The School-Lunch Test
Photo by Stephen Lewis/The New York Times
The glossy pages of this week’s New York Times Magazine features the battlefield that is the school lunchroom. It’s a lengthy, but worthwhile, read that outlines the complications afforded by the politics of donors, school boards, and government agencies, and explains why ensuring our kids get quality nutrition isn’t as simple as merely adding some carrots and peas to their trays:
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?
(Emphasis is mine.)
Related articles:
1. Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children
2. The Virtual Cafeteria
3. The World’s Healthiest Foods
4. Invisible Danger: Parents Look Inside the Lunchbox
5. Sugar High: Benzene in Soft Drinks
melanie said,
August 21, 2006 at 2:15 pm
Those photos are great - except that first picture has me craving for yam fries which, I realize, defeats the purpose.
Alotta Errata said,
August 21, 2006 at 5:03 pm
A while ago I was hooked on a TLC special series “Jamie’s School Lunch Project” . It was great to watch and extremely educational. Even though the project took place in Britain, Jaime faces all the same challenges that we do in the U.S, such as finding a cost effective way to offer healthy foods, training staff to prepare healthier foods, and just plain getting the kids to eat them. I hope TLC runs it again in the fall during back-to-school time.
Tash said,
August 22, 2006 at 4:02 am
I am completely with you on this one, school dinners are so important for kids, and what they’re given even moreso. Although in England our schools are not sponsered in any way by business (unless they’re a PFI - Private Funding Initiative school, but I digress) which means that we have less pressure to give children certain types of food. Over here Jamie Oliver (otherwise known as The Naked Chef) started a huge campaign to clean up Britain’s school dinners, to allow for local produce, lots of vegetables and to fight for more money to be spent on them. It worked and now thanks to one tireless tirade kids over here are benefitting from less ‘turkey twizzlers’ and more healthy, local food.
I guess it does only take one good soul after all…
Anna said,
August 22, 2006 at 1:23 pm
Thanks Jasmin,
Excellent synopsis for those w/out time to “digest” the whole article.
This is indeed an issue gaining international attention, for health, environmental, and community reaons - all interconnected of course.
The Naked Chef’s show was fantastic, and enlightening to see what an uphill battle he faced “sneaking” veggies into kids meals, as they’ve developed a taste at a young age for cheap crap.
I firmly believe kids take more of an interest when they can be involved in the process….. I teach a weekly organic vegetarian cooking class at a high school in Los Angeles, and am amazed at how psyched the kids are about healthy food when they themselves have a hand in the prep. Kids line up each week to eat quinoa salads, kale bruschetta, roasted veggies etc. - mostly because they/their classmates made it. And once they taste fresh, tasty food, they’re hooked.
Weve come so far from this though, w/ prepackaged frakenfoods, school kitchens being used only for reheating, etc. - most children (and adults!) have no concept of where food comes from, and what it takes to get to us: MASSIVE amounts of fossil fuels.
Its happening though, slowly…..kudos to you for spreading the word.
Adrianna said,
August 28, 2006 at 1:46 am
As a health food activist I can relate to the article, it is so hard to have school board see the light. I started when i was 17. We tried to have them change the school menu ( Which I call toxic waste), but nothing, at least they let us put an organic garden in their backyard. I never ate at the food cafeteria I always made my lunch home. Hopefully the gorvernment is going to force schools to change their policies soon.
The Worsted Witch » Better After-School Snack Choices Boost Nutrition for Low-Income Kids said,
August 31, 2006 at 11:53 am
[...] Related articles: 1. The School-Lunch Test 2. Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children 3. The Virtual Cafeteria 4. The World’s Healthiest Foods 5. Invisible Danger: Parents Look Inside the Lunchbox 5. Sugar High: Benzene in Soft Drinks [...]
The Worsted Witch » You Are What You Grow said,
April 22, 2007 at 7:57 am
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