Healthy Schools Campaign

Healthy School Meals: Behind the Headlines

By Rochelle Davis, Founding Executive Director

Recently The Chicago Tribune ran a front page story on the Chicago Public Schools’ (CPS) breakfast program.  While I greatly appreciate the attention that the Tribune and the reporter Monica Eng have given to the issue of school food, I do have some concerns about the Nov. 5 story and the previous story that appeared on June 11.

The stories highlight many of the shortcomings of the CPS food program, shortcomings that HSC is very concerned about, and we look forward to working with CPS to make these much needed improvements.  However, I feel that the coverage neither told the whole story nor provided a meaningful context for public dialogue. Public dialogue is especially critical this year, as Congress begins to consider the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, the federal legislation that essentially determines school food policy and resources. 

1) The coverage fails to highlight the many changes that CPS has made to its food program over the last two years, including but not limited to:  removing deep fryers from all schools, implementing a farm-to-school program, eliminating trans fats from all food, and serving only low fat milk.  Each of these achievements alone is significant in a district which last year served more than 60 million meals. Additionally, the article portrays Louise Esaian as a defender of the status quo. However, in our experience, she has taken on the serious challenges of making change in a large district, but a district that has not been able to effectively communicate their accomplishments.  

2) The coverage fails to adequately address the financial constraints that CPS faces.  Any discussion of improving school food that does not include information about the cost is ignoring the single largest barrier to school food reform. According to the School Nutrition Association, school districts spend about 35 cents more than they receive from the federal government for each reimbursable meal. For CPS and most large urban school districts, the shortfall is closer to 70 cents per meal.   

3) The reporter seems to dismiss efforts to improve the nutritional quality of “kid-marketed” food.  There is a vigorous debate around the best strategy for encouraging children to eat healthful food:   should we feed children the same foods that adults eat (or the food adults should eat) or should we make “kid-friendly” food  (the child-specific items marketed to children in grocery stores and on restaurant menus, which parents often serve at home) as healthful as possible?  There is no clear answer, but from our perspective, it’s a fair debate, a debate that should be included in articles on this topic.

4) The comparison of the CPS food program to the Institute of Medicine standards, which were publicly released two weeks prior to the article, seems unfair.  In fact, anticipating the release of these standards, CPS has already convened a working group to map out a strategy for moving the program toward compliance with these standards.  

5) The reporter seems to overlook the important role that nutrition education plays in students’ decisions to eat healthful and often unfamiliar foods.  She cites one expert who states that children will choose the healthier options if only healthy options are offered. While we do agree that kids will often eat healthier options if offered, significant research establishes the importance of nutrition education to support students’ ability to make healthful food choices. The full picture is that if you only change the food without also offering nutrition education, plate waste will increase and meal participation will decrease, thereby countering the goals of the program. And there is universal agreement that getting more kids to eat breakfast is an important strategy for improving children’s health.

Again, we thank the Tribune for  recognizing the importance of  school food to student health and achievement and hope that future coverage will provide a more complete context  to enhance public understanding of this important issue.  

Study Shows Overwhelming Parent Support for Healthier Schools

By Rochelle Davis, Founding Executive Director

The recent survey by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation confirms our experience: that parents understand the connection between learning, health and the school environment, and they want schools to promote healthy eating and physical activity.

Among the key findings from the online survey of 600 parents with children in grades K-12:

• Parents nearly unanimously agree (98 percent) that their child’s school should offer opportunities for physical activity throughout the day, whether through P.E., activity breaks or recess and after school programs.

• Almost as many parents (96 percent) agree that their child’s school should limit access to unhealthy snacks and sugar-sweetened beverages.

• About two-thirds of parents (63 percent) believe schools play a major role in instilling healthy habits in students.

• Four-fifths of parents have undertaken one or more health-related activities or advocacy efforts in their local schools. Those include bringing nutritious foods to school parties or other events and pushing for healthier lunch menus or expanded health education for students.

