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If you haven't had a chance to pick up a copy of BlogHer Book Club's October pick, Lunch Wars, here's an excerpt to get you started.
DISABLING MYTHS
I’ve been collecting this list of myths since I began my quest to learn what could be done to improve school food. They’ve been chanted to me like mantras, repeated by force of habit. Henry Ford famously stated, “If you think you can do a thing or can’t do a thing, you’re right.” It’s all about attitude. Here are some of the myths, and some ideas for addressing them to help change attitudes about wellness in your school community.
The kids won’t eat it; the kids won’t like it. Most kids are more flexible than we give them credit for. If new foods are introduced properly (tasting, learning about what the food is and where it comes from), children learn to like them readily. Not all kids like every food, but in every example I’ve found, more students preferred the new food -- with some exceptions like nuggets and fries -- these were tough to wean from and were phased out over time.
Kids need choices so they can learn to make good choices. Offering children unhealthy foods and drinks at school contradicts what they are taught about good nutrition and sends a mixed message. Why shouldn’t all the choices be good choices? We don’t ask kids if they’d rather have recess or math! Limiting choices, especially in the younger grades, helps kids develop a taste for good food, and good eating habits. When kids choose soda, candy, and junk food instead of eating a meal, they don’t get the nourishment they need to learn properly.
We don’t have many obese kids in our school, so the food is not a problem. Obesity is only part of the problem. Most of the nutrition messages we hear are focused on obesity, but America’s children are developing chronic diseases at earlier ages and emotional, behavioral, and learning disorders are epidemic. These behaviors have demonstrably improved in schools that have eliminated junk food.
There’s no such thing as bad food; you’re contributing to eating disorders by making kids anxious about food. This is a myth perpetuated by the food industry. Junk food addiction is its own eating disorder and causes disease. Our children are being exploited by the food industry and that shouldn’t be allowed in school. Teaching children a healthy skepticism about processed food and exposing them to a wide array of real food choices will enable them to make decisions based on knowledge rather than fear.
It’s calories in, calories out. Kids just need to get more exercise. A common myth is that protein is protein, regardless of its source, and that feeding children manufactured, standardized, industrialized food products fortified with vitamins is a healthy diet. This myth blames the kids for being fat and lazy but doesn’t take into account that their lack of energy may be due to the lack of life force in the calories they are consuming.
It’s only one meal a day. 180 days a year x 12 years = 2,160 meals -— double that if there’s a breakfast program. That’s a lot of food. For many kids, especially low-income kids, school food makes up two-thirds or more of their diet.
It’s the parents’ fault kids don’t eat well. America is now raising its third generation of fast-food babies. Many of today’s parents did not grow up in households where food was freshly prepared. As a culture, we are losing our food knowledge. We also have become a society of single parents or two working parents who have little time to prepare meals. Schools therefore need to help teach children what their parents often cannot.
This is a matter of personal choice; parents should decide what their kids should eat, not the schools. That’s basically what Sarah Palin is saying. Unfortunately for her argument, educators make decisions on behalf of their students every day. From curriculum content, to where they should go on field trips, to whether the district must cut the music and arts budget or the athletics budget, parents can give input but must ultimately rely on school administrators to act on our behalf.
Who needs it -— let’s just drop the meal program and let them bring lunch. I heard this argument in Darien, Connecticut, one of the wealthiest school districts in the country. I’ve also seen it in conservative op-ed pieces. According to USDA regulations, as long as one child in the district qualifies for a free meal, the school must sponsor the meal program. It exists for the kids who need it; those who don’t can bring their own.
Sales will drop. Districts that have improved food quality report that sales may go down initially, but recover and surpass previous numbers within about six weeks. Out of sixteen schools surveyed in
