Healthy Schools, Healthy Kids

By: Caitlin Emmons

The lunch bell rings and out flood the students. Two run quickly to the
burger stand, while another grabs fritos with his right hand. In his
left he holds his sprite, over the last bag of skittles there is sure
to be a fight.

This scene plays out in schools across the
nation.  In fact this crisis has gotten so
bad that it is estimated that there are 22
million children under 5 that are obese.
13% of America's youth is considered
medically overweight, yet these problems
are hardly being addressed centrally nor
frequently enough. Given most students
spend at least 6 hours at school five days
a week, this can be the best way of
reaching them and providing them with
better options.  But  it is not a lost cause, a few have stepped up to the
challenge and attempted to bring healthy eating habits into the
schoolyard.

Take Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farms for example. He has pioneered
the movement to get vending machines that previously stocked junk
food filled with healthy, organic foods. This makes the food accessible to
students and encourages them to make better decisions about their diets.

Another pioneer is Alice Waters, Berkeley resident, mastermind
behind locally grown, organic cafe Chez Panisse, and the creator of the
of the Chez Panisse Foundation. Waters was one of the first to bring the
local food movement to the forefront of culinary minds. The foundation
"envisions a school cirriculum and a school lunch program where
growing, cooking and sharing food at the table gives students the
knowledge and the values to build a humane and sustainable future,"
according to their website (http://www.chezpanissefoundation.org/).
Waters was one of the first to bring the local food movement to the
forefront of culinary minds.

The Edible Schoolyard, is an offshoot or beneficiary of the
Chez Panisse Foundation. It works to provide students in
inner-cities a chance to learn about agriculture and actually
experience it at it's fullest potential, growing food in their own
schools.  These foods are then worked into the menu at the school
cafeteria. This program was implemented successfully at Martin Luther
King Junior Middle School, in Berkeley California.
(http://www.edibleschoolyard.org/homepage.html)

California made the move towards healthier options in 2007 by
eliminating junk food from lunch menus. This initiative also made it
illegal for sodas to be sold on campus. Legislaters hoped that by
getting rid of the junk food, students would naturally be more inclined
to take the healthy route, the effects of this legislation have yet to
be measured.