School lunch reform step in the right direction
Experts accurately assert that childhood obesity puts millions of American kids on a path toward disease and premature death. The latest alarm comes from military leaders who maintain that many young Americans are too obese to serve in the armed forces [“Are schools a national security threat?,” News, April 20].
While more-nutritious school lunches are a step in the right direction, Congress also should regulate the retail industry, which promotes unhealthy eating habits by retail redlining African American and Hispanic neighborhoods. National supermarket chains often avoid locating large stores in black communities, thereby reducing food options and penalizing people for their pigment.
In addition, Congress should address slotting fees that encourage convenience stores to stock shelves with the worst possible foods, such as candy and chips, in return for higher profits for their parent companies.
Like drug dealers, convenience stores push poison into the mouths of too many American kids. Congress must act now.
— Gary L. Flowers, executive director and CEO of Black Leadership Forum Inc., Washington D.C.