Not a day goes by without the media addressing America’s growing obesity crisis, and lately the discussion has settled on our children. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has reported that if American children don’t get their weight in check, their anticipated health problems will significantly shorten their lives, and make them the first generation in our nation’s history to die at younger ages than their parents. In fact the CDC has said, of the children born in the year 2000, one out of every three Caucasians and one out of every two African Americans and Hispanics will contract diabetes in their lifetimes, most before they graduate high school. This may mean that within 10 years, by 2018, that 40 – 45% of all school age children could be insulin dependent – the potential health ramifications are overwhelming, the more so, because this is ALL preventable.

The state of our nation’s food supply is unconscionable, the fact that agribusiness controls 90 percent of that supply, and of just how little most Americans know about how the food they consume is produced and processed. As a chef and an advocate for children’s health and life-long wellness, I hope to inspire action on the part of parents, administrators, health care professionals and advocates to make change – before it’s too late.

Why focus on children’s health? Pound for pound, they’re the ones most strongly impacted by the chemicals used to produce and process food. They eat more food than adults, which means that any antibiotic and hormone residues in their foods collect in their tissues in greater concentrations. And because they’re young, they’re also the ones most easily influenced by change. It occurred to me that if children could be educated from the start to make better food choices, they would carry these “lunch lessons” well into adulthood. Affecting the generation already most at risk would also help ensure the sustainability of our future food supply.

My journey began at the Ross School, a private school on Long Island, where we transformed the lunch program by hiring professionally trained chefs, redesigning the dining area, and, most important, expanding the menu to include regional, organic, seasonal, sustainable fare. Meat moved off the center of the plate, and vegetables, grains, and legumes took center stage. Salads became a school favorite, and, best of all, wellness and nutrition education were adopted as permanent elements of the school’s curriculum. The program was a huge success, but everyone wondered if something like it could be established in public schools.

Alice Waters was the first to bring such changes to public schools, with her Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, California. When I was offered the opportunity to implement change throughout the food system that serves the Berkeley Unified School District, I decided it was time to jump into the “belly if the beast,” public school food. The challenges we continue to face in the Berkeley public schools are many, but over the past three years we have transformed the lunch program of the entire district.

• ‹ The National School Lunch Program – Time For A ...
• Healthy Does Not Mean Boring ›