Ellie Krieger on Healthy School Meals
February 11, 2011
A couple weeks back, I ran into Feeding America Entertainment Council member Ellie Krieger at a press conference for the got milk? Pour One More campaign, which benefits Feeding America by virtually passing a glass of milk on Facebook. I was fortunate enough to literally bump into Ellie, for it started a conversation about her participation in this blog post. And how timely, as this week marks the one year anniversary of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign, which aims to solve the problem of childhood obesity.
Ellie Krieger is a registered dietician, host of the Food Network’s Healthy Appetite, a New York Times best-selling author, and a great advocate for Feeding America nutrition and health initiatives. Ellie’s background in food and nutrition education makes her an invaluable resource for discussion of Feeding America programs, such as school meals as it relates to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. Ellie and I had a chance to catch up on the latest in nutrition news. See our discussion below.
Shannon: Feeding America and our member food banks, along with the School Nutrition Association and many other anti-hunger partners and government organizations, worked to secure the passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which was signed into law on December 13. This bill impacts the health and well-being of nearly every child across the country. Child nutrition programs provide meals and snacks to children in school and day care settings, as well as during afterschool and summer enrichment programs. The bill is especially important for our most vulnerable children, protecting them from hunger and improving their nutrition. From your experience, why is it important to both improve access to and the quality of school meals?
Ellie: As a mom, chef, nutritionist, and through my involvement with my daughter’s school, I’ve noticed that the cafeteria is often approached as a mess hall. But really, the cafeteria is a learning environment; it is a classroom where our children learn about food and how to eat with others. When we serve quality food to our children for lunch we are not only setting them up with the fuel to be better learners that day, we are helping them learn healthy habits that will last a lifetime.
Shannon: USDA has already begun implementing key elements of the new bill, such as expanding access to afterschool suppers nationwide and improving nutrition standards for the quality of school meals, as provided in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. As a registered dietician and partner of the School Nutrition Association, what suggestions do you have for making school lunches healthier and more nutritious for today’s youth?
Ellie: I think we are really on the right track with the recommendations being made. In fact, I agree with all the recommendations from the USDA. Important suggestions for healthy and nutritious meals include minimizing trans-fat, reducing sodium, increasing fruits and veggies, and looking more towards colorful produce like yellow, green and red fruits and vegetables. I love that this bill looks at competing foods sold at lunch and in vending machines, so good choices aren’t up against heavily marketed, unhealthy foods. If I offer my daughter a banana or a cupcake, of course she’ll want the cupcake, but if I offer my daughter a banana or an orange, she’s happy to choose either fruit. With the changes in school meals, we’re also moving towards scratch cooking rather than pre-processed food options. It’s so important to bring back actually cooking to our school meals.
Shannon: The crisis of poor diet and obesity threatens the future of our children – and our nation. As you know, one in every three children is overweight or obese. At the same time, one in four children lives in a family that struggles to provide enough to eat. In some cases, hunger and obesity exist in the same home as families stretch their limited food budgets on low-cost, high calorie foods to make ends meet. As someone who spends her life around food, talk to us about why hunger and nutrition can’t be treated as separate issues?
Ellie: Hunger and nutrition can’t be treated as separate issues because they are truly interlinked problems. I went to the store to buy a snack for my daughter. I bought her an organic apple, and I spent a $1 on it, and it was just so clear in my head, if all I had was a dollar to spend on a snack for my child, would I spend it on a food item that I know won’t fill my daughter’s belly for a long period of time? The paradox of hunger and nutrition is a multi-layered problem and leaves families with hard decisions. I love how the Obama administration has made this a priority. It is Michelle Obama’s goal through the Let’s Move! campaign to solve the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation. I think organizations like Feeding America can help propel this goal as well. Feeding America helps with education and access to healthier foods so people are able to come out of food insecurity and hunger in a way that is not compromising. As a nation we have to look at not just the quantity, but the quality of food we are eating.
Shannon: The proposed rule would bring school meal standards up-to-date, based on recommendations from the Institute of Medicine. To improve the quality of school meals, the USDA suggests updating their nutrition standards for the first time in fifteen years. Compared to the current requirements, the proposal would increase fruit and vegetables at meals, serve low-fat or nonfat milk, and establish calorie maximums and minimums, among other initiatives. USDA recognizes that the proposed changes may be as challenging as they are important. Given your background, what would you say to schools, communities, and government organizations to encourage the passage of the USDA’s proposed rule for healthier school meals?
Ellie: Healthy school meals are a foundation for the health of this country because our children are the foundation of our future. Setting an example in our eating habits is key to our national health and well-being, just as any individual eating well is key to their personal health and well-being. What is our investment in our future? Either we pay it now or pay for it later.
Shannon: I’m a budding nutrition enthusiast, and amateur chef, myself. Should the stars align, I would love to someday get my registered dietician’s license, and use my background in public relations to relay important messages of nutrition and healthy food choices to the public. In a nutshell, how did you get to where you are today, and what do you attribute to your success?
Ellie: Everything I do is fueled by my passion for food, which I was born with, and my real belief that living well can help you make the most of your life. All the decisions I’ve made, going to school, choosing my undergraduate major in nutrition, and my Master’s degree in nutrition education, and cooking my way through college, all sort of led me to this place. I am where I am today through an extreme and genuine passion for what it takes to make healthy changes. I’m not just saying it, but I’m and doing it as well, and I know first-hand it is not always easy to manage with life’s hectic pace. My mom always tells me I am an overnight success 15 years in the making and that my becoming a nutritionist is like a pyromaniac becoming a fire fighter. I have discovered how to love food in a healthy way and I’m thrilled to be able to share that with everyone.
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Comments
Shannon’s questions demonstrate how much is wrong with the conventional view of nutrition and hunger. Your statement defies all logic : ‘In some cases, hunger and obesity exist in the same home as families stretch their limited food budgets on low-cost, high calorie foods to make ends meet’.
Yes, hunger and obesity exist together, but you state that the poor are somehow eating too many calories, which is patently absurd. If you can’t afford enough food, you can’t eat too much. Think carefully about it. Since you are wrong, the answer must lie somewhere else, and here it is: low cost high calorie food is all carbohydrate based, giving the poor a carb overdose, and deranging the bodies hormones. You can’t explain why someone that can’t afford enough food and has a manual labor job is fat. Your story doesn’t explain it, mine does.
You will never admit to this because the entire food system is based on corn, wheat and other subsidized starches, which is a system the USDA must support.
Ellie’s answer to hunger is an organic apple, more carbohydrates for an overdosed world.
Posted by Paul C | February 12, 2011 at 10:08 PM