Healthy Schools Campaign’s Parents United for Healthy Schools has hundreds of parents involved in organizing wellness teams and working to promote healthy eating and physical activity. In fact, two parent leaders, Jovita Flores and Rosa Guzman, have been recognized by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation for their outstanding leadership and are featured in its new book, Be Well: Messages from Moms on Living Healthier Lives. Congratulations to Jovita and Rosa!  And many congratulations and thanks to all the parents across the country who are working to promote health and wellness in schools.

Parents try out a healthy physical activity break at a Parents United for Healthy Schools summit

Award Recognizes School Employee Wellness Programs

By Rochelle Davis, Founding Executive Director

Does your school district have a wellness program for employees?  If yes, consider applying for the School Employee Wellness Awards Program, created by the Directors of Health Promotion and Education (DHPE).  If your school district does not have a wellness program, check out the DHPE's nine-step program for establishing one.

Employee wellness plans help control health care costs and, more importantly, they help teachers become positive role models for students and shape an overall healthy school environment. 

The results can be astonishing and positive for all, according to case studies provided by the DHPE:

In a 10-week health-promotion program for Dallas Independent School District employees that focused on exercise and physical fitness, 44% of teachers said they changed their overall lifestyle, 68% changed their diet, 26% who were initially sedentary started a regular program of vigorous exercise, and 18% quit smoking. Other benefits of the program for the school district included a reduction in absenteeism – exercising teachers had an average of 1.25 days less absenteeism than  nonexercising teachers – which led to a savings of $149,578 for the district in costs for substitute  teachers.

Learn more about the award for school employee wellness programs (application deadline: December 1), or download a free copy of the DHPE's School Employee Wellness guide and other useful materials that can make your school a healthier, happier, more productive work environment.

Veggies, Hula Hoops and the Future of School Food: HSC at the White House Healthy Kids Fair

By Rochelle Davis, Founding Executive Director

Yesterday I had the pleasure and privilege of participating in Healthy Kids Fair at the White House. It was a fun event with an important message and I was thrilled that Healthy Schools Campaign was able to be part of it.

Of course I've been following the First Lady's work promoting healthy food and fitness, especially around the White House Garden and the farmers market. But being able to actually participate in an event at the White House and hear first-hand her comments about promoting healthy eating at home and in schools, seeing her interact with children eating healthy food and engaging in physical activity was a real treat. And yes, she actually did the hula hoop (142 rotations, according to the AP) and jumped rope.  

Amidst her strong message about the need for healthy eating and physical activity, Mrs. Obama’s comments were humorous and filled with practical advice. The event included a policy announcement --  expanding the USDA’s existing Healthier Schools USA program -- that was great though not really game-changing in the movement for healthier school food.

But the First Lady's involvement clearly demonstrates a strong commitment by the Administration to improving school food.  In fact, Secretary of Agriculture Vlisack told the crowd at the fair that when President Obama asked him to become the Secretary of Agriculture, the President told him that improving school food needed to be his top priority.

As I left this event, I couldn't help but think of something that many of us who care about kids' wellness have been saying again and again lately: it really is a new day for school food and fitness.

Seeing this type of enthusiasm for veggies and hula hoops coming from the White House is more than just encouraging and fun: it changes the conversations we have about good food and physical activity by creating a climate in which these things are valued and applauded. 

Tour de Champagne Guests to Raise a Glass for Healthy Schools Campaign

By Rochelle Davis, Founding Executive Director

Thanks to the folks at the Tour de Champagne, HSC will benefit from the silent auction at their annual Chicago event, where some of the city's most talented chefs will pair foods with a variety of vintages of champagne. It's a night of good food, good drinks and good cheer, and we're proud to be one of the beneficiaries this year.

True champagne comes exclusively from France, where we've seen that wine and food are really taken seriously -- at home and at school. 

A few years ago, HSC’s Director of School Wellness participated in a delegation that traveled to France to learn about their school food programs through the International Exchange Forum on Children, Obesity, Food Choice and the Environment. She found that school meals in France feature wholesome food served on real dishes in comfortable environments, with ample time for students to enjoy their food.  Click here to read about her trip and her findings.

 

If you love great food and wine, think about joining us on October 23 for Tour de Champagne at the Drake Hotel in Chicago.  Enjoy some bubbly and good food, and bid in the silent auction to support Healthy Schools Campaign!

