First lady urges Congress to act on school meals

[Turborama]

Source: AP

First lady Michelle Obama urged Congress to pass legislation that calls for higher nutritional standards for school meals.

In an op-ed essay appearing in Monday's edition of The Washington Post, Mrs. Obama wrote that the Child Nutrition Bill would require more fruits, vegetables and whole grains and less fat and salt in school lunches and breakfasts. And she said it would help eliminate junk food in vending machines.

"We owe it to the children who aren't reaching their potential because they're not getting the nutrition they need during the day," the first lady wrote.

In encouraging Congress to pass the bill, she wrote that "our prosperity depends on the health and vitality of the next generation."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/9200884

---

Here's the First Lady's article in the Washington Post...

A food bill we need

By Michelle Obama
Monday, August 2, 2010

Last spring, a class of fifth-grade students from Bancroft Elementary School in the District descended on the South Lawn of the White House to help us dig, mulch, water and plant http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/09/AR2010020900791.html">our very first kitchen garden. In the months that followed, those same students came back to check on the garden's progress and taste the fruits (and vegetables) of their labor. Together, they helped us spark a national conversation about the role that food plays in helping us all live healthy lives.

For years our nation has been struggling with an epidemic of childhood obesity. We've all heard the statistics: how one in three children in this country are either overweight or obese, with even higher rates among African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans. We know that one in three kids will suffer from diabetes at some point in their lives. We've seen the cost to our economy -- how we're spending almost $150 billion every year to treat obesity-related conditions. And we know that if we don't act now, those costs will just keep rising.

None of us wants that future for our children or our country. That's the idea behind "http://www.letsmove.gov/">Let's Move!" -- a http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/first-lady-michelle-obama-launches-lets-move-americas-move-raise-a-healthier-genera">nationwide campaign started this year with a single and very ambitious goal: solving the problem of childhood obesity in a generation, so kids born today can reach adulthood at a healthy weight.

"Let's Move!" is helping parents get the tools they need to keep their families healthy and fit. It's helping grocery stores serve communities that don't have access to fresh foods. And it's finding new ways to help America's children stay physically active.

Full piece: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/01/AR2010080103291.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

[UndertheOcean]

1. Good !

[deenad]

2. Stand Up Take Action 2010.

Every child, woman and man deserves to get the basic nutrition their body requires. It’s us who can make sure they are not deprived.

Globally more than 173 Million people stood up against poverty in 2009, a Guinness World Record!



Let us break this record in 2010!

It is Time for You to STAND UP AGAINST POVERTY NOW!
Join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/unmcampaignINDIA
Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/unmcampaignIND

[SLCLiberal]

3. I'm sure...

I'm sure the GOP will find a way to be outraged over this by the end of the week...

[Tarheel_Dem]

4. What monster could be against feeding kids? Doesn't that go hand in hand

with the pro-life mantra?

[Turborama]

6. There is at least one DUer who doesn't agree with her, if the unrec I saw is anything to go by

It could have been a mistake, but when someone mistakenly unrecs they usually post a reply about it and ask for someone to help by rec'ing on their behalf.

I don't have any qualms about calling them out, if someone feels the need to unrec this post I'd be very interested in hearing their reasons why.

[Drunken Irishman]

9. Well that's just some dumbass DUer who'll unrec anything positive about the Obamas.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Probably a troll

Anyone can rec or unrec. Don't have to be a loyal DUer.

[Drunken Irishman]

36. I agree...

Lots of anti-Obama trolls on this website.

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. You know those basement dwelling freepers who hate liberals?

They come here and unrec for their own enjoyment and brag about it on freeper websites.

[burning rain]

8. Pro-life is a fraudulent agenda.

The sole and only aim of the pro-life movement is to outlaw abortion. They actively oppose health care (pre- or post-natal), feeding programs, or any sort of assistance to the poor.

[valerief]

23. Even outlawing abortion (to lawmakers) is fraudulent. It's all just a wedge issue

to pit the crazy populace against the rational populace.

[valerief]

22. Feeding fetuses good, feeding kids bad. nt

[totodeinhere]

43. This isn't about whether or not kids should be fed.

It's about the quality of their diet and fighting childhood obesity. Personally, I would like to see all processed foods removed form school menus. Feed them only fresh fruits and vegetables and healthy forms of protein. Kids are getting way too much sugar, fat and sodium in their diets.

