\n President Obama established a “Presidential
\n task force on childhood obesity”<\/a> in
\nFebruary, Grist’s Tom Laskawy wondered<\/a> whether our nation’s first federal food policy council had quietly
\nsprung into being. In a food policy council, the key stakeholders of a
\nregion’s food system come together to assess the current food situation
\nand envision ways it might be improved. Food policy councils are a
\ngrowing phenomenon at the state and municipal level, but such a thing
\nhad never existed before at the national level. Does it now?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Well, <\/p>\n The task Feeding our children better may look at first If this sounds like a political fight, well, Which is why such heavy hitters from the <\/p>\n The lead pitcher to <\/p>\n After <\/p>\n Joining the ranks (a) Four break-out groups convened separately for the Our group dove right into lively discussion with 1) We I left with Michelle Obama’s concluding words running This When I returned from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, I Related Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n Egger’s Head: School lunches<\/a><\/p>\n Americans eat more processed food than, well, anyone<\/a><\/p>\n Why even the childless should care about school lunch<\/a><\/p>\n
\n last week I had the honor of attending the new task force’s White
\n House Childhood Obesity Summit<\/a>, and it certainly had the flavors
\nof a food policy council: an array of food-policy players across
\nagencies gathered to discuss a key symptom of a food system gone off the
\n rails: childhood obesity.<\/p>\n
\nforce was charged with developing and submitting to the President in 90
\ndays an interagency plan
\nthat “details a coordinated strategy, identifies key benchmarks, and
\noutlines an action plan.” As part of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! <\/a>campaign, the
\ntask force is engaging both public and private sectors with the primary
\ngoal of helping children become more active and eat healthier within a
\ngeneration, so that children born today will reach adulthood at a
\nhealthy weight. <\/p>\n
\nglance like a softball issue for the first lady; but the Ms. Obama is
\nactually in the opening stages of what looks like a long and complicated
\n fight. but as Time<\/a> put it:<\/p>\n
\n it is. Michelle Obama may be tilling nonpartisan ground with her
\nvegetable garden and child-obesity program, but food has long been
\npolitical. From soda taxes to corn subsidies, food is about health care
\ncosts, environmentalism, education, agriculture and class.<\/p>\n
\nlatter departments are involved in the President’s Task Force on
\nChildhood Obesity and all spoke on Friday at the White House’s Childhood
\n Obesity Summit, including Health Reform Director Nancy-Ann DeParle, Interior Secretary Ken
\nSalazar, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Office of Management and
\nBudget Director Peter Orszag,
\n Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture
\nKathleen Merrigan, and
\nDomestic Policy Adviser Melody Barnes. <\/p>\n
\n Let’s Move!, Michelle Obama, provided the welcoming
\n remarks<\/a> for this historic event. She declared: “This gathering has
\n never happened before at the White House. It’s one where we’re bringing
\n together teachers and child advocates, doctors and nurses, business
\nleaders, public servants, researchers and health experts to talk about
\none of the most serious and difficult problems facing our kids today,
\nand that is the epidemic of childhood obesity in this country.”<\/p>\n
\n Mrs. Obama made brief welcoming remarks, Barnes, the domestic-policy
\nadvisor, took over. Barnes chairs the obesity task force, and said it
\nwas time for “all hands on deck” as the task force focuses on its report
\n for the President.<\/p>\n
\nof the 75 students who are Michelle Obama’s most critical stakeholders in her Let’s Move! campaign, I was fortunate
\n enough to be on deck and participate as a representative for the National Farm to School Network <\/a>at
\n this meeting and make the point that connecting schools to their
\nsurrounding farmers is critical; it advances all four
\n of the objectives<\/a> laid out by the Administration:<\/p>\n
\n Ensuring access to healthy, affordable food;
(b) Increasing physical
\n activity in schools and communities;
(c) Providing healthier food in
\n schools; and
(d) Empowering parents with information and tools to
\nmake good choices for themselves and their families.<\/p>\n
\n topics a-d above ,and we were tasked with identifying 3 to 5 of the
\nbest ideas to present to the writers of the roadmap to a healthier generation.
\n I was assigned to Kevin Concannon’s breakout: using schools for improving nutrition for American children.
\nWe were asked to consider the nutritional quality of school meals,
\nnecessary changes to the school environment, and infrastructure that
\nwould lead to key benchmarks and actions. <\/p>\n
\ntwo enthusiastic food service directors, Tony Geraci of Baltimore City Schools,
\nand Tim Cipriano of New
\nHaven Public Schools, showcasing what does work: farm to school. In
\nsum, the recommendations coming out of our group included:<\/p>\n
\n Need for strong national standards for ALL food in schools: meals,
\nsnacks, competitive, etc.
2) Enhance and ramp up professional
\ntraining for all those involved in putting food on the tray: food
\nservice, custodians, and all adults in the school
3) Rethink business of meal production and its
\ndelivery: kids involved in preparing food, local procurement, schools
\ngardens, etc. Find funding for this. We need to rethink the business of
\nmeal production and its delivery with programs such as Farm to School.
\nSome of the most fortunate schools have gardens and Farm to School
\nprograms. We need to break down the myths of USDA regulations: it is ok to source locally and it is ok to have a garden. The CNR
\nincludes funding for Farm to School nationally.”
4) Nutrition
\neducation needs to happen across all classrooms (again citing farm to
\nschool)—classroom for nutrition education, but also using cafeteria as
\neducational opportunity for a teachable moment
5) Integrate
\nincentives to make positive change happen<\/p>\n
\nthen re-convened with the full gathering and shared our small-group
\nresults. My full notes are available here<\/a> (PDF). <\/p>\n
\nthrough my head: “What we have done is start a national conversation.
\nBut we need your help to propel that conversation into a national
\nresponse.” <\/p>\n
\nadministration has continually opened doors for civil society
\nparticipation in the discourse of creating a healthier generation. There
\n was an opportunity for public comment, a kid-only Town Hall at the
\nWhite House, and this child obesity meeting at the White House. Do you
\nhave something to tell the President’s Task Force on Childhood Obesity?
\nBuild more playgrounds? Reform school lunch? if so, send your comments
\nto LetsMove[at]who[dot]eop[dot]gov.<\/p>\n
\nreceived this message from my sister, a mother of three, who juggles a
\nfull time job and a family calendar of activities that makes your eyes
\nglaze over: “In honor of you today fighting childhood obesity, I’ll make
\n sure Grant eats an apple and plays outside before we let him on the Wii.” If all parents would make
\nthat commitment, Michelle Obama would be one step closer to succeeding
\nin the goal of her Let’s Move! initiative. <\/p>\n