is about bringing the kids to the farm - sometimes they'll actually bring farmers into the classroom.

"This year, and also last year, we had a couple farmer educators come out and they did some workshops in the classroom," Teacher Marissa Carr-Flowers says.

These kids are learning how to plant seeds, grow food and spend a day away from their classroom. make no mistake -- they are still learning.

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When cheers turn to depression

Stan Grossfeld:

She just wanted six-pack abs. So in the summer of 2003, Dionne Passacantando, a 17-year-old high school cheerleader, gymnast, and vice president of her Allen (Texas) High School class, made a decision she regrets. She bought anabolic steroids from a boy on the school football team.

"Nobody frowned upon it," she says. "It was easier for me to get those than it probably was to buy beer."

But after injecting herself with Winstrol every other day for five weeks, she became suicidal.

"I was the last person in the world you'd think would use anabolic steroids," she says.

Her story is part of a much larger picture. The Mitchell Report, which detailed steroid use in major league baseball, noted that while steroid use among high schoolers seems to be declining, it is still estimated that 3-6 percent of students nationally have tried them. That means that, at a minimum, hundreds of thousands of high school students are using.

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The Family Dinner Deconstructed

Alix Spiegel:

The ritual of a family dinner has been praised as an antidote to bad grades and bad habits in kids. But as researchers look closer at the family dinner, they raise the question: Is it the mere act of eating together that counts, or is it that strong families are already more likely to have a family dinner?

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Baltimore Battles Childhood Obesity

John Fritze:

Baltimore should improve access to fresh produce and recreational activities in low-income neighborhoods to stem childhood obesity, according to a City Council task force report released yesterday.

"This is more serious than smoking," said City Councilwoman Agnes Welch, who has overseen the issue in the council. "Let this be a movement: We're going to stop childhood obesity in the city of Baltimore."

The report recommends creating health zones in which city officials would work with schools, food stores and churches in three- to four-block areas to ensure that healthy food is available and that children have safe places to be physically active.

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Kids Count Update on Children's Well-Being

The Annie E. Casey Foundation:

The Annie E. Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT online database has a whole new look and feel. Now featuring child well-being measures for the 50 largest U.S. cities, this powerful tool contains more than 100 indicators, including the most recent data available on education, employment and income, poverty, health, and youth risk factors for the United States as a whole, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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Putting on Weight for Football Glory

Jere Longman:

When the Desire Street Academy football team plays in a Louisiana state semifinal playoff game Friday night, the Lions will feature three starting linemen who weigh at least 300 pounds and two others who weigh 270 and 280 pounds, reflecting a trend in which high school players are increasingly reaching a size once seen almost exclusively among linemen in college and the N.F.L.

High school football rosters reveal weight issues that go beyond the nation’s overall increase in obesity rates among children. Two studies this year, one published in The Journal of the American Medical Association and another in The Journal of Pediatrics, found that weight problems among high school football players — especially linemen — far outpaced those of other male children and adolescents.

Now coaches and researchers fear that some young athletes may be endangering their health in an effort to reach massive proportions and attract the attention of college recruiters.

“The old saying was, ‘Wait till you get to college to make it a business,’” said Rusty Barrilleaux, the coach at Hammond High in southeastern Louisiana and a former offensive lineman at Louisiana State. “It’s still fun, but if you want to get to college, you have to get that size. The pressure is definitely on.”

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Lawmakers Consider School Food Limits

Kim Severson:

Federal lawmakers are considering the broadest effort ever to limit what children eat: a national ban on selling candy, sugary soda and salty, fatty food in school snack bars, vending machines and à la carte cafeteria lines.

Whether the measure, an amendment to the farm bill, can survive the convoluted politics that have bogged down that legislation in the Senate is one issue. Whether it can survive the battle among factions in the fight to improve school food is another.

Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of Iowa and the chairman of the Agriculture Committee, has twice before introduced bills to deal with foods other than the standard school lunch, which is regulated by Department of Agriculture.

Several lawmakers and advocates for changes in school food believe that an amendment to the $286 billion farm bill is the best chance to get control of the mountain of high-calorie snacks and sodas available to school children. Even if the farm bill does not pass, Mr. Harkin and Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, who is also sponsoring the amendment, vow to keep reintroducing it in other forms until it sticks.

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Fear and Allergies in the Lunchroom

Claudia Kalb:

About 11 million Americans suffer from food allergies, and their numbers are climbing. Allergists also say they’re seeing more children with multiple allergies. Why do allergies appear to be on the rise? One of the most intriguing theories, dubbed the “hygiene hypothesis,” is that we’ve all become too clean. The immune system is designed to battle dangerous foreign invaders like parasites and viruses and infections. But clean water, antibiotics and vaccines have eliminated some of our most toxic challenges. Research even posits that kids born by Caesarean section, which have risen 40 percent in the last decade, could be at higher risk for allergies, perhaps because they were never exposed to healthy bacteria in their mothers’ birth canals.

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Madison schools' lunch period isn't what it used to be

Andy Hall:

And somehow, in a time window one third the size that many adults take for lunch, 215 young children crowd around picnic-style tables, consume chicken nuggets — or whatever they brought from home — and hustle outside to play.

Squeezed by tight school budgets, the federal No Child Left Behind law and Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction rules on instructional time, the school lunch period isn't what it used to be in many school districts.

ver the years," said Frank Kelly, food services director of the Madison School District, who estimates that overall, school lunch periods in the district have been trimmed about 10 minutes over the past 10 years.

"I don't think people are going to accept anything less than this."

In fact, in response to complaints from parents four years ago, Madison officials eased the lunch crunch a bit for elementary students by using the last five minutes of the class period before lunch to move students to the cafeteria.

There was talk four years ago of expanding the elementary lunch period to 35 minutes. But the idea was dropped after officials estimated it might cost more than $2 million to pay teachers and lunch supervisors.

"We don't have much flexibility in extending that," said Sue Abplanalp, an assistant superintendent who oversees Madison's elementary schools.

While DPI leaves it up to local officials to determine the length of lunch periods, Madison educators say they believe they attain a decent compromise by giving:

•Elementary students 20 minutes.

•Middle school students 30 to 34 minutes.

•High school students about 35 minutes (except at West High School, where most students get 55 minutes under a plan initiated last year).

Those schedules are typical of what's found around Wisconsin, said Kelly, who has worked in food service for 31 years.

"For most of our people, it works very well," Madison schools Superintendent Art Rainwater said.

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Sugar Finds Its Way Back to the School Cafeteria

Andrew Martin:

STUNG by harsh publicity about fat kids and threatened with lawsuits, the nation’s three largest beverage companies finally got some love last year when they voluntarily agreed to remove sugary drinks from schools.

In the place of soda and sugar-laden beverages, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Cadbury Schweppes agreed that only water, low-fat milk and 100 percent juice would be offered in elementary and middle schools. In high schools, sports drinks, light juices and diet drinks would also be allowed.

The announcement was brokered by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a collaboration of the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation, and it was widely praised. Former President Bill Clinton, who attended the press conference, called the decision “courageous.”

“Shrewd” was probably a better word.

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The School Cafeteria, on a Diet

Andrew Martin:

As students return to school this week, some are finding an unusual entry on the list of class rules: no cupcakes.

