As more of a national
health focus has shifted not only to care but prevention, we’re all required to
take a role in the formation of good dietary habits for our coomunity’s
youth. Whether that be an emphasis upon
exercise or it be a cultural shift on how we feed our children, we all recognize
the integral part that school and school nutrition progragrams can play in the
educating of our youth on healthy life choices, as the goals is to instil
healthy habits. School lunch is a pivotol
element of this effort. And for many school
districts especially those that service inner-city urban communities, school
lunch consist of child friendly foods that may not be the most healthy choices. But, many inner-city
students are preconditioned to enjoy and expect processed pre-paackaged, non-organic
food. Such food is proven to be not as healthy as the alternative. So for a community and their
respective school board to introduce organic and healthy choices, that
communicty has decisevly chosen to highlight the benefits of healthy food
choices through their offerings. Nowhere is this more apparent
than in the efforts of Navajo native-american communities:
“Native schools
on reservations with limited budgets often struggle to provide healthy,
unprocessed and culturally relevant foods for their students. One possible and
viable solution to address the severe conditions of poverty, social stress and
health and nutrition problems in Native communities and schools is a
Farm-to-School program in which local farmers supply produce to the schools
directly within in their communities”.
As reported by
Vincent Schilling in “Fresh From the
Farm to School Lunches: Navajo Pilot Program Proves Successful”; the desire
to provide healthy lunch choices for our community’s schools is prevelant, but the
desire by policy stewards to alter the landscape of school district's long established business
relationships with food vendors often serves as an impedicment to the type of activisim and
impact that has been achived by the refernced Navajo community. The example set by this community that’s
chosen to promote healthy living in the face of regulatory restrictions should
encourage us all to strive towards a better way of living for a better
generation.
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/08/28/fresh-farm-school-lunches-navajo-pilot-program-proves-successful-151066
Hello, Marco.
ReplyDeleteThe state of the health of school age youth in our nations institutions of learning is shocking, as many children are obese or closely on the verge of facing obesity. This is partly, as you indicated in your blog do to unhealthy food choices being offered in schools and therefore made by students. Health nutrition should be a pivotal part of a child’s education, as it can assist them in making informed dietary decisions that can help in creating a healthy culture that possibly may help in extending their long term life expectancy.
The Farm-to-School program is a great initiative that serves as a way to make smart economic choices in a time where budgetary constraints dictate the way schools operate. Innovative programs like this need to be repeatedly highlighted on a national scale to spread the word and educate those in need of new ideas composed from genuine outside the box thinking.