Chef Ann does a Boulder TedX Talk! Watch here:
http://www.tedxboulder.com/chef-ann-cooper-changing-the-way-we-feed-our-children/
Lunch Lessons: Back to School 2011
Reposted with permission from: Maria’s Farm Country Kitchen
Lunch Lessons: Back to School 2011
by guest blogger Ann Cooper
Not a day goes by without the media addressing America’s growing obesity crisis, and lately the discussion has settled on our children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that if American children don’t get their weight in check, their anticipated health problems will significantly shorten their lives, and make them the first generation in our nation’s history to die at younger ages than their parents. In fact, the CDC has said that of the children born in the year 2000, one out of every three Caucasians and one out of every two African Americans and Hispanics will contract diabetes in their lifetimes, many before they graduate high school.
We are still in the peak of summer, but kids and teachers across the United States are already gearing up for school to start. With students back at their desks, lunchrooms are also about to be bustling once again with the rekindling of friendships, brown paper sacks, and lunch trays full of school lunch. But what of the state of school food, is it getting better? Are we feeding kids more healthfully? Why should healthy school food matter to every one of us?
A typical school lunch (photo credit: ecologyflorida.org)
A typical school lunch often consists of any combination of pizza, hamburgers, nachos, french fries, tater tots, all slathered in ketchup and ranch dressing, all served with a side of sugary flavored milk. There is no doubt in my mind that these mediocre school lunches are contributing to the obesity crisis—and that if we do not take action NOW to make school lunches healthy, we will all pay the price in healthcare costs, and more importantly, the lives of those who are important to us. (more…)
The K Street diet is bad for America
Reposted with permission:
By Margo G. Wootan
The House of Representatives recently passed an Agriculture appropriations bill for fiscal year 2012. It includes several provisions that would affect Americans’ diets, but these nutrition provisions are not what the doctor ordered. They are the result of K Street special-interest lobbying.
Though two-thirds of Americans are overweight, the K Street Diet will make watching our weight harder and feeding our kids healthfully more difficult. First on the K Street menu is french fries: lots and lots of french fries.
In January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed new school meal standards, an update to their 15-year-old requirements. Unlike other aspects of education, school food has long been paid for and regulated primarily by the federal government; states and local school districts kick in less than 10 percent of the revenues for school meals. To make the most of its $13 billion taxpayer investment, USDA sets detailed standards for eligibility and nutrition. (more…)
Improving School Food: Do It Now or Pay the Price Later
Read this from the Environmental Working Group! Will healthy school food last under current conditions???
http://www.ewg.org/agmag/2011/06/improving-school-food-do-it-now-or-pay-the-price-later/