School districts across the country have been taking steps to make food in schools healthier because of new federal guidelines and awareness that a growing number of children are overweight.

In California, deep fryers have been banned, so chicken nuggets and fries are now baked. Sweet tea is off the menu in one Alabama school. In New Jersey, 20-ounce sports drinks have been cut back to 12 ounces.

Food and beverage companies have scrambled to offer healthier alternatives in school cafeterias and vending machines, and some of the changes have been met with a shrug by students. The whole-wheat chocolate-chip cookies? “Surprisingly, the kids have kind of embraced them,” said Laura Jacobo, director of food services at Woodlake Union schools in California.

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Offered healthy food by servers, school kids take the bait.

Sally Squires:

You know how hard it can be to say no.

But our tendency to accept what we're offered may have positive value when it comes to encouraging children to choose — and eat — healthier food at school. A new report suggests that there's a simple, low-cost approach: Just offer it to them.

That's the conclusion of a pilot program in Guilford, Conn., where school cafeteria servers were trained to ask elementary school students, "Would you like fruit or juice with your lunch?" Ninety percent of the children said yes. What's more, 80% then consumed the fruit or juice that they put on their trays.

Compare those numbers with students at a nearby school who also participated in the study. At lunch, the same fruit and juice was available, but it wasn't personally offered to the kids. The difference? Just 60% of these students reached for fruit or juice on their own.

These findings "have pretty significant implications," says the pilot program's designer, Marlene Schwartz, director of research and school programs at Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. They suggest, she says, that if the National School Lunch Program were to modify its regulations and had servers actually encourage children to eat fruits and vegetables, their consumption might increase.

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A Note on Wellness & PE

Via a reader's email message:

our school banned all vending machines 1 1/2 yrs. ago. Did it help? ABSOLUTELY NOT! The kids are now bringing sodas and candy in their back packs and eat it at lunch time. They do not eat in the lunchroom. Elementary students have snack time around 9:30 to 10:30 each day depending on what grade you are in. They have 30 min. What do they eat? They bring candy, chips, sweetened tea, sodas and kool aid bursts. The school lost money and yet the kids are still eating poorly.

What could be done?

Ban the sodas and snacks from home and take away the snack time and replace it with 30 min. of instruction time. or better yet, replace it with 30 more min. of PE time.

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A Surprising Secret to a Long Life: Stay in School

Gina Kolata:

James Smith, a health economist at the RAND Corporation, has heard a variety of hypotheses about what it takes to live a long life — money, lack of stress, a loving family, lots of friends. But he has been a skeptic.

Yes, he says, it is clear that on average some groups in every society live longer than others. The rich live longer than the poor, whites live longer than blacks in the United States. Longevity, in general, is not evenly distributed in the population. But what, he asks, is cause and what is effect? And how can they be disentangled?

He is venturing, of course, into one of the prevailing mysteries of aging, the persistent differences seen in the life spans of large groups. In every country, there is an average life span for the nation as a whole and there are average life spans for different subsets, based on race, geography, education and even churchgoing.

But the questions for researchers like Dr. Smith are why? And what really matters?

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Why Not Walk to School Today?

Brian Lee and Jared Cunningham:

By applying GIS analysis, University of Kentucky undergraduate landscape architecture students have found ways to make it safer and easier for children to walk to school. Concerns with the growing childhood obesity epidemic, increased costs in driving children to school, and fostering the perception that it is more normal to drive rather than to walk to destinations have made walking to school an issue. With ArcView 9.1 and the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst extension, these students identified dangerous walking and bicycling areas, proposed design safety solutions, and evaluated alternatives for improving adverse conditions.

The immediate safety, as well as the long-term health, of children walking to and from schools has become an important topic of discussion in communities. The doubling of the childhood obesity rate over the past 30 years has raised concerns about short- and long-term health costs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 recommend that children and adolescents frequently participate in at least 60 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity, preferably on a daily basis. A short recess period during school does not provide enough physical activity for a growing child. One way to increase physical activity is to incorporate it into the child's daily school commute. However, neighborhoods have often been designed with the automobile exclusively in mind. Consequently, children walking or bicycling to school is not always a safe alternative to the car or school bus.

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Oregon School Cafeteria Makes It from Scratch

Jane Greenalgh:

Thanksgiving is a time to savor good food, something you don't expect to find in a school cafeteria. In fact, most schools across the country serve reheated, premade food that is trucked in from central kitchens. Daily offerings are often uninspiring: chicken sticks, macaroni and cheese, and pizza.

But there is a move in some parts of the country to bring real cooking back to school kitchens. Last year, Abernathy Elementary School in Portland, Ore., bought a second-hand stove and a big mixer and started cooking all its food from scratch.

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Markets in everything: unhealthy school dinners

New Economist:

he parents claim they are taking action because pupils are turning up their noses at what they describe as "overpriced, low-fat rubbish".

Four of them are using a supermarket trolley to make daily runs with fish and chips, pies, burgers, sandwiches and fizzy drinks from local takeaways.

Staff at Rawmarsh Comprehensive School, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, have called in environmental health and education officials. They are looking into whether the women are allowed to sell food without an operating licence and whether they are covered by food hygiene regulations.

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The End of Cupcake Days

Eric Zorn:

There were some two dozen of us in the 4th grade classroom at parent orientation night this week, and not one of us looked the least bit disappointed when the teacher, Mrs. Rand, announced "absolutely no cupcakes this year!"

She'd done the math. Naturally. And she figured that if every child had a little birthday party -- where a parent brings in treats, drinks, maybe goodie bags -- she'd lose roughly 10 hours of total classroom instruction time over the course of the year.

Parents have done the math too. The one responsible for buying the treats (usually the mother and usually cupcakes) and making sure they get to school at the right time and that kids with dietary restrictions are provided with edible options also loses an hour or so.

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Mississippi Free School Fruit Pilot Program

Reuters:

Results of a pilot program in Mississippi hints that distributing apples, oranges and other fresh fruit free of charge at school may be an effective part of a comprehensive program aimed at improving students' eating habits.

During the 2004-2005 school year as part of the Mississippi Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Program, 25 secondary schools gave out free fresh fruit and vegetables during the school day and provided nutrition education to promote and support the program.

Initial results based on 851 participating students in grades 5, 8, and 10 from 5 schools suggest that the program significantly increased the variety of fruit and vegetables tried by the students in all three grades.

The program appeared to be most effective among students in grades 8 and 10, report Doris J. Schneider from the Child Nutrition Program, Mississippi Department of Education and colleagues in the current issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a publication of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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"Candy isn't Dandy in Madison Schools"

Susan Lampert Smith:

Expect details of the Madison School District plan in the coming week. Here's what my sticky fingers were able to pry out of Mary Gulbrandsen, student services director:

Soda pop has already vanished from Madison school vending machines. Candy is no longer sold in school, and in two years, no school group will be allowed to sell candy for fundraising.

(Horde your hockey team candy bars - soon you can sell them on eBay as collectors' items!)

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Schools Find Free Veggies a Hard Sell

Mike Stobbe:

Bad news - but probably no surprise to parents - when it comes to young children and vegetables: A government study showed fifth-graders became less willing to try vegetables and fruits when more were offered as free school snacks.

