Yesterday the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) made national news by displaying posters of a child making a statement and asking a question about her school lunches. As you can see from the photo that I posted, it reads, “President Obama’s daughters get healthy school lunches. Why don’t I?” The validity of the issue presented by this poster that was strategically placed in Washington DC’s Union Station is not in question. What is in question is whether or not PCRM should be allowed to use President Obama’s daughters to make a point.
Now that the posters are up and now that they have made national news, I don’t think that there is anything that can be done. The bell has rung, and it cannot be undone. If the posters come down today, in a week or in a year, PCRM succeeded in their mission to raise the level of concern over what our students are eating in the school cafeteria each day. As a matter of fact PCRM’s public relations department can actually be applauded for their ability to raise concern about the school lunch issue. It only cost them $20,000.00 to see these posters go from the walls of Union Station to every home with a networked computer in the country, and around the world. This was actually a front page story on Yahoo.com just yesterday.
Recent changes to our school district’s wellness policy resulted in our students being provided low-fat and non-sugar packed foods. Our “Five a Day” buffet provides students with access to fresh vegetables, and carbonated soft drinks are a no-no in our vending machines. I should also note that a good portion of our students’ health curriculum is dedicated to the benefits of healthy eating, proper hydration, and exercise. We are proud of our efforts to teach our students the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, but we know that the healthy lifestyle has challenges.
First (and sadly), healthier foods are more expensive than their non-healthy counterparts. This is true in school, in the grocery store, and in restaurants. Just compare the cost of a twelve pack of cola to a gallon of milk, or the cost of a McDonald’s Extra Value Meal (Super Sized) to the cost of one single container of blackberries at Hannaford’s. Since our wellness policy has been implemented we have raised the price of our school lunches once and are doing all that we can to NOT raise the price again. While engaged in this effort, food prices continue to rise.
Second, many adolescents prefer the unhealthy, sugar packed, processed foods over the healthy choices that we offer. Last year when we changed our chocolate chip cookies to cookies that were low-fat, many students complained. With their complaints, sales fell at the same time that our costs for food shot up. This year we are anticipating challenges in our ability to provide our students with the healthiest options for breakfast and lunch and keeping these healthy choices as affordable as possible for our families. PCRM made a good point, and perhaps with the President’s attention something will be done to assist us in our endeavor to give our students high quality, low cost meals.
Now that the posters are up and now that they have made national news, I don’t think that there is anything that can be done. The bell has rung, and it cannot be undone. If the posters come down today, in a week or in a year, PCRM succeeded in their mission to raise the level of concern over what our students are eating in the school cafeteria each day. As a matter of fact PCRM’s public relations department can actually be applauded for their ability to raise concern about the school lunch issue. It only cost them $20,000.00 to see these posters go from the walls of Union Station to every home with a networked computer in the country, and around the world. This was actually a front page story on Yahoo.com just yesterday.
Recent changes to our school district’s wellness policy resulted in our students being provided low-fat and non-sugar packed foods. Our “Five a Day” buffet provides students with access to fresh vegetables, and carbonated soft drinks are a no-no in our vending machines. I should also note that a good portion of our students’ health curriculum is dedicated to the benefits of healthy eating, proper hydration, and exercise. We are proud of our efforts to teach our students the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, but we know that the healthy lifestyle has challenges.
First (and sadly), healthier foods are more expensive than their non-healthy counterparts. This is true in school, in the grocery store, and in restaurants. Just compare the cost of a twelve pack of cola to a gallon of milk, or the cost of a McDonald’s Extra Value Meal (Super Sized) to the cost of one single container of blackberries at Hannaford’s. Since our wellness policy has been implemented we have raised the price of our school lunches once and are doing all that we can to NOT raise the price again. While engaged in this effort, food prices continue to rise.
Second, many adolescents prefer the unhealthy, sugar packed, processed foods over the healthy choices that we offer. Last year when we changed our chocolate chip cookies to cookies that were low-fat, many students complained. With their complaints, sales fell at the same time that our costs for food shot up. This year we are anticipating challenges in our ability to provide our students with the healthiest options for breakfast and lunch and keeping these healthy choices as affordable as possible for our families. PCRM made a good point, and perhaps with the President’s attention something will be done to assist us in our endeavor to give our students high quality, low cost meals.
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