Draft- homework

Dear St.Demetrios School Administration,

Having been a student at this school since kinder garden throughout 12^th grade, I’m very concerned with the school’s food served daily to the children. I remember all the unhealthy food served to the younger kids but the older ones as well and I want to give you some advice on how to improve the quality of the food served there. We live in a world where the percentage of child obesity is growing and I believe that being ignorant about the health of our children is wrong and we should try to find solutions to improve their quality of life. Replacing unhealthy food with healthy food, offering school lunch cooking classes to the children and connecting school lunches with local farms are some options I’d like to share with you.

Schools sell a selection of “non-nutritious snack foods.” Many of these foods include doughnuts, ice cream, cakes, cookies, chips that fill up the cafeteria rooms of many schools a long with the “vending machines that line up the hallways”. Replacing these unhealthy habits with healthier choices is a start, for example: “artificially dyed candy can be replaced by natural candy; cookies with fake vanilla can be replaced with natural cookies; the neon yellow chips with MSG and preservatives can be replaced by natural potato chips” (http://www.school-lunch.org/goodsolutions.html). “In 2002, the Portsmouth, New Hampshire, School Board eliminated drinks high in sugar and caffeine, including soda, sweetened lemonade, ice tea, and fruit drinks, and replaced them with plain and flavored waters and one hundred percent fruit juice. They also eliminated all candy bars and snacks with little nutritional value and replaced them with crackers, Chex mix, raisins, and fruit snacks” (Weber, 2009, p.236). Studies have shown that the additives found in these junk foods trigger behavior and learning problems. We all need to participate in this act and try and change our kids eating habits. It’s important for their health primarily and it will promote a healthier mind as well that will help them be better students.

Involving the children by letting them step into the kitchen and learning how to prepare healthy meals, I believe will educate them and help them learn hand on hand how to eat healthier. The “students can grow and prepare local organic fruits and vegetables for their peer’s school lunch menus”

(http://www.environment.about.com/od/healthandchildren/a/cafeteria_food.htm)

By hiring a chef that will teach them how to cook healthier and involving the children in a cooking class that will help them eat right we can help create a healthier generation. The kids can stop eating all this junk food that destroys their health and child obesity can finally start decreasing as long as all the illnesses involved with obesity like diabetes.

Having grown up in New York City I was never affiliated with agriculture and farming. Having done some research about how schools can change their food menus, I came along this wonderful idea that can help many schools. That is, connecting school lunches with local farms. “Some forward-thinking schools are leading the charge by sourcing their cafeteria food from local farms and producers. This saves money and also cuts back on the pollution and global warming impacts associated with transporting food long distances. And since many local producers are turning to organic growing methods, local food usually means fewer pesticides in kids’ school lunches”(http://www.environment.about.com/od/healthandchildren/a/cafeteria_food.htm)

The “Farm to School Program” connects schools with local farms to provide healthy cafeteria food while also supporting farmers. These schools get their food locally and it also provides them with learning opportunities by visiting the local farms. This program now operates in 19 states and in several hundred school districts.

There are many ways we can help change our schools food menus. It takes a bit of our time and an effort from each one of us to find healthier solutions for our kids. I only gave you three solutions in which our schools can start changing the unhealthy eating habits of the children. I am very sure that there are several ways we can make a difference. We need to become more active and realize that the food we eat is more important than we thought. We always have a choice no matter the circumstances.

Sincerely,

Magda Katirtzoglou