Older kids in the same study upped the amount of fruit they ate, but there was no change in their vegetable consumption.

The study results are somewhat disappointing for champions of getting more fresh produce into school lunchrooms.

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Cantines

Chocolate & Zucchini:

Cantine is French for school cafeteria*, and it is hard to find a grown-up that doesn't have a story or two to recount about his cantine days. These memories are often a mix of the bitter (the food was less than stellar, and the atmosphere was one of constant struggle for social survival) and the sweet (petit-suisse fights were fun, and if you knew what strings to pull, you could lay your hands on an extra serving of fries -- du rab de frites), but in both cases, they are an integral part of how personalities and palates were formed.

A book called Cantines came out yesterday in France, based on these very premises. Food writers Sébastien Demorand and Emmanuel Rubin have selected sixty dishes that used to be were served, with varying degrees of gastronomic success, at school cafeterias when we were kids -- from friand au fromage (a puff pastry envelope with a creamy cheese filling) to petit salé aux lentilles (salted pork and lentils), by way of macédoine de légumes (a mayo-laden salad of peas, potatoes, and carrots) and hachis parmentier (a sort of shepherd's pie).

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Millions on The Breakfast Table

Roger Thurow:

Twenty-nine million children, most from low-income families, eat federally funded lunch in school. But only nine million eat school breakfast. To federal and state officials, that gap is a big reason for the persistence of childhood hunger in America.

To entrepreneur Gary Davis, it's also a business opportunity. Those 20 million unserved breakfasts translate into nearly $2 billion in federal money that could be claimed from school-feeding programs, but has been left on the table each year. In the summer of 2004 Mr. Davis wondered: What if he could get all the children who eat lunch in school to eat breakfast, too?

His answer: a grab-and-go meal of cereal, crackers and fruit juice, in small boxes that could be distributed on buses, in the cafeteria or in the first-period classroom. He launched his product at the beginning of last school year, and by the end, he says he was selling three million of them a month.

Long-neglected, school breakfast is becoming a sought-after market for business. At the same time, that business is driving participation in an underused government social program. Earlier this month, Kellogg Co. began selling its own breakfast-in-a-box to schools, which includes cereal, a Pop-Tart or graham crackers, and juice. Tyson Foods Inc. is adapting its popular lunchtime chicken nuggets and patties into smaller sizes for breakfast. Scores of other companies also are pitching breakfast items to schools.

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A Better Breakfast Can Boost a Child's Brainpower

Allison Aubrey

Attention, children: Do not skip breakfast -- or your grades could pay a price.

Evidence suggests that eating breakfast really does help kids learn. After fasting all night, a developing body (and brain) needs a fresh supply of glucose -- or blood sugar. That's the brain's basic fuel.

"Without glucose," explains Terrill Bravender, professor of pediatrics at Duke University, "our brain simply doesn't operate as well. People have difficulty understanding new information, [they have a] problem with visual and spatial understanding, and they don't remember things as well."

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No More Mystery Meat

Stacy Finz:

Schools weren't always citadels of health. For years, they were more like junk food coliseums. Now, as this school year begins, cafeteria menus are being scrutinized as closely as the curriculum in preparation for compliance with recently passed legislation to better students' diets. School officials from Santa Clara to Sonoma counties are planning inventive programs to rid their halls of high-calorie and fatty foods.

Profile of Ann Cooper, Berkeley school nutrition director.

But for four people in the Bay Area, changing the way kids eat has become their life's mission.

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PCRM: A Veggie Laden Lunch Line

Maria Glod:

This week, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a District-based group that promotes a vegan diet (one that excludes all animal products) and healthful, low-fat food options for children, awarded the Fairfax County school system an A in its School Lunch Report Card. None of the other 17 large U.S. school systems the group surveyed scored as high.

"Everybody is responsive to the childhood obesity epidemic, but Fairfax really pulled out all the stops," said Jeanne Stuart McVey, a spokeswoman for the group.

The Montgomery County schools, the only other local system in the report card, received a B.

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Dodging Land Mines at the School Lunch Table

Karen Batka:

I puttered around the kitchen as Grace munched on her calcium-added Goldfish and worked on long division. "Mom, what does high fat content mean?" she asked.

"Why?" I asked, choosing to answer a question with a question.

"Paige said that Lunchables aren't healthy because they have a high fat content." Once again, reality refused to cooperate with my script. I'd now lived in California long enough to witness the witch hunt mentality of the nutrition evangelists. But I had failed to consider that this school of thought had already penetrated the minds of young children.

"Well what does Paige bring for lunch?" I asked. It was time to wave the white flag of surrender.

"She brings Sushi or veggie wraps, yogurt or fruit and vitamin water."

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Improving School Food

Lisa Belkin:

By any health measure, today’s children are in crisis. Seventeen percent of American children are overweight, and increasing numbers of children are developing high blood pressure, high cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes, which, until a few years ago, was a condition seen almost only in adults. The obesity rate of adolescents has tripled since 1980 and shows no sign of slowing down. Today’s children have the dubious honor of belonging to the first cohort in history that may have a lower life expectancy than their parents. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has predicted that 30 to 40 percent of today’s children will have diabetes in their lifetimes if current trends continue.

The only good news is that as these stark statistics have piled up, so have the resources being spent to improve school food. Throw a dart at a map and you will find a school district scrambling to fill its students with things that are low fat and high fiber.

But there is one big shadow over all this healthy enthusiasm: no one can prove that it works. For all the menus being defatted, salad bars made organic and vending machines being banned, no one can prove that changes in school lunches will make our children lose weight. True, studies show that students who exercise more and have healthier diets learn better and fidget less, and that alone would be a worthwhile goal. But if the main reason for overhauling the cafeteria is to reverse the epidemic of obesity and the lifelong health problems that result, then shouldn’t we be able to prove we are doing what we set out to do?

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"Big Mother & Kids Lunches"

Engadget:

While programs like these have a solid premise, we envision kids making friends for more than just social reasons as middle-school cafeterias turn into fast-paced trading blocks to circumvent the system as connector children smuggle in junk food from the outside world. Or maybe we're just letting our imaginations get away with ourselves again.

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The Complex Relationship Between Nature, Nurture, and Intelligence

After the Bell Curve
David L. Kirp
The New York Times

When it comes to explaining the roots of intelligence, the fight between partisans of the gene and partisans of the environment is ancient and fierce. Each side challenges the other’s intellectual bona fides and political agendas. What is at stake is not just the definition of good science but also the meaning of the just society. The nurture crowd is predisposed to revive the War on Poverty, while the hereditarians typically embrace a Social Darwinist perspective.

A century’s worth of quantitative-genetics literature concludes that a person’s I.Q. is remarkably stable and that about three-quarters of I.Q. differences between individuals are attributable to heredity. This is how I.Q. is widely understood — as being mainly “in the genes” — and that understanding has been used as a rationale for doing nothing about seemingly intractable social problems like the black-white school-achievement gap and the widening income disparity. If nature disposes, the argument goes, there is little to be gained by intervening. In their 1994 best seller, “The Bell Curve,” Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray relied on this research to argue that the United States is a genetic meritocracy and to urge an end to affirmative action. Since there is no way to significantly boost I.Q., prominent geneticists like Arthur Jensen of Berkeley have contended, compensatory education is a bad bet.