[LostinVA]

54. Did you watch the Jamie Oliver series on this earlier this summer?

[underpants]

53. A short list

http://www.ncga.com/

http://www.corn.org/
http://www.cargill.com/

http://www.knowmore.org/wiki/index.php?title=ConAgra_Foods%2C_Inc.

And the King of Corn - Archer Daniels Midland (they sponsor Meet the Press which is why agriculture is never discussed there)
http://www.adm.com/en-US/Pages/default.aspx

[Iowa]

5. Good for her. This is long overdue.

[Hekate]

7. She's the FLOTUS we need. Thank you, Mrs Obama.

[freedom fighter jh]

10. You go MO!

The first lady focused on obesity and that certainly is important but it's not the only problem with school food. School food is ultra-processed crap. It's an outrage that we feed it to our kids. Organic fruits and vegetables are just what the kids need, the polar opposite of what they are getting now.

[mzteris]

17. Farm to School program

http://www.farmtoschool.org/

Farm to School connects schools (K-12) and local farms with the objectives of serving healthy meals in school cafeterias, improving student nutrition, providing agriculture, health and nutrition education opportunities, and supporting local and regional farmers.

National Farm to School Network

This growing farm to school movement is supported by eight regional lead agencies that comprise the National Farm to School Network, which offers training and technical assistance, information services, networking, and support in policy and media and marketing activities. We are here to help you get started and to keep the programs growing.

For more information about the recently launched National Farm to School Network, click here http://www.farmtoschool.org/state-home.php?id=18
To find your Regional Lead Agency, click here http://www.farmtoschool.org/regional.php

[Blandocyte]

11. Didn't Reagan give them an extra veggie

when his admin's USDA decided ketchup was a veggie?

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. Outstanding cause for the first lady

I am so glad she has taken this on.

[fasttense]

15. We feed our school children the leftover swill of con-agra.

We had a meeting in our school district between school lunch officials and local farmers, and you would be amazed at the crap we dump into the school lunch programs mandated by congress. I must add that the school officials despite complaining about the crap they get from con-agra, do not want to change because the system is simple, requires little to NO cooking and is not labor intensive. In other words lets feed our children swill so we don't have to be bothered with hiring or cooking.

Anything not selling in the con-agra food chain at their predetermined market price, is bought up by the USDA at full price and then dumped into the school systems to dispose of it. It is not fresh produce. The officials describe having to dig through mounds of ears of corn to find the ones that were not rotting. Apples were bruised and brown, oranges were green and dry. Even when the school system gets fresh stuff, it is old a crappy leftovers no one wants. And yet con-agra gets guaranteed full market price for this crap.

So we are simply dumping the leftover swill of corporate agriculture into our children, and we wonder why there is an obesity problem.

[MARALE]

19. It also lessons the number of food personnel needed

I hate the processed food crap that they do serve, but I know it is hard for schools to have the money to hire teachers, let alone more cooks and kitchen helpers. even though it is better for them, it is a lot more work to serve nutritious food that is not processed. We need more money for the schools and need to pull all that money that we are sending overseas and invest in our children and our future!

[NJCher]

24. fasttense

I didn't know this but of course, it's no surprise.

Someone should build a picture page and the link should be sent to representatives and (cough, cough) the "media." I would like to see the food service people digging through those mounds of old corn, apples, and oranges. I'll build the picture page if you get me the pictures.


Cher

[fasttense]

31. I wish I could.

But I'm pretty sure those lunch officials wouldn't let us in to take a picture (we got into some pretty heated arguments with them) and they sure as heck wouldn't do it themselves. Everyone is afraid of losing their jobs, so no one rocks the boat.

Only when I've convinced a school to buy local and I deliver to them, do I get to see the inside of these kitchens. Even then these lunch ladies are pretty hostile toward us. I think it's all that hate radio they listen to here in TN.

[Vinca]

16. They would only get Republican votes if they put up a bill

doing away with school meals. The GOBP generally thinks kids are fat because their welfare queen mothers are too lazy to make decent food for them.

