Put kids’ nutrition first
Dear Editor:
I was so happy to see Tim Carroll’s article highlighting Peta Moran’s website EatHoboken.blogspot.com. This “newfound” focus on the quality of the food school children are being served, recently highlighted by Chef Jamie Oliver and First Lady Michele Obama, is sad on two fronts.
One, that it has taken so long for people to realize that the age old saying “you are what you eat” is true. If our children are being fed beef that has been injected with steroids and other growth hormones, then that is exactly what will be ingested by the children’s still developing bodies. Processed chemicals high in salt and trans fat that are not meant for consumption by human or animal.
Second, and even more surprisingly, is that no one else is paying attention! The school superintendent Peter Carter thought that the only problem was that there was one nagging mother, instead of the possibility that the food served is not as nutritious as it should be. The health of our children should not be based on who and how many complain the loudest, it should be based on facts. I seriously doubt Mr. Carter would have an easy time finding a lot of doctors saying that feeding anyone, let alone children, a diet based on sugar and fried foods is good for them.
Though I do not yet have children of my own, common sense should still prevail. If I remember correctly, I believe at least half of the current school board ran on the slogan that was something about “Kids First”. Not having a child wellness policy, not being in a hurry to get one, and not knowing that the law requires one, seems to say that the school board is more interested in putting taxpayers first, not kids, and that is sad.
Ben Faden