Safer School Lunch

I think this is an appropriate topic considering all the school lunch talk this week. I guess I am naive, but I think it's crazy that schools were serving beef from companies with poor safety records in the first place. That should never have been acceptable!

FROM NBC:School lunches should soon be safer -- thanks to new standards from the United States Department of Agriculture. U.S.D.A. officials announced ground beef purchased for federal food and nutrition programs -- including school lunches -- will need to meet new safety standards. Testing protocols will be tightened, samples will be tested more often, and the limits that determine whether meat is acceptable or not will improve.

Companies with long term poor safety records will be ineligible vendors until more research is done. These new standards will be applied to contracts awarded after July 1st, 2010. These new standards are part of a larger overhaul announced in February that are designed to improve the safety of school lunches.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Have you considered breast enhancement? Soderstrom Skin Institute wants to help you make the right decision! Our knowledgable plastic surgery team will help you choose from a variety of implants and surgical techniques based on YOUR specific needs. Plus, take advantage of our limited time special pricing. Call (309) 690-6042 to schedule your FREE consultation today!

School Lunch Improvements

Look for healthier school lunches in the near future! I am truly excited about this initiative. I know if my son starts eating unhealthy food at school he is going to beg for it at home too. And if I try to make him take cold lunch everyday he will freak out. So I am thrilled to hear school lunches will be healthier soon! I called the food services person at my son's school yesterday to find out more about hot lunch. My son will have the option to take it for the first time next year.

For instance, when the menu says "Grilled Cheese" does that mean white bread with butter and American cheese? Or whole wheat bread with cheddar and butter spray? At my son's school it will mean wheat bread (not 100%) , American cheese and butter spray. The food services supervisor says this year all she could get was white bread so she is excited to offer wheat bread next year. She is also switching to skim milk or 1% instead of 2% milk. She said the school offers fresh fruit and vegetables most of the time. Sometimes the veggies are canned. She said the school has never fried anything and the breaded items do contain whole grains. She said the biggest problem is sodium in processed food. The White House's new initiative should force food manufacturers to limit the sodium in processed foods.

FROM NBC: A White House task force is tackling childhood obesity - and says it's a problem that can be solved. Nearly one in three American children are now considered overweight or obese. The task force has a seventy-point plan to get the government, businesses - and American families - working together to help children get fit and stay that way. The first lady presented the plan, but says this isn't something Washington can do alone.

Can America's Childhood obesity epidemic be wiped out in a single generation? A White House task force led by First Lady Michelle Obama says 'yes' and has come up with a battle plan. Michelle Obama: "No one gets off the hook on this one -- from governments to schools, corporations to nonprofits, all the way down to families sitting around their dinner table."

The report ordered by President Obama outlines dozens of steps: At home: better food more exercise less time in front the tube. In neighborhoods: eradicating so-called food deserts -where supermarkets and healthy food are hard to find. and at school: healthier menus-which won't be cheap. Diane Pratt-Heavner : School Nutrition Association: "Fruits, vegetables, whole grains are more expensive - and schools need those additional funds to make those improvements."

The president is asking congress for a billion dollars to expand school breakfast and lunch programs. A cause that drew celebrity chef Rachel Ray to Washington. Rachael Ray:Celebrity Chef "You know if the summer comes and goes, and we don't get this done, it's a whole other year our kids have to wait." From Washington, a call to action for this nation's future. While fixing the problem will take some serious investments, the White House estimates obesity related health care costs this country 150 billion dollars a year.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Have you considered breast enhancement? Soderstrom Skin Institute wants to help you make the right decision! Our knowledgable plastic surgery team will help you choose from a variety of implants and surgical techniques based on YOUR specific needs. Plus, take advantage of our limited time special pricing. Call (309) 690-6042 to schedule your FREE consultation today!

Vegetarian School Lunch

I just had to post this one. I grew up vegetarian. I now eat chicken and fish, but I don't think I have ever had red meat. So, this story was particularly interesting to me. I brought cold lunch every day to school. Had I gone to this school, life would have been much easier! Hah!

From CNN: For many, the words "school lunch" summon images of greasy pizzas or "Mystery Meat Monday." Well, one school district is trying to change that. And they're having surprising success serving up vegetarian options.

Tofu dogs, black bean burger, soy chicken patties.. not a typical diet for more teens, but at a Berkmar Middle School in Lilburn Georgia the kids don't seem to care.

"I like the veggie chicken nuggets and the corn dogs here. I eat the grilled cheese sandwiches, and apples. Sometimes I eat the veggie burger," said one student.

Berkmar is just one of Gwinnett County's 110 schools that offer vegetarian options in the lunchline, and the kids are voting vegetarian at a surprise rate. "It's estimated 3% of teens are eating vegetarian, which is around 5,000 students for us," said the school administrator.

Some of the kids eat vegetarian for religious reasons, but many 10-12 year olds say they choose it for health reasons. "We went to the doctor and I was 10 pounds overweight. The doctor said that when I grow up I could die faster, my mom didn't like that so she started making more healthy food, and it made me lose those 10 pounds. I wanna stay healthier and have a healthy life," said one girl.

All in all, Gwinnett County schools have served close to 500 thousand vegetarian meals in the last year alone, and Karen Crawford hopes the habits they learn now will stay with them for a lifetime. "We know that nutrition profoundly affects how kids.. their ability to learn and grow and maintain a healthy lifestyle, and its important to teach them these lessons when they're young like this," said a nutritionist.

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Methodist Medical Center's new online healthcare program, MyMethodist eHealth, is a proud sponsor of this blog post. MyMethodist eHealth is the secure link to your doctor's office that lets you request appointments, order prescription refills, update your personal health record, and more. Sign up for MyMethodist eHealth here.