Needed: fresh ideas for school lunches

NewsDay:

Do as I say, not as I do. That's the lesson being taught every day in school cafeterias across Long Island. According to a series of Newsday reports, school lunches are high in fat and sodium, and low on fresh ingredients. Lunch programs, which are expected to pay their own way without help from the school budget, rely on chip and cookie sales - not to mention sugary soda machines - to amp up their profits.

We are sending kids all the wrong messages by placing these bad-habit-forming temptations in their paths. For a few cents more per meal, children could be eating healthfully and learning by example about good nutrition.

Sure, the few cents add up. But aren't we already paying a price? New Yorkers spend $242 million a year to treat obesity-related illness in children, and $6.1 billion a year on adults. Studies show that overweight children often carry the weight into adulthood.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at November 10, 2008 11:01 AM
Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas