tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3748553995505192697.post4027339163860697278..comments2023-06-15T02:23:53.810-07:00Comments on Feasting on Fitness: Penny Wise and Pound FoolishKristy A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11214418778607114591noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3748553995505192697.post-27922618079198192832010-02-10T09:43:39.206-08:002010-02-10T09:43:39.206-08:00Hi Rebecca,
I appreciate your comment and your vie...Hi Rebecca,<br />I appreciate your comment and your viewpoint from within the system. I agree that eliminating HFCS and many unhealthy foods has made Santa Cruz schools above average with their progress towards healthier eating. I commend your effort and hope Santa Cruz acts as a model for other districts. <br /><br />My point is that we still have a ways to go and most public schools outside our district have even further. Nutritional knowledge is lacking, which makes informed decisions more difficult. The attitude of "I wouldn't impose that on my children or anyone else's" is, to me, a problem. My argument is that children are unable to make informed decisions and we need to be the adults, providing that which will nourish, not harm. The foods we provide should be an extension of their nutritional education--practical applications. <br /><br />I understand that this is exceptionally difficult; there is a huge paradigm to overcome. But complacency gets us nowhere. When I wrote this post I was scared of the feedback I might get, but if I silence my contrary opinions, nothing changes. The only way to fight the paradigm is to take action. <br /><br />I hope you can find more information through my website to help you keep making progress in the schools and in your home. :)Kristy A.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11214418778607114591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3748553995505192697.post-50827439630167707512010-02-09T21:23:47.123-08:002010-02-09T21:23:47.123-08:00Kristy-
I think there is a lot to celebrate in San...Kristy-<br />I think there is a lot to celebrate in Santa Cruz City School District's new school lunches. I am a member of the district wellness committee and we worked hard to make our school lunches enormously healthier this year. We have no trans fats, no high fructose corn syrup, no white bread, no fake healthy foods (like sweet potato cinnamon rolls). We don't serve muffins for breakfast or chocolate milk at lunch. We have fresh and not canned fruit. We have protein at every meal. We use local and organic products and distributors as available. We have no breaded chicken products and foods are as minimally processed as is feasible when preparing food for an entire school district. As of this month, the food service is preparing all its meals in house, from scratch, and delivering fresh.<br /><br />To me, this is a HUGE success story. Yes, there is dairy (kids eat dairy, including my own, I see no problem with that). And yes there are grains (this is required by the federal government which oversees the national school lunch program and requires that each meal have certain components, I also don't have a problem with it). I choose to follow a mostly paleo diet because it works for me, but I wouldn't impose that on my children or anyone else's. Plus, with all the nut allergies these days, schools just cannot serve any nut products (and they don't). <br /><br />On the low-fat issue, I see your point but at the same time I know that some schools in the district have obesity/overweight rates of more than 50%. I prefer foods that are full fat, but nobody in my household needs to lose weight to be healthy. <br />RebeccaRebecca L.noreply@blogger.com