There's an interesting dynamic happening in the battle for children's stomachs: those whose jobs descriptions included putting down any domestic revolutions (retired US military officers), and a British hippie chef trying to start a revolution, are now politically on the same side.
Chicken nuggets make interesting bedfellows.
This is Jamie Oliver - the aforementioned British hippie chef - illustrating the problem with what our children eat at school:
This is Mission: Readiness, a non-profit group comprised of 130 retired US military officers, on the problem with what our children eat at school:
The leading medical reason why so many young people are unqualified to serve: A fourth of adults in this age group — at least 9 million young men and women — are too heavy, according to military entry standards, the group says in its new report, Too Fat to Fight.
"When that many young adults can't fight because of their weight, it affects our national preparedness and national security," says retired rear admiral Jamie Barnett, a member of Mission: Readiness. The group supports a strong reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, which calls for providing free and reduced-priced school meals for more kids and for serving more nutritious foods. About 31 million children eat lunch at school every day, and 11 million eat breakfast. Kids consume about 30% to 50% of their calories in school.
link: http://www.usatoday.com/...
And this is your humble diarist's take on the problem with what our children eat at school: it's cheap cr*p, heavily marketed to children by cynical adults who have found out that kids enjoy sugary inexpensive carbs more than fresh vegetables (surprise, surprise!)
If you haven't been following Mr. Oliver's 6 episode series, it's available on Hulu and is well worth the investment in time, if for no other reason than to hear administrators attempting to say that french fries are "vegetables" and chocolate milk is a nutrional necessity for young children: http://www.hulu.com/...
Speaking more from a military point of view, Stew Smith, former Navy SEAL, further defines the problem obesity in young people causes for our nation's armed forces, and identifies the solution:
The problem with having recruits barely passing the minimum standards upon entering military boot camps or services academies is the unneeded stress on the joints of out-of-shape people, unneeded mental stress of constantly receiving extra attention for being below average, and the unneeded loss of focus the new recruits have when actually learning their military jobs.
Being out of shape is a huge distraction for our recruits and soldiers. Many of these active duty and reserve soldiers do not make advancement to higher ranks, therefore losing extra pay, benefits, and future selection to jobs needed for career advancement. And, on a far worse level, if the overweight and obesity of our troops is not fixed, we are dealing with a national strategic problem which makes it difficult to defend America from our enemies.
There are simple answers - eat better and exercise more.
link: http://www.military.com/...
What can we do as activists?
First, please sign Jamie Oliver's petition asking for better food in our nation's schools: http://www.jamieoliver.com/...
Second, call your senators and representatives. Demand that the government enact better standards for the meals our children eat at school (banishing pizza for breakfast and scrapping "french fries" as a vegetable might be a good start). There is legislation pending in the senate right now, and politicians need to know that we want real change for our kids.
Third, especially as we're heading into growing season, support your local farmer's markets and your local fruit and vegetable stands. It's good nutrition and good for the environment.
And, thank you.