Take healthy road
Dear Editor:
I was delighted to read the new U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines requiring schools to serve meals with twice as many fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, less sodium and fat, and no meat for breakfast. The guidelines were mandated by the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act signed by President Obama in December 2010 and will go into effect with the next school year.
The new guidelines offer a welcome change from USDA’s tradition of using the National School Lunch Program as a dumping ground for meat and dairy surpluses. Not surprisingly, 90 percent of American children are consuming excess fat, only 15 percent eat recommended servings of fruits and vegetables, and one-third have become overweight or obese. These early dietary flaws become lifelong addictions, raising their risk of diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
In recent years, Hawaii, California, New York and Florida legislatures asked their schools to offer daily vegetarian options, and most school districts now do. The Baltimore public school system offers its 80,000 students a complete weekly break from meat.
Parents should continue to insist on healthful plant-based school meals, snacks and vending-machine items. They can consult http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd, http://www.healthyschoollunches.org and http://www.vrg.org/family.
Andrew Torelli
Aspen
Support Local Journalism
Support Local Journalism
Readers around Aspen and Snowmass Village make the Aspen Times’ work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.
Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.
Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.
Start a dialogue, stay on topic and be civil.
If you don't follow the rules, your comment may be deleted.
User Legend: Moderator
Trusted User
Proponent of midvalley indoor sportsplex eager for decision on site
An entrepreneur who has offered to spend millions of dollars on a 90,000-square-foot indoor “sportsplex” hopes to learn next week if Crown Mountain Park in El Jebel will lease him land.