Frozen Fruits & Veggies Provide Healthy Options for School Meals

By Rochelle Davis, HSC Founding Executive Director

New research reported in the International Supermarket News says that frozen food can be nutritionally equal – or even superior – to fresh produce:

The search for new and improved school meals has revealed that a mix of fresh and frozen foods creates the optimum result in terms of healthy eating and production.

Fresh produce can deteriorate along the supply chain, as the journey from the field to the shelf can seriously compromise the nutritional value and quality of fresh produce due to exposure. But frozen food's freshness is maintained by the temperature at which it is kept. There are also benefits in that frozen products are cheaper, create less waste and are more accessible to institutions such as schools.

Our experience in Chicago certainly confirms that. Last year the Chicago Public Schools and its partner Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality launched a frozen local program to take regionally produced fruits and vegetables and, within 24 hours of harvest, flash freeze them for serving all year in CPS school meals.

In an article at FamilyFarmed.org, Chartwells Thompson Regional Vice President Bob Bloomer says: "This is a great way to lock in the nutrients of these fruits and vegetables... We will be purchasing thousands of pounds of these products this school year. The kids love it."

Vilsack Connects Healthy Eating and Reduced Health Care Costs

By Rochelle Davis, Founding Executive Director

Good news for fruits and veggies!

The day after President Obama’s message to Congress and the nation, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, in a speech to United Fresh Produce Association, made the connection between health care reform and healthy eating. Vilsack talked about the administration’s recognition that eating more fruits and vegetables will dramatically cut America’s health care costs and that health care reform will include encouraging Americans to eat healthier -- in particular, by eating more fruits and vegetables.

As part of this effort, Vilsack said the USDA is focused on improving USDA-subsidized school meals, which he said, “for far too many of our children,” may provide “the only complete meal that they have during the day.”

We are very excited to see that the Obama administration understands the connection between health and proper eating and is looking at reforming the health care system more broadly than insurance reform alone.  (You might never know that from listening to the public debate about health care reform, but there is a whole section of the bill devoted to health promotion. More here and here.)

But in order to truly improve student access to healthier school meals (and make the ideals that Vilsack describes into a reality) schools need more money for better food. The Child Nutrition Act offers an opportunity to ensure that schools receive the funding they need for this purpose. Take action now by joining us to call for a strong, well-funded Child Nutrition Act. 

The Washington Post Supports Increased Funding for School Food

By Rochelle Davis, Founding Executive Director

I could not agree more with the recent editorial in The Washington Post in which the Post comes out in support of increased funding for our nation’s federal school food program.  The Post’s editorial board correctly links the issue of school food to Michelle Obama’s efforts to highlight the importance of healthy eating, and correctly links the issue of school food to the long term costs of our already strained health care systems.  

And most importantly, they repeat (though do not quite endorse) Ann Cooper’s call for Congress to increase school food funding an additional dollar per day per student. Currently, schools receive around $2.68 for each free lunch they serve.  According to the School Nutrition Association, school districts spend, on average, about 35 cents more than that.  In large urban areas, school districts are subsidizing school meals at a rate of around 70 cents per meal.  These are the communities in which healthy school food is most essential, where healthy food choices are not as readily available.  Research shows that children living in low-income minority communities -- many in large urban school districts -- have much higher rates of obesity.

Of course more money, while essential, is not the complete answer. The Post is also correct in identifying the need for updated nutrition standards and the need to allow the USDA to set standards for other food available in schools.  Other important steps include improvements to the commodity program, helping school districts improve kitchen facilities and supporting training for food service staff.

We applaud The Washington Post for their support of this important issue at such a key moment in the movement for healthy school food.

To take action in support of increased funding for better school food, visit HSC’s Child Nutrition Act action center.

How The White House Garden Grows

By Rochelle Davis, Founding Executive Director

We at HSC have been very excited to have First Lady Michelle Obama make the food we eat, and how it is grown, part of the national dialogue. Much has been said about the new White House garden. Now, the White House has released a video about the garden. 