But what if the supposed opposition between heredity and environment is altogether misleading? A new generation of studies shows that genes and environment don’t occupy separate spheres — that much of what is labeled “hereditary” becomes meaningful only in the context of experience. “It doesn’t really matter whether the heritability of I.Q. is this particular figure or that one,” says Sir Michael Rutter of the University of London. “Changing the environment can still make an enormous difference.” If heredity defines the limits of intelligence, the research shows, experience largely determines whether those limits will be reached. And if this is so, the prospects for remedying social inequalities may be better than we thought.

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Madison School Board Wellness Presentation / Discussion

Monday evening's Madison School Board meeting included a discussion of the proposed Nutrition Policy. 84MB Video | 13MB MP3 Audio.

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Santa Clara district eases junk food ban

Becky Bartindale:

The all-out junk food ban proposed earlier this year in the Santa Clara Unified School District has gone through a process not unlike what Goldilocks experienced when she visited the three bears' house and saw three bowls of porridge on the table.

The first proposal -- which banned unhealthy food sold or given away on campus 24 hours a day, seven days a week -- was seen by some as extreme. Others thought a reworked version was lax. Now, district officials hope, they have come up with something that is just right: a ban on selling or giving away unhealthy foods during the school day, while encouraging organizations to choose healthy options for half the food and drinks at after-school events.

``Nothing is ever perfect,'' said board member Teresa O'Neill, a nutrition committee member who would have liked a stricter policy. ``This is the reality.''

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Schools Go Local for Better Food

The NewsHour:

While most efforts to encourage better health in schools focus on removing fat and sugar from the cafeteria and by offering a second vegetable with each meal, there are a growing number of school districts that have turned to local farms for a solution.

By using local farms, schools hope to offer their students fresher food that tastes better while financially supporting small businesses in their communities.

"Locally grown food is fresher and tastier," said Anupama Joshi of the National Farm to School Network, which helps set up the farm-supply programs.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at 4:26 PM Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

Well-Intentioned Food Police May Create Havoc With Children's Diets

Harriet Brown:

Earlier this year, our small Midwestern school district joined the food wars, proposing a new policy that would discourage all food in classrooms, ban nuts and sugary foods and do away with vending machines.

So much for peanut butter sandwiches, snacks for kindergartners and birthday cupcakes.

Like the policies put in place by school systems around the country, this one was driven by anxiety — about food quantity, quality and safety — and by the ever-increasing pressure for children to look a certain way and to weigh a certain amount.

Unlike the earlier "mommy wars" or the "war on drugs," which centered around simpler black-and-white divides, the 21st-century food wars are fuzzier, though the feelings run just as deep.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at 5:09 AM | Comments (5) Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

2006 / 2007 MMSD Food Service Budget Discussion

28 minute video excerpt of this evening's discussion of the MMSD's food service budget (the food service budget is evidently supposed to break even, but the operating budget has apparently been subsidizing it by several hundred thousand dollars annually).

Former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin made a similar case today when he discussed our fair city's water problems:

It's funny how progressives forget their history and the reason for doing things. The idea is to have a citizen board, not a board with public employees. That is part of the checks and balances. In fact the progressive left in Madison went though considerable time over the years gradually removing city staff from committees so they would not dominate and squelch the citizens who are more likely to be 'whistleblowers.'

A number of board members have been asking many questions (the video clip will give you a nice overview of who is asking the questions and what the responses are). You can check the action out here (Each "Tab" is a question to the Administration, with their response"). For example, we learn in tab 11 2 Page PDF that the district spent a net (after 200K in gate receipts and 450K in student fees) $1,433,603 on athletics in 2005/2006 and plans to spend a net $1,803,286 in 2006/2007, a 25% increase. The overall budget will grow by more than 3%.

This is quite a change from past years, and provides some hope for the future.

Posted by James Zellmer at 9:38 PM | Comments (8) Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

Let them Eat Kale

The Economist:

Plans to improve school meals are causing havoc

JUST over a year ago, Jamie Oliver, a camera-friendly chef, called for a revolution in school kitchens. In a television series, he chronicled the decline in school lunches and showed that junk food-addicted children could be taught to tuck into what he calls “pukka nosh”. It proved a traumatic experience for the young gourmands, some of whom demonstrated for the return of chips and burgers. Mr Oliver's antics have also tweaked the government, upset some dinner ladies and shaken the catering market.

“Jamie's School Dinners” galvanised parents, who demanded that schools ditch grotesque inventions such as the Turkey Twizzler and adopt wholesome fare such as shepherd's pie and lentil soup. Worried about a looming general election, the government hastily responded to Mr Oliver's demands. Ruth Kelly, who was then the education secretary, promised to ban junk food in schools and asked a panel of experts to suggest nutritional guidelines.

The panel recommended that schools serve more freshly-cooked food containing less fat, sugar and salt. A sub-committee suggested tougher rules for vending machines and food served at breakfast and after-school clubs. The government's own targets are expected to be broadly in line with those of the panel.

Pressure from parents and the media is already changing school meals, not always in good ways. One effect is that the number of pupils eating school lunches has declined. The Local Authority Caterers' Association reports that the number of meals served has declined by 12.5% since last year, rendering some contracts unsustainable. It blames Mr Oliver's scare tactics for the exodus. More worryingly, some dinner ladies are threatening to strike. They complain that they are being asked to peel mountains of carrots and marinate meat to meet the demand for fresh food. But their schedule still assumes they just open packets and heat up the contents.

The government promised councils and schools an extra £280m over three years, but the providers, as well as the expert panel, say it is not enough. Last year some private contractors were shamed into pushing up standards. Now they say the money is insufficient to sustain the improvements. One caterer, Sodexho, threatened last month to put what the catering industry calls “shaped food products” (such as Fish Octopus) back on menus in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire if more cash was not forthcoming. The councils paid up. Other contractors are negotiating tougher deals. Initial Catering, for example, is demanding risk-sharing clauses, which trigger fines if the number of meals falls below an agreed level.

Some councils are struggling to attract any bids for catering contracts beginning in the autumn. Sheffield City Council has received one bid to run its school meals service, while Wokingham District Council had just two. Bracknell Forest Council has received no bids. Kent County Council, which broke up a single contract covering its 405 schools into 22 clusters with the objective of encouraging smaller players, received final bids for contracts covering just 70 schools. It is now entering another round of contract negotiations.

The 14 councils in England that have no school kitchens and simply give sandwiches to children who are entitled to free school meals are worst off. They are expected to provide hot food by 2008. One local authority describes the task as “enormous”; another says it is impossible.

Amid general upheaval, however, some companies are flourishing. Ashlyns Organic farm, in Essex, is training school cooks who now need to do more than heat up processed food. Simon Owen, a chef, says that he teaches them basic skills such as how to chop an onion. The farm already supplies and advises 25 Essex schools that run their own kitchens and is signing new contracts with schools in London.

