As I perused the strategically-placed aisles on my trip to the grocery store, ignoring my sweet tooth and systematically avoiding shelves of candy, cookies and ice cream, I was dismayed but not surprised by the steadily escalating prices of the “good stuff.” Or at least, the “good for you” stuff. Milk: $4.00 a gallon. Eggs: $2.55 a dozen. Whole wheat bread: $1.49 a loaf.
Eating healthy just got a lot harder.
But I’m not the only one feeling the crunch. To offset record-high fuel prices, which dictate costs of just about everything—hence, the soaring food prices—grade schools across the country are scaling back on costs by cutting corners in the kitchen.
Many schools are putting nutrition on the backburner, opting for less healthy but more affordable food alternatives for students. The Miami-Dade County school district in Florida overhauled its lunch menu, nixing hard-boiled eggs and increasing the price of some a la carte items.
Good eating habits have to start early, and growing boys and girls need nutritious food not a lesson in bad dietary decisions that could haunt them in their teenage and adult years in the form of obesity, diabetes or heart disease.
Almost 18 percent of children 12 to 19 years old are overweight, according to a 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control (NCHS/CDC). The numbers will continue to climb along with fuel prices if healthy childhood eating habits aren’t encouraged now.
So instead of substituting whole wheat bread for white, or fresh fruit for canned, we need to shout a resounding “No” to poor quality food in our schools.
It’s so true. There are schools that are doing innovative partnerships with community gardens and farmers markets, though. Maybe it’s time to think outside the box.