"Super-Sized" Schools

In this insightful and passionate Ted Talk video, speaker and Chef Ann Cooper stresses the importance of healthy cafeteria lunches and the growing dietary problems within our nation’s schools. America is a nation which is underfed and undernourished. We have become acclimated to the processed and imitation foods which have actually become staples of the American diet. As a student who attends Westlake High School I can completely agree with Ms. Cooper’s sentiment to improve school lunches. Most mornings I leave home without breakfast, and after trudging through the thunderous halls of Westlake for about 4 hours, I am ready and deserve a meal which will give me energy. But unfortunately after consuming the usual salty and processed foods served in one of the various lines with fancy but false signs looming over the giant doors, I leave the cafeteria lethargically and somewhat content. The facts Ms. Cooper gave were also very startling; 1 out of 3 Caucasian kids will get diabetes, and 1 out of 2 minority children will too. Having these foods not only fills children with salt and sugar, but with bad habits and values as well. Serving processed foods in school cafeterias makes children more accustom to “engineered foods” and teaches them that these foods are normal. Promoting better foods in school will foster better eating habits at home, and vice versa. Every day I attend school, I am inundated with food choices, but unfortunately none of them are healthy ones. I believe we need more food activist like Ms. Cooper, because even small menu adjustments like implementing a salad bar can drastically change how students perceive food and their health.