Two weeks ago Mr Oliver won an award for his television series and again denounced the government's inertia on school meals. He has proved a good demagogue. But his revolution, like many others, has turned out to be a messy affair.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at 7:36 AM Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

Tipping the Scales

WKOW-TV:

One in five Wisconsin children are overweight or obese. That number jumps to 1 in 4 when you look at Wisconsin’s high schools. Perhaps more disturbing, almost half of those overweight kids here in Wisconsin, are at risk for developing Type II Diabetes or Coronary Artery Disease.

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Cut Soda Demand with Education

Wisconsin State Journal Editorial:

The most effective way to improve the diets of young people is to educate them to make healthful choices.

That's worth remembering in the aftermath of last week's announcement that sugared sodas will be banned from U.S. schools by the 2009-2010 school year.

The ban, voluntarily agreed to by the nation's largest beverage distributors, addresses the public health problems that have accompanied the soaring consumption of sodas in the past generation.

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Notes from Middleton High School on the Sugar Water Ban

Doug Erickson:

By lunch period Wednesday, most students at Middleton High School had heard the big news - the nation's largest beverage distributors had voluntarily agreed to halt nearly all soda sales to schools.

There was disagreement over whether this was:

A.) A great day in public education.

B.) A sinister plot to rob youth of their sugar birthright

C.) No big deal.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at 6:04 AM | Comments (6) Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

Most Soda Sales in Schools to End

Samantha Gross:

The nation's largest beverage distributors have agreed to halt nearly all soda sales to public schools, according to a deal announced Wednesday by the William J. Clinton Foundation.

Under the agreement, the companies have agreed to sell only water, unsweetened juice and low-fat milks to elementary and middle schools, said Jay Carson, a spokesman for former President Bill Clinton. Diet sodas would be sold only to high schools.

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Food Policy and Physical Education

To those concerned about the success of the Madison Schools,

I am writing to express my support for the positive changes proposed by the district with respect to food policy. It is exciting that the district has been proactive in including students, parents, health providers, educators, and policy makers. As a pediatrician working with childhood obesity and childhood diabetes, I believe our schools do- and can have an even more positive influence- on the health of our children. 

We are all struggling with the epidemic of childhood obesity, its costs, ramifications, and its effect on children and their families. We need to address this problem though our families, through our communities, and definitely through our schools. We continue to "leave many children behind" when it comes to healthy nutrition and physical activity. The State of California has shown that children with greater fitness levels, also have greater academic levels. Supporting an environment for achieving this is imperative for our children.

Healthy food choices should always be offered even if it means different fund raising methods in our schools including removing soda, and other unhealthy food practices.  It is time for the Board to look carefully at how they can help be part of the solution regarding this problem and the long-term health of our students. 

I hope that the board will also consider a minimum standard of physical activity for each student. The Surgeon General has called for 60 minutes of physical activity per day for children, (of which much could come through school),  while in Canada, the recommendation for Healthy Active Living is 90 minutes of exercise (activity) per day.
 
This week, on a national level, a bipartisan coalition has introduced the Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act to improve students' eating habits and children's overall health. The legislation would update outdated federal nutrition standards for snack foods sold in school cafeterias alongside regular school meals and would apply those standards everywhere on school grounds, including in vending machines and school stores.

Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Arlen Specter (R-PA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), and Lincoln Chaffee (R-RI) sponsored the measure. "Many American kids are at school for two meals a day," said Harkin. "But instead of a nutritious school breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria, they are enticed to eat Cheetos and a Snickers bar from the vending machines in the hallway. Junk food sales in schools are out of control.  It undercuts our investment in school meal programs, and steers kids toward a future of obesity and diet-related disease." According to the release, current federal regulations limiting the sale of junk food in schools are narrow and have not been updated in almost 30 years. And although a narrow category of junk foods cannot be sold in certain areas of schools, even those items can be sold anywhere else on-campus, at any time.

I realize there are many issues facing the board related to budget, academic curriculum, and overcrowding. I hope you will consider the food policy on May 1st and physical activity issues in the future with the same convictions.  Thank you for considering.
 

Aaron Carrel

Aaron Carrel, MD
University of Wisconsin Children's Hospital
Pediatric Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Fitness
608-265-8182

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Coke's CEO on Soda in Schools

Chad Terhune:

WSJ: How well is the company responding to the obesity issue?

Mr. Isdell: We are in what I would call the bull's-eye of public opinion with regard to calorie consumption. It's something I inherited and something as an industry we have not been able to rebut effectively at this point in time. It's something we are working diligently on as an industry.... We really need to widen the debate. For example, Diet Coke, a zero-calorie beverage, is actually in the obesity debate because there has been a demonization of carbonated soft drinks. But if it's really about obesity, why would you not want people to drink a diet soft drink?

WSJ: Why should any regular sodas be sold in middle or high schools?

Mr. Isdell: It's high schools where the current policy we have is 50% noncarbonated drinks. In the middle schools [full-calorie sodas are sold from vending machines] only after school [according to an industrywide agreement.]

I saw this interesting piece on a guy in California who came out very strongly and said, "Why am I allowed to vote and I can own a gun, but I can't choose my own soft drink?" I think when you reach high school, you do have a level of sophistication and you can be allowed to choose what you wish.... There are some schools where some kids are making good money bootlegging soft drinks in and selling them to students.... I think that is not all bad for us. After all, every kid likes being rebellious.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at 6:47 AM Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

Lawmakers Try to Expel Junk Food From Schools

AP:

Trying to shrink the growing waistlines of children, lawmakers want to expel soda, candy bars, chips and other junk food from the nation's schools.

Dangerous weight is on the rise in kids. This week, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the rate of obese and overweight kids has climbed to 18 percent of boys and 16 percent of girls. Four years ago, the number was 14 percent.

Lawmakers blame high-fat, high-sugar snacks that compete with nutritious meals in schools.
"Junk food sales in schools are out of control," Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, senior Democrat on the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, said Thursday. "It undercuts our investment in school meal programs and steers kids toward a future of obesity and diet-related disease."

Posted by Mary Battaglia at 9:06 PM Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

Bill Strikes at Low-Nutrition Foods in School

Marian Burros:

Under the bill, an amendment to the National School Lunch Act, high nutritional standards would be required of all food sold on school premises. That means not just in cafeterias but in vending machines, school stores and snack bars as well, even at fund-raising events.

The measure, which has strong bipartisan support in both houses, would do on a national level what many school districts have been trying to do for years: require that the schools set an example by providing only healthful food and so perhaps reduce the incidence of childhood obesity.

Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, has watched what goes on in the school her two teenage sons attend.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at 6:09 PM Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

Wellness Initiatives

Jamaal Abdul-Alim:

Black pedometer in hand, Greendale Middle School Spanish teacher Barb Rampolla hits the track behind her school to do three or four laps a few times a week.

Last summer, she joined an area fitness center. Over Christmas vacation, she abstained from her favorite holiday treats - and won a contest for not gaining any weight over winter break.

Fruits and vegetables are now a regular part of her diet. She's feeling better, too.

"And I have to say that my clothes fit better," said Rampolla, 58. "And for a woman, that's really good."

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MMSD Solicits Comments on Food Policy

Please share your opinion on the MMSD's proposed food policy at http://www.mmsd.org/topics/food/food_survey.htm you can agree/disagree and comment on each section of the policy as well as see it. This is especially important because the policy has been changed since the final draft came out of Student Senate and thus bans pretty much all soda and candy/baked goods sales in the schools.

