The alarm rings. Another school day. Get up. Feed the dogs. Make the breakfast. Set out the lunchboxes. A few minutes later, my three daughters bound down the stairs in their fuzzy pajamas. Still shaking the sleep from their eyes, I hear, “Mom, can I have hot lunch at school today?”

Hot lunch. I say those two words through gritted teeth. They signify a whole plateful of unsaturated fats and triglycerides with a side of high fructose corn syrup. I silently wonder if my daughters will see a vegetable today.

The nutritional content of school lunches is a topic that has been on many parents’ minds across the country. Last week, Michael Pollan, Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley and author of such titles as In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto and Omnivore’s Dilemma, was interviewed by PBS’s Bill Moyer. Pollan spoke about the school lunch issue in relation to last month’s election of Barack Obama.

“I think we need a food policy czar in the White House,” he said during the November 28th broadcast. He went on to say that agriculture in this country directly affects public health, energy, climate change and education. He made the point that, if the Surgeon General talks about the dangers of type 2 diabetes, it is not acceptable to then subsidize farmers who produce high fructose corn syrup, a main contributor to obesity in this country.

And certainly, when it comes to school lunches, public health is a major concern. A staggering number of children are clinically obese and suffer from juvenile diabetes as a result. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times dated May 28th, the rate of obesity is three times higher than it was 30 years ago. However, the obesity rate in children has leveled off since 1999. The reason for the plateau is unknown. It is thought that perhaps the “educational and regulatory campaigns to get children to eat less junk food and exercise more have begun to pay off.”

Many people, like Pollan, would like to think so. “Lunch should be educational. Right now, the school lunch program is a dispose-all for the agricultural business,” said Pollan. If there is an excess of meat that month, that’s what is being served in the schools. He also said that providing kids with healthier alternatives in their cafeterias will “teach this generation habits that will last a lifetime.”

In Fairfield County, there are a number of parents who have taken that sentiment to heart. They have spearheaded the school lunch movement in their area. They want to see a permanent change in what our kids eat when they are not at home.

In late October, the Westport Public Library had a screening of the documentary, Two Angry Moms. The film documents a school year in Westchester County, New York, in which the school lunch system is taken to task on the foods they serve to the students. It also presents strategies for overcoming the hurdles parents can come across in their own school cafeterias.

The film’s producer, Weston resident Amy Kalafa, has started her own school lunch network. Fair Food in Fairfield County Schools, a web site for advocates of sustainable school food, was recently formed for parents who want to change the quality of the school lunches.

On their web site, Kalafa says, “I was frustrated that our family’s healthy eating habits were being undermined by a school system that prides itself as being among the best in the nation. I was tired of being marginalized by the dominant fast food culture…And I was ANGRY that my kids were tossing or trading their homemade lunches (food that they really do like) in favor of pop tarts, rice crispy treats and other non-nutritive, sugar and chemical laden crap offered without any supervision or guidance in the school cafeteria.”  

Roger Sherman Elementary School in Fairfield started an organic garden last spring. The children participate in taking care of the garden during the school year as well as taking shifts to water and weed it over the summer. Often, McCay said she will make a meal from any excess food and take it to Operation Hope.

When the garden was first introduced, the feeling was that children would be more likely to eat vegetables they have grown themselves. “This is a grassroots movement that’s really taken hold,” said Annelise McCay, founder of the organic garden and a Sherman parent. “We’d like to see [the garden] used in the classroom and ideally in the cafeteria.”

The Sherman project has been a forerunner of organic gardening in Fairfield. But other schools are interested too. McCay has been contacted by other Fairfield schools as well as schools from neighboring towns about how to start their own school gardens. Recently, McCay met with Amie Guyette Hall, Holistic Health Counselor and Cooking Coach working with the Fairfield district middle schools. “There is a great interest in whole foods and bringing it into the classroom,” said Hall.

McCay and Hall discussed the possibility of creating a network of organic gardens across the school district. They also expressed the hope of hosting a farmer’s market selling the produce grown at each school. Both women would like to see the organic produce in the school system. But bureaucratic red tape makes it more difficult to see that dream become a reality.
 
It is certainly easier to live a healthier lifestyle when local, organic produce is readily available. Pollan noted in the PBS interview that the distance consumers have from fresh produce has a direct impact on health. This particularly applies to those who live in inner cities. He said, “There is a demand for fresh food that is not being met.”

• Increase funding for school meals and provide incentives for schools to offer healthier foods.
• Increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Improve nutrition standards for school meals so they align with the most recent dietary guidelines.
• Establish standards for food sold in schools outside of the school meals programs such as that sold at snack bars and cafeteria a la carte lines.
  
  

My mother was an activist back in her day. She burned her bra, was a delegate for Jesse Jackson, and fought to have hostages freed from Lebanon in the 80s. Now in her 60s, she loves her job as a school social worker and spending time with her grandchildren. The last thing she wanted was to hear was me spouting off about the urgency facing the planet.

