If we can’t even do this, how will we ever be able to do anything about climate change?
by digby
I will never get over the fact that people in this country are crusading against the First Lady’s program to help kids eat healthy foods. One would have thought it would be the most benign cause ever — moms have been exhorting children to eat their vegetables since time immemorial. It’s shocking that people find this controversial in the least, but they certainly have. You have conservative leaders like Sarah Palin, alleged mom of the century, out that waggling her Big Cup and smugly proclaiming “it’s just pop!”, while legions of Republicans act as though trying to get kids to heat healthy and go outside and work off some energy is akin to putting them in Guantanamo.
Naturally, much of this is driven by rank hatred for Michelle Obama as this cartoon attests:
But still, the idea that the First Lady is some kind of jackbooted thug for wanting kids to be healthy — when it’s patently obvious that many American kids are in serious danger of having life long health problems due to their terrible diets — is just depressing. What a world.
On the other hand, these haters are all being manipulated too. They may be cruel and nasty people but they don’t deserve to die from all these diet related diseases either — and their children certainly don’t. They’re just aiming at the wrong people. As usual:
Michelle Obama’s food policy czar, celebrity chef Sam Kass, was once so in with the lunch lady crowd that he landed a guest judge spot on a tearful school lunch episode of Food Network’s “Chopped” and handed out awards at the School Nutrition Association’s convention in Denver.
The rebuke shows how ugly the fight has become between the first lady and her supporters, who want kids to eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains in their school lunches, and the organization that represents cafeteria workers and their allies who argue that the federal government is going too far in its push for healthier meals.
At stake is the health of millions of kids, an $11 billion school lunch program dominated by big food companies that want to build brand loyalty early and even the legacy of the first lady — who has made combating the childhood obesity epidemic her primary cause.
90% of the schools have complied happily and are doing fine. 10% are fighting it and the big food lobby is pressuring the School Nutrition Association (SNA)and members of congress to roll back the guidelines. Of course they are.
If this wealthy country cannot even do this one little thing — make school lunches marginally healthier with a measly requirement that they include a serving of fruit or vegetables and put a little whole grain in the pizza crust — then we are a lost cause. This should not be the least bit controversial.
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