Posted by Jeff Henriques at 6:28 PM | Comments (1) Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

Madison Schools' Proposed Comprehensive Food Policy

Madison Metropolitian School District News Release:

Community asked for feedback on proposals, Board will begin to consider next month

As the next step in developing a Madison School District comprehensive food policy, recommendations are being released today by a student work group for consideration by the Board of Education.

This policy could influence which foods are served in school breakfast and lunch programs, school "potlucks" and other classroom celebrations; vending machine sales and other school fundraising activities; and the locations in the school in which food is eaten.

Included in the proposals are separate sets of recommendations from
the MMSD Student Senate and the district's management team.

The school district has placed on its Web site a questionnaire that is
designed to provide community feedback on the recommendations
contained in the draft food policy. See "Comprehensive Food Policy" at
. All related food policy documents are available
here also.

In addition, citizens will have opportunities to address the Board of
Education members at Board meetings or through the "comments" portion
of the district Web site in the coming weeks before the Board makes
any final decisions. The Board is first scheduled to consider the
recommendations on April 24.

The Need

The Madison Metropolitan School District is committed to developing a
comprehensive food policy that promotes the health of students,
through a safe and healthy food environment and high quality lunches
and food services, and that addresses the sale of foods for
fund-raising.

1. Health of Students: Overweight and obesity rates have doubled in
children and tripled in teens over the two decades. Currently, 16.5%
of American children are obese.

While obesity is a multi-factored problem, over-consumption of soft
drinks and foods with minimal nutritional value is part of the
problem. While low levels of physical activity are also an important
part of the problem, children are clearly eating more calories now
than in the past.

2. Safe and Healthy Environment: MMSD has a duty to maintain a safe
and healthy environment for its students and staff by minimizing the
risks related to poor food preparation and of exposure to allergens,
particularly nuts and peanuts.

3. School Lunch/Food Services: In all grades, the overriding goal of
the comprehensive food policy is to improve the nutritional quality of
foods available to children by ensuring that no foods or beverages
available at school contradict the current nutritional
recommendations.

4. Fund-raising: Competitive foods are any foods sold in competition
with the school lunch program. In the MMSD, competitive foods include
items that are sold by school stores, in vending machines, or as part
of fund-raising activities.

The district is committed to providing the most nutritious food
possible to our students during the school day.

The Process

At the start of this school year, a small group of high school
students who are members of the MMSD Student Senate expressed an
interest in working intensively on developing recommendations for a
comprehensive food policy. Over the last four months, they have
learned a great deal about health, nutrition and Food Services
operations in schools.

In addition to the student work, several focus groups have been held
to gather parent, community and school staff input.

The student work group then developed a food policy and presented
their recommendations to the Student Senate and to the district
management team. The final recommendations are in the draft food
policy that is being forwarded to the Board of Education for
consideration.

The Student Senate and the district management team chose to offer
their own set of recommendations, some of which are the same and some
of which differ from the work group's set.

The Recommendations

There are 19 recommendations in all, grouped into five categories:
Nutrition, Sales, Food Safety, Environment, and Consumption. They
would apply to school breakfast/lunch programs, vending machines,
school stores, school sponsored fund-raising activities, and classroom
consumption.

The proposals would not apply to booster club fund-raising or the
fund-raising of school-sanctioned clubs that occurs more than 30
minutes outside of school hours.

Agreement Of the 19 recommendations, the student work group, the
Student Senate and the district management team agreed in full on 11.
For details, see the table "Comprehensive Food Policy --
Recommendations by Student Work Group, Student Senate and Management
Team".

In short, the agreed upon recommendations are:

1A. Meals served by MMSD Food Services comply with or exceed all USDA
standards.

1B. Maximum fat and saturated fat percentages are established for all
"a la carte" items available during school breakfast/lunch programs or
that are served to students during the school day.

3A1. For all school activities held during school hours which include
the preparation of food, and the consumption of that food by students
(e.g. pot lucks or theme meals), the steps below (4 -- 6) must be
observed. These steps are also strongly recommended for staff-only
activities (e.g. teacher appreciation lunches).

3A2. The MMSD School Potluck Food Safety pamphlet will be distributed
to all who will prepare the food and that food must be prepared in
accordance with the pamphlet.

3A3. A comprehensive list of ingredients for each dish must be placed
in close proximity to the dish and the list must also identify the
name of one person who participated in the making of the dish and
his/her contact information.

3A4. Each school will have at least one designated person who has
completed food safety training. That person will be responsible for
ensuring that the food served at school events, whether prepared at
home or school, is prepared and served in accordance with the School
Potluck Food Safety guidelines.

3B. MMSD Food Services will not provide peanuts or nut products in
elementary school lunches after the 2005-06 school year. This includes
peanut butter sandwiches.

4A. Food will not be consumed on or over carpets or rugs.

4B. School staff are encouraged to limit consumption of food in
classrooms.

5A. When permitted by classroom teachers or other supervising adults,
students may eat their own food. It is each student's responsibility
to clean up after him/herself.

5B. All students receiving their breakfast from MMSD Food Services and
eating it in their school building will be permitted at least 10
minutes in which to eat. All MMSD schools shall have lunch periods of
at least 30 minutes.

Differences The Student Senate and the district management team did
not agree in full on eight of the student work group recommendations.
These recommendations are in three distinct areas: vending sales,
candy and snack sales, and food safety.

Vending sales -- The student work group and the management team
recommend beverage vending at middle and high schools of only water,
milk, 100% fruit juices without sweeteners or caffeine, and sports
beverages without caffeine or a specified level of sweetener.

The Student Senate proposes no restrictions on beverages offered at
high schools.

Candy and snack sales --
(2B1) The student work group and the management team recommend candy
will not be given or sold to students nor offered for sale at school
or to the community by the school during the school day.

The Student Senate proposes this restriction would not apply to high
school students.

(2B2) The student work group and the management team recommend no food
will be sold from vending machines to students.

The Student Senate proposes this restriction would apply only during
the school day or within 30 minutes of the school day.

Food Safety -- The only significant disagreement of the three
recommendations is on (3E). The student work group and the management
team recommend food will not be used in classrooms as a manipulative
or reward for learning (e.g. small candies used in math class) or in
activities that involve students handling and possibly eating the food
item.

The Student Senate proposes this restriction would not apply to high
school students.

To see the complete recommendations, go to the table "Comprehensive
Food Policy -- Recommendations by Student Work Group, Student Senate
and Management Team".

COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? PLEASE CONTACT:
Madison Metropolitan School District
Public Information Office
545 W. Dayton St.
Madison, WI 53703
608-663-1879

Posted by Jim Zellmer at 7:34 AM Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

Nutrtitional Battle Lines Form at Schools

Brenda Ingersoll:

Mindful of the obesity epidemic and nutritional goals, the Madison School District is thinking of banning soda sales in its high schools, and candy in elementary and middle schools.

In the DeForest School District, a committee is mulling giving students more whole- wheat bread and switching to lower-fat milk.