When she seemed unwilling to join up in arms with me to make change, I was sad.

After all, hadn't I become exactly what she'd raised me to be? Sure she was proud, but she was too comfortable to fight the system, and too tired to implement new programs into her school to teach kids about living green like I asked--begged--her.

Eventually, I got over my disappointment and figured she'd earned the right of complacency. Then today, I got a phone call.

"Can you meet with the Principal to talk about how we can work this into the curriculum?"

So off we go!

Thanks for inspiring me--yet one more time-- Momma!

A few things to check out:

Spotlight on Green Schools Advocates: As the name suggests, this will be our opportunity to highlight your successes. Please keep us posted on your advocacy efforts: speaking engagements, green school victories and other noteworthy milestones.

Resource Library: This is only a preliminary list. We intend to expand this section considerably. If you know of a Web site that belongs on this page, please email me with the site address and a 2-3 sentence description.

Contact: Those interested in joining your Green Schools Advocacy Teams will be able to link directly to you. Please go to this page and click the Green Schools Advocate link that corresponds to your region. Get ready to start plugging interested individuals into your Green Schools Advocacy Teams!

The  goal was to reduce the more than 100 billion plastic  bags used annually in the United States. Beginning March 15, 2007,  they began charging customers 5 cents for every plastic bag; they  also reduced the price of their durable, reusable IKEA blue bag from  99 cents to 59 cents. 

And, to make it a win-win for everyone, all proceeds from the plastic bag sales are donated to American Forests, the  nation’s oldest non-profit citizens’ conservation organization.   IKEA North America has partnered with American Forests through the  Global ReLeaf Tree Planting program and over ten years, has planted 
more than 500,000 Global ReLeaf trees in environmental restoration  projects.

So how much  money has been raised by selling the plastic bags, by what percentage were they able to reduce the number of plastic bags used, and what are their plans for the next phase of the “Bag the Plastic Bag” program?  (The  goal was a 50% reduction in bag usage, but it’s projected that that they surpassed expectations.) Stay tuned or read on for reasons why banning plastic bags is vital.

Each of them said that they felt awkward coming forward, and each took a different approach dealing with the issue. One made up fliers and put them on cars in the parking lot, and one spoke directly to the school office. All raised awareness and primed their schools for what is sure to be a ban similar in scope to banning smoking cigarettes in public.

Our hats are off to all of you!

RAISED BILL No. 123  AN ACT PROHIBITING THE IDLING OF MOTOR VEHICLES.

EARTH TALK
From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: I just read an article that said air fresheners contain chemicals that can cause health problems when inhaled. Are scented candles any better?

        -- Leanne Chacksfield, Cincinnati, OH

Like most air fresheners, many scented candles contain and release phthalates, potentially harmful chemicals that have been linked to the disruption of hormonal systems and other health problems in people exposed to them. Burning candles can also emit small amounts of acetaldehyde, formaldehyde and naphthalene, organic chemicals that are also potentially harmful and that can leave nasty black soot deposits on floors and other surfaces.

According to Pamela Lundquist of the nonprofit Children’s Health Environmental Coalition (CHEC), this black soot deposit “is primarily made up of elemental carbon, but may also contain phthalates and volatile organic compounds like benzene and toluene, which can cause cancer and neurological damage.”

Children can easily ingest these chemicals if their hands have been wandering and end up in their mouths. The chemicals can lodge deep in the lungs, disrupting the lower respiratory tract, exacerbating existing problems like asthma, and potentially causing other longer term breathing problems.

The feel of the interior is similar to a VW beetle, with large windows, a sun roof and lots of light. The gas and break pedals are the same as any other car, but the noise--or lack of--is what I found most amazing.

The GEM I drove tops out at 25 mph, but is a perfect alternative to my other cars when doing errands or traveling short distances. They also come in a four seater model, which was spacious enough for me to put groceries and other goodies in the back.

The one I drove was owned by EV proponent, John Papa. "It's great as a second vehicle to use instead of a SUV. Why not have different cars for different functions? The guys at the gas station love it when I drive by," Papa says.

Let's hope the guys who own the automobile industry feel the same way and it doesn't turn into another Who Killed the Electric Car!

A few weeks ago I took my laptop to a major electronics chain for repair. The woman at the service desk suggested that I purchase a new AC adapter, see if it solved the problem and return it for a full refund if it didn't. Sounded easy enough.

It turned out not to be the AC adapter and I went back to the store to get my refund. With the adapter on the counter, my newly-found green conscious prompted me to ask the cashier what would happen to the perfectly good piece of electronics sitting before us.

"Just tell me it won't just end up in the trash, that it will be repackaged (it came in one of those plastic containers that you have to cut to get open) and re-sold--it's perfectly good," I studdered.

"It'll go back to the vender, and they'll throw it away," she spat.

So now what? Write a letter to the chain? Boycott the store? Suck it up and accept it? Anyone....?