School Food Reform

Michelle Obama is pushing for a complete overhaul of our school breakfast and lunch programs and all of us can and should play a role in this change. Here’s how. Take a look at your child’s school breakfast or lunch menu. Do you think the food is healthy? Are there changes you would like to see? Do you feel comfortable with your child eating the food the school offers? So many parents across the country have told me how dissatisfied they are with school food. They want a change, but don’t know how to go about making change happen. Start here.

1.) Gather a group of like-minded parents at your school and contact your school administrators and and parent teacher organizations and kindly voice your opinions.
2.) Suggest ideas for menu improvements to administrators and food service personnel. Start with small changes and work your way up.
3.) Find a local dietitian to help who has experience in menu planning. Visit www.eatright.org and click on “Find A Registered Dietitian”

Change takes time, patience and in this case, money. We can either spend more money to feed our kids healthier foods now or pay higher medical costs later. The choice is ours.

Here is an opinion piece from Michelle Obama slated for Monday, August 2nd, 2010.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/01/AR2010080103291.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

About Melanie Silverman

Melanie is a pediatric registered dietitian nutritionist (RD) and a board certified lactation consultant (IBCLC) working primarily in pediatric nutrition for well over 15 years. She spent seven years as a clinical dietitian at The University of Chicago Medical Center in the neonatal intensive care unit, pediatric intensive care unit, adult and pediatric burn units, and high risk pediatric follow-up clinic. She also served as an adjunct faculty member at Loyola University Chicago. Melanie has presented at state and national meetings for the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN), March of Dimes, Prader-Willi California Foundation, Texas Prader-Willi Association, Oklahoma Prader Willi Syndrome Association, Foundation for Prader-Willi Research (FPWR) in the United States and Canada and the Prader-Willi Syndrome USA (PWSA). She worked hard for her Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry and Spanish from Indiana University and a Master’s degree in Clinical Nutrition from Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center. A member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, California Dietetic Association, Pediatric Nutrition Practice Group, Women’s Health Group, Nutrition Entrepreneurs and an active member of the International Lactation Consultant Association.