Slowed Food Revolution- Laura in Marietta

This article was pretty interesting when combined with the Brazil article. The city in Brazil solved hunger by supporting local farmers, while the US feeds its children through programs such as the Summer Food Service Program. This program gives money to individual sites that then purchase the food themselves. Ely Chapman, where I am doing my service, is one such site. We purchase our food from large distributors such as Sam's Club. Needless to say, this is supporting large industrial farming. The limited amount supplied by the federal government through feeding programs combined with limited state funding for education leaves schools in a difficult spot. I spoke with the executive director about the nutritious value of the food we serve, some of which includes pizza and chicken nuggets which have been frozen. She explained to me that these were kid friendly foods and with her limited budget she prefers to get USDA approved "healthy" food that kids will eat rather than waste more nutritious, more expensive food that is more fresh. It seems to be an accepted cultural norm that Americans should feed their children pre-frozen food that does not even resemble fresh food. Large scale industrial farms help promote this attitude. The 'renegade lunch lady', Ann Cooper, discusses how children think chicken should come in shapes such as stars and hearts. Americans teach their children that this processed version of food is the norm. It's not really surprising that we have a problem with obesity when we don't teach our children how to prepare fresh, healthy food. It is said that you can judge a culture's values by observing what they are willing to spend their money on. Honestly, as a college student, I grab the cheapest food possible when I go grocery shopping. Yet I'm willing to drop a couple hundred dollars every semester for my sorority dues. I feel that the American people need a food culture make-over before agricultural change can occur. Growing food organically is less efficient and therefore more expensive than growing food industrially. Until Americans are willing to pay extra and stop forfeiting nutritional value, agricultural change cannot truly occur.

Youth Involvement: Ely Chapman runs a summer camp. I've done a few different activities with them. One is the milk challenge, in which we measure the amount of milk the kids throw away every meal. It's a competition to see if they can limit their milk waste. The kids love a competition! Another activity is doing fun snacks with healthy foods, such as fruits and vegetables. One thing we did was give the kids an assortment of vegetables and have them make food art (aka pictures). This was great with a younger group.