Jeffco Schools makes nutrition progress
Thank you, Rocky Mountain News, for printing Margo Wootan and Scott Groginsky’s important article regarding junk food in schools (“Dumping the junk,” Sept. 8). As one of the co-founders of Jeffco Parents Focus on Nutrition, I am happy to say that our efforts have led to the Jefferson County School District becoming more and more deliberate about offering good food choices for our children.
As the article points out, the Department of Agriculture and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have shown that providing healthy food does not hurt the bottom line and that participating in the federal food programs does not mean that food needs to be high-calorie/low nutrition.
That has helped us make the case that our school district does not need to serve nachos, sugary drinks and snacks or high fat/saturated fat and trans-fat products.
Instead, the district is now moving to more fresh fruits and vegetables, turkey franks, and snacks and breads with whole grains.
While there is more to do, we are very excited by the small changes an ad hoc group of almost 100 parents from across the district with support from Jeffco PTA are able to encourage. We are looking forward to even more improvements in the years to come.
Phyllis Albritton
Wilmot PTA president, Evergreen
and now the kids will just bring more junk from home.
but I do feel good about this and sure hope you do too. at school the kids could if they want choose to eat what you want them to.
Thanks, Phyllis, for doing more than just writing letters to the newspaper.
Posted by Truth on September 25, 2007 07:46 AMThis is actually a bigger problem than people might realize. A couple years ago I was visiting a Jeffco high school and the principal took me into the cafeteria during lunch hour. I was pretty much shocked, not so much by what the kids were eating (I mean, that's something you can't really control, if kids want to induce diabetes with their crappy diets), but what the cafeteria was providing the children -- a good four or five fast food choices! The standards were so low Subway sandwiches were considered a healthy alternative.
Even though I despise nanny-ism, I was so taken aback I reluctantly admitted something had to be done.
Sooo, good for you, Phyllis.
Congratulations.
I'm sure the kids will immediately stop eating junk food and exercise and read the classics and do their homework and listen to the Beatles instead of rap and...and...and...
Get real. Expect the 7/11 stores near the schools to make a great deal of money. Kids will eat what they want as long as they have the funds to pay for it. I was in school in the 60's when there was no such thing as an open campus. We took our lunch money to McDonald's and anywhere we wanted to eat. These kids will do the same. Of course they won't have enough money to buy the fruit juice or milk they got at school with their lunches. Nor will the amount of soft drink they get be a limited amount. As for the one who only wants six orders of fries and a gallon of ketchup OK, no problem here like at school. Those realities don't matter. We will all FEEL better and isn't that more important than dealing with the real issue of kids eating improperly?
How long before that chubby kid's parents get a visit from social services demanding that the parents get that kid into shape or "face charges"? Think that's extreme? Unreal? Not going to happen?
A neighbor had a daughter who tore her blouse on the playground. The teacher called social services to investigate the parents for abuse for sending her to school in "torn clothes." My neighbor spent five months trying to satisfy the demands of social services because she initially refused their demand that she permit a home inspection to refute the "abuse" charges. The teacher insisted that the blouse was torn for the entire school day until another teacher found out about this and reported she'd seen the incident and the cause was kids playing and falling. No one had asked the teacher in charge of the playground anything until the parents got very angry and started their own investigation. Social services tried to justify their actions until the magic word "lawyer" was introduced when a friend who is a lawyer wrote a letter to social services. Case finished. The girl is in a different school and the school board is on notice the teacher is a problem.
That kind of result is the big problem here not the kid's diets. It's just another cold camel nose sneaking inside the tent.
The food nannies are going for our kids and we can't do anything except teach them to beware of government agencies. Guess the idea of any freedom just makes these people nuts. Or is that nuttier?
I remember it was not that long ago, well maybe 2o years. The push was for free choice in the diet of school children., That they were not being allowed freedon of choice in thier diets. this was in Evergreen. I know this as I had just finished graduateing from there and my uounger brother was still in this school system.
He nad the option while in High school of vending machines, a varied lunch. Donuts and coffe before school and there was program that offered snacks to the kids after school. This of course was not very balanced in the dietary thinking but the kids enjoyed it.
During my time there we saw lunchs go from chilli mac, and surprise meet tuesdays to chilli fries, soda, and moldy sub sandwhichs.
To applaud the PTA is wrong. It is about time that a nutritional meal was provided. The PTA should have done this 20 years ago by preventing the planned meals to be changed in the first place.
Yes i went to Wilmont as well. When we had a real administration and Principle. Mr.Scott, may he rest in peace. During his time the meals were nutritional and wholesome. Not to mention none of this p.c. absurdity that has ruined bandanna days, and the costume parade during halloween.
Posted by Former Evergreen Student on September 25, 2007 03:02 PMDoes the chicken breast that is fried previously then heated up count as healthy?
C'mon folks, whatever they will eat is what they will serve.
Posted by c on September 27, 2007 07:19 PM