I’m speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival: Health. I’ll be interviewed by Helena Bottemiller Evich of FoodFix from 9:00 to 9:50 a.m.. Topic: “Making sense of nutrition science.”
A lot of good stuff is going on about school food these days. Here are five items.
I. Universal school meals:
Massachusetts has become the 8th state to authorize universal school meals for kids in public schools.
Five of the eight states that have passed universal school meal programs did so this year. Minnesota and New Mexico enacted their policies in March, with Vermont following in June, Michigan in July and now Massachusetts. [Others are underway; here’s a current list]
II. The USDA’s Healthy School Meals Incentives
III. Water-in-schools initiatives
A new study just out: “Effectiveness of a School Drinking Water Promotion and Access Program for Overweight Prevention” finds drinking water associated with healthier weights.
IV. Plant-based school meals
Another study, Plant-Based Trends in California’s School Lunches, produced these findings:
But then things get complicated:
California has a School Food Best Practices Fund for purchasing high-quality plant-based offerings, along with locally grown, minimally processed and sustainably grown food.
V. School Nutrition policies and practices
A new study, “School Nutrition Environment and Services: Policies and Practices That Promote Healthy Eating Among K-12 Students,” says these interventions work:
Providing school nutrition professionals with professional development
Comment: Yes on universal school meals. Everyone should be working on states to pass this legislation. As for what works in schools, these interventions are well within the possible. Get to work!