The New York Times lists one of its 182 most controversial topics: “Do you think that a healthier school lunch program is a lost cause?”
I’ve already outed myself as a vegetable lover in my first column where I told you I was starting a garden, and when I told you I try to stick to a plant-based diet to help with my stress. I keep the “veggie” in vegetarian, so of course I’m biased when I say of course I think it’s possible for kids to eat healthy.
One isn’t just born munching on raw greens, though, and eating healthy is a lot more complicated for kids. In fact, eating healthier is more complicated for almost everyone.
Fruits and veggies aren’t readily available in our area. According to the Food and Drug Administration in 2006, Hopkins County was listed as a food desert. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food deserts as areas that has limited access to affordable and nutritious foods.
It’s been a few years since 2006, so maybe Hopkins is no longer in desert status. From my own personal research, though, we have Walmart, Brookshire’s, Cash Saver, and that’s about it.
It’s generational, too. If kids grow up where healthy options are scarce, they become adults who don’t place importance on eating healthy. It’s hard for parents to pass on to kids what they didn’t learn themselves.
That’s why AgriLife coordinator Johanna Hicks is counting on what she calls the “trickle up” effect. We’ve already missed a generation of parents and older who can teach their kids healthy eating. So why not go the other way and have kids teach their parents?
In schools in many locations in Texas, including Sulphur Springs, activities such as school gardens, learning how to pack a healthy lunch, and interacting with the FDA’s MyPlate tool is helping school age kids get the right message about healthy foods.
“Maybe they can bring that home to their parents and say, ‘Look what I did!’” Hicks told me.
Portions are another big reason junk foods dominate kids lunches. They already come pre-packed, whereas fruits and veggies take a lot of prep work. This is where My-Plate comes in. (Disclaimer: My-Plate is one of my personal eating healthy eating favorites.) If you Google “FDA myplate,” you can learn how to plan your meal so that it’s 25% grains, 25% protein, 25% vegetables and 25% fruit. I even have a special plate, which I bought for $8 on Amazon that’s color-coded and helps me separate out the portions. You don’t necessarily have to buy one, though. The state of Texas provides them to AgriLife for free, and AgriLife can hand them out to kids and families to help plan healthy meals.
Another reason eating healthy is complicated? You can literally become addicted to junk food. Many schools implemented healthier lunch programs as part of national legislation that sent grant dollars their way as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. However, kids actually protested. They hated vegetables and wanted their pizza, fries and candy back, and in resistance, they pitched their salads in the garbage. It’s hardly their fault they thought veggies were gross, though. Sugars, salts and fats trigger the bliss centers in your brain, according to the New York Times, and give your stomach the impression you can keep eating forever — even if they’re full of empty calories. In fact, researcher Michael Moss found sugar may be as addictive as cocaine.
What’s the best thing to do with an addiction? Stop it before it starts, says Hicks. Fried foods are no longer allowed to be served at Texas lunches, and Coke machines are unplugged during school hours.
“Of course, you can still buy a Snickers bar,”she jokes,“Because they have peanuts, and that’s protein.”
I’ll admit, I have a little bit of a problem with the government having a say in what kids can buy and eat, but I also remember every time I had a few quarters as a child, they were burning a hole in my pocket for some Fritos and a Coke at the gas station. If I had access to those items at school, nothing could have stopped me.
I think healthy lunches — and breakfasts and dinners — are more in reach of Hopkins County kids than ever before.
Americans as a whole, I can’t speak for.
But in researching this column, I spoke to those who are on the front lines of healthy eating and nutrition education for area youth, and I know they’re very dedicated. They have great programs going, and the state is giving them resources.
Because as Garrison Keillor said, there’s nothing better than fresh sweet corn.