The Findings of My Interviews...

For my research project I've been interviewing people about what goes on in our school's breakfast and lunches, and so far I've talked to our Health teachers, our principal, our lunch ladies and Chef Dan. Through these interviews I've discovered the why's of the Nutrition in Branford High School.



The first interview I conducted was with Mr. Panagulias. I asked him what say he has in the food served here. He said that he has no control, but he cautiously said, "the caf staff works very hard, what is served and how it's served the state has control over. " He would like to see more fresh food and maybe a salad bar or a cart with interesting foods.



Then I talked with Mr. Tracey, the Health teacher for Freshman and Sophmores. I asked him what he taught in the two years he had these kids and he said that he teached about Nutrition; the principals of nutrition and food pyramid in about 6-8 weeks. When asked about what changes he'd like to see he said he hates that we serve pizza and french fries. He also said that the lines are way too long for a 25 minute period.



After this I went to the kitchen where the food is prepared and talked with Sandi. Sandi is in charge of putting together the lunch menu. The menu is put together based on the Healthy Eating Initiative Laws in CT. There are guidlines that have to be followed. She then directed me to Chef Dan for further questions.



Chef Dan and I talked for a long time about what goes on in the kitchen. There are five components that Dan puts into the meals; Protein, Milk, Grain, Veggies, Fruit. He also said that a way that he regulates the meals is by portion sizes; the meals have 850 calories and all of the meals have less than 30% of the calories are derived from fat. When asked about the fries and pizza he said that they keep it healthy by using wheat breads and instead of using the frialators they bake them instead; this way there is no saturated fats. The baking is done here but most of the food that comes in is frozen except for produce. A problem that he says is occuring is how many students are in each lunch wave and trying to serve them all with the space provided. At solution we could come up with is a third lunch wave, this would eliminate the long lines and kids could buy the lunch and still get to sit down and eat it.

These interviews have helped me to see how everything operates and what restrictions are placed because of the laws in CT, some are bad such as budget which stop us from serving better things because they are more expensive, and then the good things are the 5 components of nutrition. The next step in my progress would be looking up the Healthy Eating Initiative.

Children's Nutrition Act

Some of the research I've been doing has lead me to a few articles. One of the articles I found online stated new rules that school's have to enforce with the reinstated Children's Nutrition Act of 1966. These rules will ensure things such as a certain amount of calcium in meals, replacing white bread with whole wheat or a limit on how much salt can be used is also enforced.

The most interesting ariticle I read was about how fresh the food is at lunch. The article makes great points, for example that frozen foods have much more salt and fat to keep them preserved while in the freezer. This adds extra ingredients that wouldnt be there if it was fresh and isnt good for you either. Another good issue that the article brings up is the amount of carbs that aren't restricted by the child food act, it only restricts fat. So many school lunches serve pastas, breads, and potatoes. Although these foods are good in moderation, serving kids these a lot will add on the pounds. So the question that was raised was how to make a nutritional meal that goes along with the budget.

The Child Food Act works every 5 years, and then Congress looks at how the money was spent. They now see that fruits and vegetables need to be added and want to incorporate the local farmers with schools. When the government works with the schools and other local corporations they can make deals and also help the children.

I still need to find laws of schools from my library, because online gives too broad of search. This and my interviews are next on the list to complete.

How Colleges are doing their job with Obesity...

Recently while researching for my research paper I came across a new rule that an education the levels of obesity to decrease. I've read about Elementary School's, Middle School's, and High School's working to eliminate obesity, but I've never heard about a college, until now. Lincoln University, in Pennsylvania, is requiring all students who cross into the obesity range must take a 1 credit gym class.

This is a fascinating concept; grownups are required to do something about their weight in order to graduate. Professor, Dr. Vyonne Hilton disagrees with the BMI requirements, he says that there should be a different approach to what they are trying to accomplish. Some students also argued that their weight has no bearing on their education, their ability to do well so it shouldn't stop them from graduating. So the question is does the University have the right to put a hold on on diplomas because of weight?

Another question I want to address is if we are given the choice on what we eat, and we choose the wrong one, or the less nutritious, than who is at fault, and who has the right to punish us for this? Should parents be at fault for not educating parents, or should it lay in the hands of children? These are things that I will be answering as I discover more cases of nutrition in America.

The picture in the upper right corner is a sad example of obesity in the US. Although it was found on lol101.com, I don't find it particularily funny. This is an interesting point; if we dont take obesity seriously, how will it ever get better?

Thanks to Mr. Miller for emailing me the article!