Let's Move: School Wellness Standards
"First Lady Michelle Obama discusses the U.S. Department of Agriculture's proposed guidelines for new school wellness policies, which would ensure that foods and beverages marketed to children in schools are consistent with the recently-released Smart Snacks in School standards. The bipartisan Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act mandated that the USDA set guidelines for what needed to be included in local school wellness policies in areas such as setting goals for nutrition education and physical activity, informing parents about content of the policy and implementation, and periodically assessing progress and sharing updates as appropriate.
As part of local school wellness policies, the proposed guidelines would ensure that foods and beverages marketed to children in schools are consistent with the recently-released Smart Snacks in School standards. Ensuring that unhealthy food is not marketed to children is one of the First Lady’s top priorities; that is why it is so important for schools to reinforce the importance of healthy choices and eliminate marketing of unhealthy products."
While everything Mrs. Obama has stated about education, children, parents, and food policies may not be correct, we can agree that nutrition is essential for growth and development. Those that oppose efforts to improve school meals may need to double check any hypocrisy. Proposing individual responsibility while relying on schools to feed one's children is a conflict of principles. Packing your child's lunch and showing them how to pack their own lunch is vital in the process of teaching personal responsibility.
Great living and great eating does not require only eating raw broccoli and drinking blended kale. Untamed thoughts and reactions to any discussion of nutrition, what students eat, and how schools serve meals does not aid our country or the case for keeping school meals to fatty pizza and insipid grated potatoes. Liberating ones ideas, actions, and diet is a step in the right direction to living well, being well, and being personally responsible.
I want my fried food, cookies, cakes, and soda pop! And no president's wife if going to tell me what to do!
That is excellent, cookies, cakes, and other treats are fantastic to enjoy. Yet, perhaps there is more to the story. Will banning cookies and cupcakes from classroom parties end the challenges in education? No, we all can agree on that. Rather than seeing shifts in schools menu items as a Stalinist act, we need to see it as a reaction in an absurd situation. Rather than complaining about school, rather than complaining about government overreach, rather that demanding the government get out of my personal business, some individuals need to drop their expectations. Expectations of any kind stand on weak foundations.
Feed your children well and they will not be overweight, give your children tools and teach them right from wrong and they will know how to deal with pop culture, media, and drugs. That is much better, although harder, than having absurd expectations that schools will never change their dietary menus. Sometimes fried foods, cookies, cakes, and soda pop is more appetizing than facing reality. Yet, personal responsibility demands it.
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Credit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/
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