Greetings from Vacationland. Anyone who knows me will not be surprised to learn that I have strong opinions. Maybe I say too much sometimes, but I am my father's daughter. My husband tells me I should have been a lawyer. There are quite a few causes I could get involved with and they are all topics I feel passionately about. However, I am only working on one at the moment and that has to do with Maine's expedited wind law. I do not enjoy activism in the least and would rather be left alone or find a way not to care. I would love to kick off this blog with something about Maine and its stunning natural beauty, but it's a long life and that can wait another day.
One topic that has probably been blogged about to death is the school lunch/breakfast program which is fairly standard across the country. Breakfast, in particular, worries me. I take my son into school each day and I never get used to it. Choices include chocolate cereal with chocolate milk, breakfast pizza (the item that concerns me most), and french toast sticks with imitation maple syrup. So much of the food provided is in the white, beige, brown palette. For many moms and dads, it's about convenience (a way to get the kids to school on time while trying to get themselves off to work--really hard) and for others, it's a way to ensure that their kids eat at all. In our blue-collar, rural town something like 70% of school children qualify for the free or reduced meal program. Many of my friends' kids eat school food (just as many of my friends did growing up) and they're all good people who try really hard. This is not a judgement on them.
I can't really blame our own town or school, either, as they have little control over this, and I know that most of the staff knows the kids are not given the quality food they need and deserve. Having a child with food allergies, I know how expensive it is to eat healthy. But I think we need to challenge our state and federal health and education departments to work harder at finding healthier foods for our kids. At home, our son doesn't get to just eat a bowl of cereal; there is always fruit like berries and bananas on top. Want frozen waffles? You get a plate of fresh pineapple on the side. We can enforce this with our young child because he's eating at home and it's all he knows. I do not know how you insist a child at school always eats fruit or veggies with a meal.
School foods are heavily processed, high in sugar and sodium, and lacking in vitamins and minerals. I know it's better than nothing, but only by a little. It's food in their bellies, but it isn't good enough. It doesn't help them learn and it doesn't help them avoid the potential for long-term health issues such as obesity and diabetes. For many kids, it is their two out of three meals per day. Can we do better than this? Can we give them food and drink without added sugar and chemicals? Can we give them meats and dairy products from better sources (maybe without growth hormones and antibiotics)? Can we provide fresh fruits and vegetables rather than from a can or in a fruit cup (with light syrup)?
I would like to have more of my tax dollars go toward improving this very important program that so many of our children depend on close to ten months out of the year. Would you?
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I had a boss that, when asked if something was "possible", would say "Anything's possible given time and money. When do you want it and how much do you want to spend?"
ReplyDeleteSame is true here. I wish there was enough tax revenue and grant dollars around to fix this and other child-related health concerns. AND that someone had enough time to chase it all down.