As Michelle says at the end of the video, “I hope the garden will be an introduction to a new way for our country to think about food.”   We look forward to her leadership as Congress begins to consider the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, the bill that determine the funding and other guidelines for the federal school food programs.

Collaborative for High Performing Schools Releases Guidelines for Safer, Healthier Portable Classrooms

By Rochelle Davis, Founding Executive Director

When one thinks of healthy, high performing schools, the last thing that comes to mind are the portable classrooms that so many schools use to address school overcrowding. Health problems that emerged for individuals who were housed in portable housing units after Hurricane Katrina highlighted the dangers -- not just for the portable housing units but also for the portable classrooms. 

That is why I was so pleased to see the Collaborative for High Performing Schools (CHPS) release guidelines for these temporary classrooms.

These guidelines [PDF] include enhanced daylighting, energy-efficient lighting, energy-efficient, low-noise HVAC systems, an efficient building envelope and interior material with low emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC). And, they provide a database of product manufacturers that meet their guidelines. 

So, if your school needs to resort to these portable classrooms, be sure to following CHPS’ recommendations.

Food Service Workers Lend their Support for a Strong Child Nutrition Act

By Rochelle Davis, Founding Executive Director

Last month, food service workers lent their support for a strong Child Nutrition Act when they visited Capitol Hill to speak up for school food. Their priorities, which closely mirror those of Healthy Schools Campaign, include:

• Increasing federal reimbursement rates for meals to enable schools to cover the rising costs of meeting dietary guidelines and to purchase fresh, healthy foods.

• Reaching more struggling families by relaxing eligibility requirements, streamlining application processes, and allowing for regional variations in cost of living in determining eligibility.

• Improving food safety, nutrition, health and wellness, and customer service through additional training and good jobs with health care for food service employees.

SEIU and UNITE, labor unions that often represent food service workers in schools, have joined together to launch the Campaign for Quality Services. The Campaign for Quality Services has identified a number of priorities, including improving the federal school food program through a strong Child Nutrition Act.

You can make your voice heard on this issue by contacting your legislator today. Click here to learn about the importance of a strong federal school food program.

 

President Obama Speaks Up for Healthy School Food, Farm to School Programs

By Rochelle Davis, HSC Founding Executive Director

 

President Obama spoke at an Organizing For America National Health Care Forum on Friday and made the following comments about school food and the upcoming debate on the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act:

When it comes to food, one of the things that we are doing is working with school districts, and the child nutrition legislation is going to be coming up...Let's figure out how can we get some fresh fruits and vegetables in the mix, because sometimes you go into schools and you know what the menu is. You know, it's french fries, tater tots, hot dogs, pizza. Now...that's what kids want to eat anyway. So it's not just the school's fault....And so what we've got to do is to change how we think about, for example, getting local farmers connected to school districts, because that would benefit the farmers delivering fresh produce, but right now they just don't have the distribution mechanisms set up.

I was thrilled to see the president highlight the value of healthy school food and farm-to-school programs in the context of our national health care strategy. Healthy Schools Campaign has been championing the argument that properly funding school food is a good investment in terms of student health and education. 

With high rates of childhood obesity, particularly among the same group of children who participate in federal school food programs, and the struggle to control health care costs, providing school districts with the resources to serve students healthier meals make sense—dollars and cents. 

Congress must reauthorize the Child Nutrition Act by the end of September. In doing so, our elected leaders have the opportunity to make changes to the federal school food program: providing adequate funding, establishing better nutritional standards and making sure that all eligible students are able to participate. Click here to let your elected officials know that you want a strong and healthy federal school food program.

It is interesting to note that the president recognizes the value of farm-to-school programs and the need for establishing local and regional distribution systems. For years, Healthy Schools Campaign has been championing farm-to-school programs. 

We are so proud to be supporting the Chicago Public Schools' efforts to provide regionally grown vegetables to CPS students for lunch at school.  Kudos to CPS’ partner Chartwell-Thompson Hospitality for figuring out a way to provide these tasty, healthy vegetables to Chicago students all year round. Working with local farmers, Chartwells-Thompson has arranged for a local processor to flash-freezing regionally grown vegetables within 48 hours of harvesting.  The result is a higher quality, better tasting more nutritious vegetable all year long.I hope that soon, all children will have access to this type of tasty, healthy, regionally-grown produce at lunch. 

