Two Tablespoons of Tomato Paste

There is a big battle going on in Congress over the nutritional value of the two tablespoons of tomato paste that tops the pizzas fed to our children in public schools. The big companies behind the manufacturing of these nasty little discs of pizza dough and cheese grease are actually lobbying for the pizza's nutritional value!!! And Congress is resisting enacting any laws to require that healthy food be served in schools. Why? The lobbyists of course. The cost of providing healthy food to school kids is prohibitive. But, that doesn't matter, not even in the slightest, because it's simply not a battle any worthwhile parent should fight.

Here is my analogy, and I admit a rather bad one, but it makes the point. You are a parent of four children and they have to walk, say, a mile to school. The road that they have to cross is dangerous, and you've been fighting for a crossing light or crossing guard for a long time. Now, let's say one of your children gets hit by a car. Do you get angry at the city for not providing a safe crossing? Do you get angry at the school for not providing a crossing guard? And do you continue to fight for either of those all the while allowing your other three children to continue to walk to school? Or do you do what's best for your children by taking them to school, by never allowing them to cross that dangerous road to begin with?

So, what does that analogy have to do with lunches? Well, rather than fight for nutritious food, prepare your children's lunches every day, and, if you can, deliver those lunches just prior to the lunch period. And I hope this goes with having to write it - NEVER put in processed foods like Lunchables or other equally nasty food. If it's processed, DO NOT feed it to your children, especially before they reach the age of six. Why? By feeding them only wholesome, nutritious food in their early years, you will have created a "taste" for the good stuff, a habit of eating highly nutritious food, and, hopefully, an aversion for the bad stuff.

In the long run, the lack of nutrition is even more dangerous than that road. A lack of proper nutrition prevents the brain from developing, and when the brain doesn't work well, school work becomes difficult, and your child could be labeled as slow. Good food is NOT found on any children's menu in restaurants; in fact, good food is rarely found in restaurants at all. Good food is found in your produce section, NOT in the freezer section. Good food doesn't have ingredients that you can't pronounce, and good food is low in calories and high in nutrition.



Solution vs. Problem



Be part of the solution, folks - NOT part of the problem.

Oh, and you can boycott those large companies that are lobbying for the status quo on school lunches.  During an NPR interview on this topic, I did hear that the contract with Schwann Foods brings in about 45 billion dollars for them. Gee, I guess that makes it okay to ruin the health of our kids...NOT.

Don't bother trying to change the world; change only your world, and begin today.