Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:
[CLIP]Occasionally, I would show up at school and eat lunch with my child. What did I find? Pizza, chicken nuggets, fruit in a cup, and his favorite, French toast sticks and sausages.
Was there cooking in my local elementary school? No, they just reheat what was being sent from a central warehouse.
I remember as a young girl going to the cafeteria and watching the big machines mix the food. It wasn’t exactly homemade but better than today’s fare.
Food feeds the body. The body holds the mind. How can we as parents send our children out to eat things that are both toxic to the mind and body?
As we left the public school system and entered the private sector, we noticed a difference in the food being served. Foods were freshly prepared and a salad bar was offered. Even if our school system couldn’t afford great cuts of meat for everyone, fruits and salads should have been standard fare.
Only now do I realized what a disservice I was doing to my child, as well as my community. With the hurried life of Americans, we must stop and observe what our children are putting in their mouth. The school my son eventually went to for sixth grade had mid-morning snacks of apples and milk and a 15-minute break to burn off excess energy and that was the norm up to ninth grade. Sometimes kids get hungry and restless. When this happens, how are you to engage a child.?
Some parents might not believe it, but your child’s education does depend on the food that we feed them, whether its breakfast, lunch or dinner. We, as parents, need to speak up and affect change because a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
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