Check out the video below to see President Obama's full speech, including his comments on school food, or click here for the full text.

National Attention for Green School Buildings

By Rochelle Davis, HSC Founding Executive Director

Tarkington School

We recently had the opportunity to tour Tarkington School of Excellence with Peter Grevatt, head of the U.S. EPA Office of Children’s Health; Kate Tomford, Director of Sustainability for Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn; and Suzanne Carlson, Director of Environmental Affairs for Chicago Public Schools. Tarkington is the first green school in Chicago to be certified by the US Green Building Council under their LEED program. (You can check out photos of the tour here.)

After hearing from Tarkington principal and HSC board member Vincent Iturralde and our student docents, it became even more clear what a positive impact a green school can have on student performance and the environment. 

Unfortunately, most children do not have an opportunity to learn in such a healthy environment. 

That is why I was so pleased to see both the U.S. House and Senate take action to provide school districts with funds to support green, energy efficient schools, focusing on schools that serve under-resourced communities.

On the Senate side, Senator Harkin (D-IA) has introduced the School Buildings Fairness Act of 2009 (S1121), which would provide $6 billion in grants for renovation, repair, and construction of schools in 2010, and additional funds, as needed, through 2014. These grants focus specifically on high-need schools and aim to encourage the use of green, energy efficient practices.  On the House side, Rep. Miller (D-Ca) introduced a bill which would make $4.1 billion in grants available over two years for school modernization, renovation, and repair.  This bill also establishes an Advisory Council on Green, High-Performing Schools. 

Both of these bills would commit federal dollars to the repair, renovation and maintenance of our nation’s existing school buildings as well as to the construction of the next generation of healthy, high-performing schools. In addition, the funds would be tied to the use of proven strategies for energy efficiency and environmental sustainability – providing a healthier environment for our students and teachers, as well as their wider communities.

This legislation is a vital next step for healthier school environments, and HSC urges our legislators to sign on as cosponsors of these bills.

You can be part of the national movement for green, healthy with Through Your Lens, HSC's effort with our partners to show Congress why safe, healthy school buildings are so important. You can submit a photo or story about your school (winners will be exhibited in Washington, DC during the policy debate) or use the Through Your Lens Action Center to contact your elected officials and to the media.

Tarkington School

New York Times Spotlights Momentum & Opportunity for Healthy School Lunches (And Quotes HSC's Rochelle Davis!)

We were excited this morning at HSC to see founding executive director Rochelle Davis quoted in a great New York Times story, "Stars Are Aligning Over School Lunch Programs" about the movement toward healthier school lunches.

In the article, Kim Severson describes "larger changes happening in public school cafeterias" and discusses the ways that ideas once considered fringe -- such as serving fresh vegetables and cooking from scratch in school kitchens -- are now front-and-center, thanks in large part to support from key players, including the Obamas. Severson writes:

Rochelle Davis, who founded the Healthy Schools Campaign in Chicago almost eight years ago, said having support from the White House has made her work easier.

“This is not a nice little niche issue anymore,” she said. “When I talk to people at U.S.D.A., they talk about what the president and first lady want. It matters.”

We admit: it's cool to see HSC in The New York Times. What's even more exciting is the extra bit of buzz over momentum for the healthy school lunch movement. The opportunity presented by the upcoming reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, President Obama's support, and a growing awareness of school food issues is remarkable. As Severson describes:

For the first time since a new wave of school food reform efforts began a decade ago, once-warring camps are sharing strategies to improve what kids eat. . .

“The window’s open,” said Kathleen Merrigan, the deputy secretary of agriculture. “We are in the zone when a whole lot of exciting ideas are being put on the table. I have been working in the field of sustainable agriculture and nutrition all my professional life, and I really have never seen such opportunity before.”

Read the full article, Stars Are Aligning Over School Lunch Programs. And share it with a friend!