In Mount Horeb, a similar "wellness" committee is pondering phasing out the chips and candy bars available in vending machines, and replacing them with fresh fruit and granola bars.

And Oregon is considering offering raw carrots, broccoli and celery daily, instead of a few times a week.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at 10:09 PM Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

Madison Schools' Potential Food Policy Update

Channel3000:

A new controversial, food policy proposal in the Madison Metropolitan School District could take food out of children's mouths and funding for clubs, activities and supplies.

The district's Board of Education will consider district-wide recommendations on food policy within the next few days that might include a ban on candy, soda and snack food sales during school hours, according to the student representatives to the board.

The administrator writing the final recommendations refused to reveal if a ban will be part of the proposed policy, WISC-TV reported.
Supporters of the proposal argue that the food policy is to promote healthy eating and food safety.

A ban would impact food sales in school cafeterias and vending machines, as well as fundraisers sponsored by school clubs and extracurricular activities.

The school sale of junk food, candy and sugar-filled soft drinks could be affected by food policy changes to be considered by the Madison School Board.

The School Board is expected to consider new food policy recommendations within the week.

Madison Metropolitan School District spokesman Ken Syke confirmed the food policy is on the table but wouldn't release details on what recommendations are in the new report.

"It's a comprehensive food policy, and many different groups weighed in on it," Syke said. "Does it ban junk food? I can't say."

Posted by James Zellmer at 10:27 PM Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

Some schools, including Sherman, will get fresh fruit & vegetables

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Elizabeth Burmaster issued the following press release:

Students will crunch on carrots or cauliflower, or whip up a fruit smoothie while learning the importance of eating fresh produce in 25 schools throughout the state, thanks to a federal grant that brings Wisconsin into the successful U.S. Department of Agriculture's Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program.

"This grant allows us to offer more fresh produce to all students as a supplement to the school breakfast and school lunch programs," said State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster. "Many schools will offer the fresh fruits and vegetables at times during the day when children would otherwise be hungry, or might need an energy boost to improve their attention in the classroom. We know that hungry children can't learn, so this program supports our efforts to boost achievement for all students and close the achievement gap."

The following schools received the grants:

Abbotsford Elementary School, Abbotsford School District — $ 23,896
Bluff View Intermediate School, Prairie du Chien School District — $ 33,318
Butte de Morts Elementary School, Menasha School District — $ 27,288
Edward Bain School of Language and Art, Kenosha School District — $ 58,797
Glidden K-12 School, Glidden School District — $ 16,508
Howe Elementary School, Green Bay Area School District — $ 35,580
Ladysmith Elementary School, Ladysmith-Hawkins School District — $ 26,308
Lakeview Elementary School, South Milwaukee School District — $ 22,689
Logan Middle School, La Crosse School District — $ 40,027
Marinette Middle School, Marinette School District — $ 61,209
Mead Elementary School, Wisconsin Rapids School District — $ 35,278
Milwaukee Public Schools
Forest Home Elementary School — $ 61,133
Kosciusko Middle School — $ 34,976

North High School, Eau Claire Area School District — $ 132,368
Northern Lights Elementary School, Superior School District — $ 48,168
Parkside Middle School, Wautoma Area School District — $ 38,067
Rock Elementary School, Hudson School District — $ 45,304
Salem Elementary School, Salem School District — $ 84,351
Sherman Middle School, Madison Metropolitan School District — $ 40,555
Turtle Creek Elementary School, Delevan-Darien School District — $ 41,836
Viroqua Middle School, Viroqua Area School District — $ 18,091
City of Wausau
GD Jones Elementary School, Wausau School District — $ 18,468
Newman Catholic School, Wausau — $ 15,679
Webster Stanley Elementary School, Oshkosh Area School District — $ 33,469
Wilson Elementary School, Janesville School District — $ 23,745

Posted by Ed Blume at 12:41 PM | Comments (9) Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

Maya Cole endorses healthy Homegrown Lunches

The following commitment by Maya Cole seems particularly important to post given the lively discussion on healthy food:

I enthusiastically endorse the Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch Food Policy Recommendations, and I will work to win adoption of the recommendations if I have the opportunity to serve on the Board of Education of the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD).

Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch is a grassroots program whose goal is to enhance the Madison public schools' existing meal programs by introducing fresh, nutritious, local and sustainably grown food to children, beginning in the city's elementary schools. The program, like similar "farm-to-school" programs around the country, will provide an opportunity for children to reconnect with their natural world and will help establish a stable market for local farmers and processors.

I know elementary school teachers who give their students carrots and other fresh vegetables for snacks, and the children gobble them up, so children will eat healthy food when given the opportunity.

Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch is a joint project of the REAP Food Group and the University of Wisconsin's Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems.

Farmers markets are islands of pride and excellence in our community, and homegrown, locally purchased foods extends farmers markets into the lunch rooms of our schools. What could be better for farmers and children?

The Web site of Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch lists the following principles that it recommends for the MMSD:

• Healthy children are the foundation of a healthy society;
• Healthy, well-nourished children are better able to learn;
• All children deserve nutritious, safe, and deliciously prepared food;
• Eating habits developed in childhood will affect health throughout life;
• Knowledge of food—how it is grown, who grows it, how it is prepared, and its connection to tradition —is integral to a healthy education.

Additional information is available at the Web sites of REAP Food Group and Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems.

Posted by Ed Blume at 3:46 PM Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

More-healthful school menus fatten districts' food bills

Ofelia Madrid:

chool lunch has definitely changed from the days of mystery meat slapped onto a tray.

Some students now have their choice of chicken Caesar wraps, chocolate covered bananas and fruit and yogurt parfaits.

Schools across the Valley are making the switch to more-healthful foods on the lunch menu in anticipation of a state law banning junk food and a federal wellness mandate requiring more-healthful lunches starting July 1.

School district nutrition directors must figure out how to meet the nutrition guidelines and offer more-healthful foods, which are more expensive. Students, who are noticing and liking some of the new foods, could be asked to pay more than the average $2 for lunch.

"They're . . . giving us healthier sides," said Scottsdale student Jessica Charchedi. "Now we get fruit instead of fruit rollups,"

Food broker David Glutz remembers getting into the school-lunch business 20 years ago.

"The school wanted to spend 40 cents an entree. That hasn't changed," said Glutz, who works with most Valley school districts.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at 6:21 AM Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

West High Event to Focus on Fast Food Companies' Responsibility

Given all of the interest on the District's proposed food policy, the following event might be of interest to SIS readers in the West attendance area:

To what extent should fast food companies be held responsible for their customer's health? West High School Students for an Informed Response (SIR) invite you to hear opposing viewpoints, debate, discuss, and learn about this question at SIR's Family and Community Town Supper this Thursday evening, March 2, at 7:00 p.m. We'll host David Schwartz of the UW Law School and Pete Hanson of the Wisconsin Restaurant Association, and they will discuss obesity lawsuits, nutrition, and other related matters. The audience will get a chance to join in the discussion and ask questions. We'll provide a dinner: a choice between pizza or bagels, along with drinks, salad, chips, and a dessert of some kind.