[varelse]

18. K&R

I <3 our first lady :)

[donco6]

20. We already do a lot.

We have farm to school. We got a grant for fresh fruits and veggies from USDA. We don't even HAVE any deep-fat fryers in the entire district. We got rid of all soda pop. We got rid of most of our vending altogether, except for items with less than 30% fat per serving. We participate with LiveWell, from the Colorado Health Foundation, where a chef came in and helped us work out a plan for providing more cooked food and less pre-prep. We purchase raw hamburger, pork and some chicken (though that's a lot harder). Most districts in Colorado haven't done ANY of this.

What I want to know is, are they going to increase my per meal reimbursement so that I can purchase more of these fruits and veggies she talks about? Because when the grant runs out, so does my supply. And if they're just going to demand I do more with what I have, well, that would just be par for the fucking course. (And don't talk about the kids growing their own gardens - we live in a DESERT folks.)

Here's my reimbursement for a free-lunch qualified meal: $2.68. For reduced it's $2.28 and for paid I get $0.25. I also get about $60,000 in commodities delivered - which can be anything from prunes (hmmm . . . OK) to beef crumbles (hallelujah!). I'll take whatever I can get, but I have to pay to have it stored, because I don't have a warehouse here, nor will I ever be able to build one.

If I could get another .15, I could devote it entirely to food purchases and we could pull this off. But I'm not seeing in the article that this is part of the deal. Does anyone have any more info that I'm not seeing?

I hope this isn't just a "Thou Shalt Do Thusly" decree, but that it is backed up with something I can actually use to improve what we're doing.

[valerief]

21. But, but, but the warmongers need the $$$ for WAR, I mean, to "defend" our country.

Everything has to go to filthy rich people, I mean, to WAR.

For the sarcasm impaired:
:sarcasm:

[Wednesdays]

33. Leave the filthy rich alone!

[valerief]

37. Ha!!!

Yeah, it's the filthy rich who make slave jobs.

[earcandle]

25. Thank you Momma Obama! The kids really need this!

[earcandle]

26. Just make sure the food is NOT GMO. Those cause organ damage.

[femmocrat]

30. What is GMO, please?

[alp227]

47. "genetically modified organisms"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMO

A genetically modified organism (GMO) or genetically engineered organism (GEO) is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. These techniques, generally known as recombinant DNA technology, use DNA molecules from different sources, which are combined into one molecule to create a new set of genes. This DNA is then transferred into an organism, giving it modified or novel genes. Transgenic organisms, a subset of GMOs, are organisms which have inserted DNA that originated in a different species. Some GMOs contain no DNA from other species and are therefore not transgenic but cisgenic.

[Lightning Count]

49. Would this apply to people who've had gene therapy?

?

[earcandle]

55. I don't know. google a variety of words used in your therapy and some used in GMO and see if they

cross at all.  My first logical deduction is they are two
worlds, but these days, who knows what is happening! 

There is a company in Maryland that makes viruses that get
sprayed on cold meats to kill bacteria, with no accountability
for what happens when those viruses end up in your body. 
Google "FDA approves viral cocktail" 

Be careful what you eat.  

But gene therapy, I have no clue.  Don't they add other human
genes to a body that has those gone missing in order to cause
them to regrow in the new body?  How are you doing with that? 

I am sure some science is good and well intentioned, while
some is vile.  It seems a crazy world to be in right now. 

[Xenotime]

40. Exactly!! Thank you for helping those who can't help themselves.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

27. the calories on the front of ALL foods should be in LARGE font

Companies are trying to help by putting calories on the front of the product but it is still difficult to see.

I totally agree about school meals. At our school there is not a vegetable every day. I go down to lunch with my class and encourage them to take the veg anf fruit. There are boiled hamburgers instead of fried but they taste like dry wood.

[Turborama]

28. Wow, the Washington Post's comment section is getting seriously freeped!

Some really hateful and disgusting comments being made in there, I just spent half an hour reporting loads of them and got too overwhelmed and disgusted to continue: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/01/AR2010080103291_Comments.html

[femmocrat]

29. This is an excellent first step.

Hope it results in healthier foods. I have both breakfast and lunch duties in the three elementary schools where I teach. The food is nothing but grease, fat, sugar, salt and preservatives. I would never let my children use the school meal programs for 2/3 of their daily nutritional intake.

I have never seen any studies, but I wonder if there is a correlation between all the childhood illnesses (besides diabetes) and the meals they are served. I do know that every day after lunch, we are sending about a half-dozen children to the nurse for stomach aches.

And in many cases the packed lunches aren't much better. Too many bring "Lunchables" with a side of salty and sugary treats and a HFC-loaded drink.

[Lightning Count]

32. We survived on hot dogs, hamburgers, and french fries in school

And we stayed rail thin. Diet is a good thing, but more mandated physical activity is needed.

[tjwash]

34. Yes...and we also used to get beaten by teachers with paddles with holes drilled in them.

And we "survived."

That doesn't mean we need to keep that old tradition around either.

[Lightning Count]

35. No, but we are not treating the real problem.

Kids are couch potatoes. We had mandated recess and gym and were outside as much as we could manage when we were out of school. Now it's sitting at home playing Xbox or World of Warcraft.

[chrisa]

39. Kids used to run around and play all day.

Now, childhood is being replaced by Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, and Halo. Kids should be able to play games, but they should also be allowed to run around with friends and have a childhood that doesn't consist of sitting in front of the 'idiot box' all day playing games.

Edit: I actually just read your post above, and we said practically the exact same thing, even down to the mentioning of 'World of Warcraft'. I guess I'm preaching to the choir here. lol :)

[Lightning Count]

41. I thought I was reading my own post!

How funny! I remember when we used to spend every weekend playing stickball, hockey, football, etc. from literally sun-up to dinner time. Times have changed quite a bit.

[chrisa]

38. School meals, I'm guessing, are still garbage and unhealthy.

Kids are staying inside and playing XBox all day. It's not healthy at all. Then, they go to school and eat pizza, hamburgers, etc.; foods they should only have every once in a while.

Why aren't school lunches based on the food pyramid? Supplying a healthy lunch everyday should be the priority.

[donco6]

50. Well, no. That's just completely false.

We do follow the latest food pyramid. We are mandated to follow the USDA guidelines for fat content (no foods in excess of 30% fat per serving, averaged over the week). We don't get reimbursement unless our menus can show this. We submit them to the Dept. of Education monthly. We don't own any deep-fat fryers. We don't have soda pop. We don't sell candy bars of any kind.

I don't know what school you're referring to, but I don't know how it could be getting USDA reimbursement if all they're serving is pizza and hamburgers.

[thereismore]

42. Repigs: Let them eat cake! nt

[sakabatou]

45. That came to my head too.

[sakabatou]

46. That came to my head too.

[Nevernose]

44. The federal gov't caused a lot of these problems.

Mandated testing? There goes time for recess. And all of the other expensive beureaucratic bullshit? School lunches are one of the few places in a school districts's budget that they're allowed to make a profit. By selling swill and garbage to my students and my own child, our district brought in $60 million in profit last year. Since we've already got a low and unstable tax base (thanks, state-level repukes!), our per pupil funding is half of what most other states spend. So feed the children shit I wouldn't feed my dog -- and neither the dogs nor I are too picky, because they lick their own rectums. At least Michelle's pointing out a serious problem, even if most district's only solution is to spend the textbook money on better food.

[donco6]

51. Your food service made $60 MILLION in profit??!!

Wow!

Let's see, at $2.68 per meal maximum reimbursement, and if they made 100% profit from every meal, they would have served 22,388,059 lunches. Divided by 180 days of school - that's 124,378 meals per day.

What district are you in? They deserve some kinda prize.

[alp227]

48. Thank you Mrs Obama! And I began thinking about the Obama/school speech controversy

Free enterprise has failed our children's school meals, and after years and years of passive government it's long overdue that they step in.

Here are some toons that I wanted to post




And some more at

http://theprincipal.blogspot.com/2009/09/nations-cartoonists-on-obamas-school.html

This whole "telling kids what to eat" nonsense is just bollocks. I thought newspapers were supposed to inform, but sadly as comments sections show some people's brains are just either absent or stoned. I betcha those same conservatives who constantly complain about liberals causing the recession and creating Third World conditions in the inner cities would rather perpetuate leaving poor people to eat applesauce or just get a job at McDonald's than to do anything to solve it. Trickle down? Let the invisible hand of the free market make all children healthy? EPIC FAIL. So thank you thank you thank you Mrs Obama for advocating for healthier foods.

[underpants]

52. ADM, ConAgra, Cargill, Monsanto, etc. are going to pour money into congress to prevent this

they likes them some government protection.