New Environmental Health Program Will Unite Researchers and Community

By Rochelle Davis, HSC Founding Executive Director

In mid-July I had the opportunity to participate as a grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health’s Partnership for Environmental Public Health program. This unique program encourages partnerships between researchers and the community and focuses on research that translates into public health programs or policies. 

I was fortunate to be the Principal Investigator on a project funded by a similar program, an environmental justice funding program, shortly before that program was eliminated. I am so pleased to see that NIH has now created the Partnership for Environmental Public Health program to study the most critical environmental health concerns we face today, as defined by the community. I look forward to seeing the work that comes out of projects funded by this new program. 

Click here to learn about the work that HSC did with funding from NIH.

Fighting Childhood Obesity & Malnutrition with the Child Nutrition Act

Rochelle Davis, Founding Executive Director

As many of our regular readers know, Healthy Schools Campaign is closely following the political debate around the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act.  This Act funds the school food programs that feed low-income children around the country.

The recent report from the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, "F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America 2009" underscores the need to make changes to the school food program so that school districts around the country have the resources to provide students with healthier meals, giving students the nutrition they need to learn and succeed at school – and to live healthy lives. 

The federal food program began more than 60 years ago to address the fact that so many children were underweight and malnourished. The crisis facing us today is both the same and different: now children are overweight and malnourished. 

I think that it is difficult;for most of us to associate being overweight with;being malnourished. In a recent article, Dr. Cyril O. Enwonwu  does an excellent job of explaining this contradiction of our modern age. Enwonwu is a professor of biomedical sciences and director of International Research Initiatives at the University of Maryland, adjunct professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the UM School of Medicine, and a Research!America Ambassador. He explains:

Take a 14-year-old African-American boy living in Baltimore. Like many Americans, he eats too much junk food, while watching hours of television or playing video games. He knows he is obese. What he doesn't know is that his body is starving for omega–3 fatty acids and other essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals required for good development and health.

Now take a 14-year-old boy from Nigeria. He has poor, uneducated parents and has to share a small bowl of rice and legumes with his three siblings every day. He walks several miles to school daily, often in intense heat. He is emaciated and frequently endures pangs of hunger. For Nigerian children like this, malnutrition usually starts before they are born due to poor prenatal care.

They are an ocean apart, yet both boys suffer from malnutrition, ranging from undernutrition with resulting short stature and below normal weight for the Nigerian to overconsumption of high-fat foods with little or no exercise leading to obesity for the American. Research tells us that both of these forms of malnutrition weaken a person's defenses against various infections and make one more prone to diseases, including measles, malaria, tuberculosis, respiratory and diarrheal diseases, HIV/AIDS and some cancers.

When Congress begins to consider the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act this year, I hope that they will provide school districts with the resources to address children's needs for proper nutrition so they can grow up to become healthy and productive adults. 

Learn more about the Child Nutrition Act and how you can take action against childhood obesity and malnutrition.

HSC Envisions The Road to a Healthier Future

By Rochelle Davis, HSC Founding Executive Director

Rochelle's niece Julia, in Spain.

Over the Fourth of July holiday, I picked up my 25-year-old niece, Julia, from O’Hare airport. Julia has been in Spain for the last 10 months teaching English as a second language. We drove her to her mom’s house in Milwaukee so we had a couple of hours to hear about life in Spain.

Julia had spent the month of June walking El Camino, a famous Christian pilgrimage walk through Spain. Of course, I was interested in how she ate while on the walk. She explained that the trail went through many small towns and, in most of the towns, local churches were set up to feed the pilgrims. She commented on how good the food was, with lots of fresh and tasty fruits and vegetables for every meal.  She told me that even in the city where she was living, most of the food came from farmers in the area so that, even on a tight budget, she had lots of access to fresh, healthy food. 

At the core of the work we do at Healthy Schools Campaign is envisioning what is possible, not getting stuck in the “way things are” and then figuring out the path from the way things are to how they should be.  We envision a food system that can give everyone access to healthy and tasty fruits and vegetables (and other products) and see a strong local food system as important to making this happen. It was so reassuring to know that this type of system is alive and well in other parts of the world.