This should be a very informative and interesting event and hopefully some of you or others you know may be interested. For those with students interested, we are selling tickets through Thursday afternoon before and after school in the Ash Street entrance for $5.00. If you are interested in coming but don't have a means of purchasing tickets at West, feel free to email me (reubenhenriques@gmail.com) and let me know that you are interested; you may pay at the door. However, we do need a count beforehand of how many people are coming for calculating the amounts of food.

Thanks for your interest!

Reuben Henriques
Students for an Informed Response

Posted by Jeff Henriques at 10:15 AM | Comments (1) Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

Governors Urge Change in Eating Culture

Robert Tanner:

Greasy food. Sugary drinks. And exercise? The tolls from today's temptations, from sweet soft drinks popular with school kids to drive-through lunches eaten behind the wheel, are well-known: obesity, diabetes, heart attacks. Governors say states can guide people to healthier choices - and that they must to cut rising health care costs.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at 3:33 PM Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

Eating for Credit

Alice Waters:

IT'S shocking that because of the rise in Type 2 diabetes experts say that the children we're raising now will probably die younger than their parents — the result of a disease that is largely preventable by diet and exercise. But in public schools these days, children all too often are neither learning to eat well nor to exercise.

Fifty years ago, we had a preview of today's obesity crisis: a presidential council told us that America's children weren't fit — and we did something about it, at great expense. We built gymnasiums and tracks and playgrounds. We hired and trained teachers. We made physical education part of the curriculum from kindergarten through high school. Students were graded on their performance.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at 6:27 AM Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

Go with Your Gut

Harriet Brown:

LAST week's reports that low-fat diets may not reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer have left Americans more confused than ever about what to eat. I'd like to make a radical suggestion: instead of wringing our hands over fat grams and calories, let's resolve to enjoy whatever food we eat.

Because, as it turns out, when you eat something you like, your body makes more efficient use of its nutrients. Which means that choking down a plateful of steamed cauliflower (if you hate steamed cauliflower) is not likely to do you as much good as you think.

In the 1970's, researchers fed two groups of women, one Swedish and one Thai, a spicy Thai meal. The Thai women — who presumably liked the meal more than the Swedish women did — absorbed almost 50 percent more iron from it than the Swedish women. When the meal was served as a mushy paste, the Thai women absorbed 70 percent less iron than they had before — from the same food.

The researchers concluded that food that's unfamiliar (Thai food to Swedish women) or unappetizing (mush rather than solid food) winds up being less nutritious than food that looks, smells and tastes good to you. The explanation can be found in the digestive process itself, in the relationship between the "second brain" — the gut — and the brain in your head.

Imagine sitting in your favorite Japanese restaurant before a plate of sushi, chopsticks poised. You take in its fragrance and the beautiful cut of the fish, the shapely rice and nori rolls. Those delectable smells and sights tell your brain that the meal will be enjoyable, and the brain responds by pushing your salivary glands into high gear and ordering your stomach to secrete more gastric juices.

Result: you get more nutritional bang for your buck than you would, say, faced with a platter of lutefisk. In that case, your brain might send fewer messages to your mouth and stomach, causing the food to be less thoroughly digested and metabolized.

Does this mean we should be reaching for the Krispy Kremes and forgoing the raw cauliflower? No. The food has to have nutritive value in the first place. But maybe we could take a lesson from the French, whose level of heart disease is lower than ours despite their richer diet. The French savor the taste and texture of food and the experience of eating; we tend to eat dutifully (how much cauliflower can you choke down?), on the run (hardly realizing what we're eating), or rebelliously (devouring a whole box of Entenmann's because we feel deprived).

In fact, we're hard-wired to enjoy food; it's a survival mechanism. Volunteers in the 1946 University of Minnesota Starvation Study, who spent six months at half rations, developed a slew of peculiar rituals around eating. They devoted hours to meals that might normally take a few minutes, cutting a slice of bread into tiny bits with a knife and fork, arranging the bits on the plate, chewing each mouthful 200 times — all behaviors engineered to prolong both the act of eating and the enjoyment of the limited food available.

The health writer Lawrence Lindner tells of a committee that gathered to hammer out the wording of the United States Dietary Guidelines in 1995. One committee member suggested that the first guideline read "Enjoy a variety of foods" — language that was rejected as "too hedonistic." (In the end, Mr. Lindner wrote, the committee "opted for the apparently less giddy 'Eat a variety of foods.' ") So let's vow to enjoy our food, not wolf it down in the car with a heaping order of guilt. Call it Slow Food, conscious eating, or eating the French way, the point's the same: eating well and with pleasure is more than hedonism — it's good nutritional policy and practice. Bon appétit!

Harriet Brown, the editor of the forthcoming anthology "Mr. Wrong," is working on a book about anorexia.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at 10:07 AM Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

The FruitGal

Sam Whiting:

nstead of getting employees to eat junk food on breaks at work, the company buys them fruit. They put that in the break room and the employees snack on that instead of junk and they feel good and they work hard and they don't call in sick.

On cost

It's about $60 for a 40-serving box of seasonal fruit that's guaranteed to please. If it's not of the quality you want, we'll replace it. There's no contract.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at 6:52 AM Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

CT Poll: Most Back Soda Ban

AP:

Sixty-eight percent of Connecticut voters support the proposed ban on the sale of soda in public schools even though most do not think it will have an impact on childhood obesity, according to a Quinnipiac University poll.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at 6:09 AM Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

Thinning the Milk Does Not Mean Thinning the Child

Gina Kolata:

It's not that no one has tried. In the 1990's, the National Institutes of Health sponsored two large, rigorous studies asking whether weight gain in children could be prevented by doing everything that obesity fighters say should be done in schools — greatly expand physical education, make cafeteria meals more nutritious and less fattening, teach students about proper nutrition and the need to exercise, and involve the parents. One study, an eight-year, $20 million project sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, followed 1,704 third graders in 41 elementary schools in the Southwest, where students were mostly Native Americans, a group that is at high risk for obesity. The schools were randomly divided into two groups, one subject to intensive intervention, the other left alone. Researchers determined, beginning at grade five, if the children in the intervention schools were thinner than those in the schools that served as a control group.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at 8:42 PM Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

Janesville School District's Proposed New Food Policy

Channel3000:

The proposal would require schools to offer healthier options, like flavored water instead of juices and soda high in sugar. It would also discourage using candy for classroom rewards or for school fundraising.

Steve Salerno, principal of Marshall Middle School said schools should show nutritional responsibility.

"When we see things about childhood obesity, as we do in the news, how are we as a school practicing what we preach?" said Salerno. "We educate good nutrition, we need to be able to put our backing behind that."

Julie Ruef, the kitchen manager at Marshall, emphasized the importance of the family meal.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at 12:25 PM Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

Clinton, Wood Johnson Foundation Announce Healthy Schools Effort

AP:

Former President Clinton and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced an $8 million initiative Monday to fight childhood obesity by promoting healthier food and more exercise in schools.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at 6:26 AM Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas

School Foods Policy Meeting

I took the opportunity to attend the meeting for health professionals on the development of a school foods policy for the MMSD.

Americans seem to take an "all or nothing" approach to nutrition (either "on" a diet or "off"; restrained with eating all day and anything goes in the evening)--I'm afraid most of us know what I'm talking about. I'm hoping food policy doesn't take a similar dichotomy.