Behind The Scenes At The Child Nutrition Policy Meeting
From the American News Project in February:
The Committee on Medicine said they are looking to make “evidence based” changes to the National School Lunch Program. Funny how they haven’t paid attention to the evidence for the last thirty years. It might have something to do with the fact there weren’t any scientists at the meeting.
Of course, the shots of the presentations are selective; That didn’t stop me from cringing when I heard the representative from the National Pork Association speak. She said the reason why more pork products should be included in school lunches is because it remains cheap. Is that the kind of evidence the committee is asking for?
It’s time that children stop being the bottom feeders of the US’s agriculture:
Schools participating in the National School Lunch Program receive cash subsidies and commodity foods for each meal served plus bonus commodities from agricultural surplus.
The program’s authorizing language requires that participating schools serve the most abundant commodities — mostly milk and meat, with few fruits and vegetables…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture purchases hundreds of millions of pounds of pork, beef, and other animal products as well as surplus corn and wheat primarily as an economic benefit to agricultural interests.
Watching what those kids in the video put on their plates, it’s little wonder 1/3 of the children in the US are overweight or obese.
May 4, 2009
Tags: agriculture, change, farmers, food event, Health, marketing, nutrition, obesity, policy, subsidies Posted in: Health, Politics
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