Friday Recipe for Hot Summer Days: Watermelon Gazpacho

This post is part of our Friday-morning series on fun, healthy recipes. Check out other recipe posts here.

With the official first day of summer last weekend, the weather has started to really heat up – and we’re all looking for a quick, refreshing recipe that doesn’t heat up the kitchen any more!

This watermelon gazpacho fits the bill – it’s a cool, easy dish packed with fruits and veggies.

Watermelon Gazpacho

• 6 cups seedless watermelon cubes
• ½ peeled and chopped seedless cucumber
• ½ organic yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ teaspoon hot pepper sauce
• 1 cup cold raspberry-cranberry juice
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

In a large food processor, combine 3 cups of the watermelon, the cucumber, bell pepper, scallions, garlic, lime or lemon juice, oil and pepper sauce. Process with short pulses until the mixture is just finely chopped. (Be sure not to puree the ingredients or you’ll end up with a smoothie instead!) Add the remaining watermelon, raspberry-cranberry juice, and mint. Process with pulses until just finely chopped. 

Makes 8 servings.

From Fresh Choices: Easy Recipes for  Pure Food When You Can’t Buy 100% Organic by HSC founding executive director Rochelle Davis

Why I Paid Attention to This Year’s American Medical Association Conference

By Rochelle Davis, Founding Executive Director

This week, the American Medical Association (AMA) met in Chicago.  Normally this gathering of doctors from around the country wouldn’t grab my interest. This year, however, was different: two developments at the AMA caught my attention as important news for all of us who care about the environment and children’s health in school.

The first was President Obama’s address in which he acknowledged the important role that school food plays in health care reform. While speaking to the need for a greater focus on prevention, President Obama said that we must cut down “on all the junk food that is fueling an epidemic of obesity, putting far too many Americans, young and old, at greater risk of costly, chronic conditions.”  And while these lessons must be learned at home, we also “should work with local school districts to incorporate into their school lunch programs.” 

This recognition is especially important in the context of the upcoming reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, an opportunity for the federal government to provide increased support for better school food across the country. (See HSC's press release to learn more.)

Then, the AMA passed a resolution supporting sustainable food systems. This resolution is based on a report [pdf] of the Council on Science and Public Health which notes that locally produced and organic foods “reduce the use of fuel, decrease the need for packaging and resultant waste disposal, preserve farmland . . . [and] the related reduced fuel emissions contribute to cleaner air and in turn, lower the incidence of asthma attacks and other respiratory problems.”

The report sees industrial food production as a significant contributor to increased antibiotic resistance, climate change, and air and water pollution.  

We are also concerned about the food system here at HSC, primarily because changes in the food system have played a major part in our nation’s move away from wholesome nutritious meals and toward highly processed unhealthy food. This trend – both at school and outside of school – is a significant contributor to the epidemic of childhood obesity.  Whether your concern is climate change, antibiotic resistant or childhood obesity,  we can no longer separate the health of food from how it is produced. I applaud the AMA for recognizing this critical connection and helping raise awareness of the steps we can all take to help make our children – and our environment – healthier.

Health Care Reform and School Wellness

By Rochelle Davis, Founding Executive Director

As the country gears up for a debate on health care reform, it is clear that the policymakers are going to connect the dots between the nation’s efforts to control health care costs and obesity prevention programs – including those that focus on school wellness.  

An article for POLITICO, Carrier Budoff Brown reports that, “Any health care reform plan that Obama signs is almost certain to call for nutrition counseling, obesity screenings and wellness programs at workplaces and community centers. He wants more time in the school day for physical fitness, more nutritious school lunches and more bike paths, walking paths and grocery stores in underserved areas.” 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chronic diseases including diabetes account for 75 percent of the nation’s $2 trillion medical costs.  So any plan to get health care spending under control must include a strong prevention component .  

Schools are an important venue for providing healthy food and opportunities for physical activity, as well as for teaching healthy lifestyles.  With education funding under so much pressure, it will be interesting to see if health care reform will provide any relief to schools that have efforts underway to offer healthier food and more opportunities for physical activity – efforts that ultimately contribute to a healthier student body and a healthier population.