Food for Thought

In the past two weeks, I have typed up the breakfast and lunch menus from area schools, which are printed in the paper every Friday. As a child, I was never a school lunch eater, but rather a lunchbox toter. And now, I remember why. It's because school lunches, though they may follow certain nutritional guidelines, can in no way be considered truly healthy.

For example: yesterday, the breakfasts served at area schools included cinnamon rolls, sausage biscuits and gravy, French toast sticks and scrambled eggs with pancakes and syrup. Lunch was even worse in some instances: mini corn dogs, taco burgers, tater tot casserole and pizza casserole. Of course, the kids also got fruit, likely canned and in syrup, and milk, possibly chocolate and sweet.

Now, I'm not saying that I don't love pancakes and the occasional cheeseburger, because I certainly do. But, I know that if I ate those things every day, I would weigh quite a bit more than I do now; witness the 15+ pounds I gained my freshman year of college when I ate dorm cafeteria food, which is not so different from school lunches.

The point is, these meals are filled with fat, sodium and empty carbohydrates, not to mention preservatives. There are few whole grains and fresh vegetables, which are the two largest categories on the food pyramid. I know many will say that kids don't like those foods, and in some instances that's true. But, there's no reason that macaroni and cheese can't be made with whole-wheat pasta or a fatty cheeseburger replaced with a still-tasty and lower-fat turkey burger. Pizza can be topped with vegetables, and fried foods baked instead. And, Romaine instead of iceberg lettuce, etc. You get the idea.

Some statistics say that 60 percent of Americans are overweight or obese. That figure seems pretty believable to me, just from my own observations of people in public places. In Europe or China, a fat person really stands out, but not here. With extra weight comes extra risk for heart disease, diabetes, knee injuries and other serious medical problems. We all know this by now, and it's time to do something about it, starting with school lunches. If schools are truly institutions of learning, shouldn't that education include the knowledge of healthy eating?