Reply #80: a few thoughts... [View All]

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I think she is running into a culture war in addition to a nutrition war. Healthy foods puts you in the same category as other lefty types: environmentalists, etc.

I think if Ms. Heaps wants to be an activist, she needs a little training from organizations like Camp Wellstone or its nutritionist equivalent on how to organize for change. I can see how she ran into trouble because she did not think about the social impact of what she was doing on her boss and coworkers, but I can't help but applaud her motivations. She lived through a terrible circumstance with her husband where she was running off to the doctor's and hospitals as well as keeping her family together BY HERSELF and she wanted to try to help students understand the consequences of developing bad habits and how terribly difficult it is to change these things later in life. Having been in the same position as Ms Heaps with my husband due to his poor eating habits, I can fully appreciate how you get to be a fanatic. Just wind me up and I, too, can bore the hell out of anyone around me about nutrition.

She and other teachers have to put up with kids jacked up on junk and all the subsequent parent teacher conferences about why Johnny is misbehaving after lunch.

Ms Heaps is not the only teacher who has put healthy food out for kids. I know of another school administrator who put a vegetable tray out for underprivileged children because THEY WERE HUNGRY and couldn't learn on an empty stomach. I understand folks concerns about unregulated food... but I have seen school sponsored boxes of Florida orange sales in winter. Big question: why isn't the "supplemental" food including a good supply of fruits and vegetables. Why is this crap in the school system at all? Children can't make these decisions by themselves. So the parents are left to monitor their child as to what snacks they are eating in school? Trust me, I know all about having a healthy home and having someone actively work to defeat your efforts until he finds out the hard way!

Ideally, you want the school lunch program to work properly. But, in Ms. Heap's case, it didn't so she took matters into her own hands. I agree with people's points about sales of unregulated food but there are enough bake sales going around that this regulation isn't completely enforced. I fully understand her frustration and why she did what she did. I do understand how she got in trouble by endrunning the system. There are ways of doing things to implement change that really happens and this is not one of them.

My hope for Ms Heaps is that she doesn't give up and instead uses the results of her "study" to further advocate for changes in our nutritional and educational system. I remember when schools and lunch programs were properly funded so that they didn't need to sell crap. It used to be one or two campaigns per year to sell candy bars for band or the football team and, of course, Girl Scout cookies. Not a constant supply. Maybe this means people should pay higher taxes so that the schools are properly funded instead of selling junk to our children! If some children aren't eating too much junk, that means the school raises less money! Think about it! Those diabetic children with high blood pressure are subsidizing the education budget! Cut down on their spending and you cut out a chunk of the school budget!

I think she should go to Camp Wellstone and learn to organize for change. I think she needs to organize parents to support her efforts. There's a whole bunch of tactics about coalition building that she needs to learn and then she should start round two of her campaign for better nutrition in school.

I think that having Ms. Heaps in the school cafeteria is like having the fox in the chicken house. I hope she keeps her data at home so it can't be confiscated! I hope she publishes articles on her experience in the school cafeteria. I hope she finds out about contracts with 'good old boys" who are wired in to supply junk food to the school and exposes them. I wonder how much of the school lunch has been put out for competitive bidding like it should be! I hope Ms. Heaps also gets in touch with the school nurse to find out what the rates of diabetes and heart disease are in her school and how these have changed over time. I hope she writes to Michelle Obama about her experience in trying to bring fruits and veggies to school.

Go Ms. Heaps!