Farm to Kids' Forks = Learning

I just read a post Huffington that four more states are allowing ammonia drenched ground beef to be used in their school lunch program (i.e. "Pink Slime"). This provides a 3% cost saving measure but in the long term we will pay for this Russian Roulette we're playing with our children's diet. Back in 1970's we were barraged with public service announcements declaring to us that "you are what you eat." The cartoons of vegetables and fruits dancing interrupted our Saturday morning cartoons with clever jingles to motivate and educate us kids about nutrition. But basic common sense nutrition is no longer omnipresent in the psyche of today's kids. Unfortunately, politics has turned any conversation about nutrition into a politically polarizing one. With the rise of spectrum disorders like autism, ADHD/ADD, and PANDA's to not find the connective tissue between autoimmune disorders and diet is irresponsible. We are a commodity centric economy so it easier for our government to turn their head rather then investigate big agriculture. But the beautiful thing about this country is that we, the consumers have all the power. We can choose to educate ourselves and our children about what is truly in our food and not buy certain foods/ products. We can also deliver healthy lunches to our school aged children. In fact it is our responsibility.

The silver lining is that there are school systems taking the bull by the horns on this one and we should all follow their lead. Let's take a look at Baltimore City Schools for example. This is a tough system to say the least. Many of the students struggle with issues of safety and wellness in their daily lives outside of school. But check it out:
http://www.baltimorecityschools.org/greatkidsfarm
If reading about Great Kids Farm doesn't give you some notion of hope then I don't know what will. Read about what they did for the school lunch program here:
http://www.edutopia.org/green-schools-food-service-environment
After reading about how the green houses surrounded by urban blight in Baltimore were transformed to become the Great Kids Farm, Anthony Geraci is my new hero. What he did is creating a paradigm shift where it is needed most.

School systems across America should use the lunch program as just another opportunity for students to learn rather than just a bottom line on the school budget. If only we could look at programs like this as a long term investment on the future of our culture. Do we want to be constantly asking ourselves why kids are getting so sick with everything under the sun? Wouldn't it be better to instead repair the broken immune systems with clean eating and common sense nutrition? The answer is simple. In Geraci's words, "It all has to do with getting off your butt."

America are we ready to get off our collective butt and restore health and common sense nutrition to our school aged children? Or are we fine with the Pink Slime?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/10/pink-slime_n_3900851.html