Better School Food: Making a Healthy Difference

FatFighter — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 08:00:51 +0000

She’s so dedicated to changing food in our schools that she got the leading role in a movie about the actions she’s taking.

Meet Dr. Susan Rubin. As a parent, she got involved with traditional programs in public schools to try to bring in healthier food options. Years later, she says all she got was frustrated by all the bureaucracy. So she started the nonprofit group, Better School Food (BSF). Here’s how the program is Making a Healthy Difference.

It started with candy wrappers
Yes, candy wrappers were making their way home from school with one of Susan Rubin’s daughters. Rubin was a dentist at the time, and was immediately concerned.

“I was really shocked to find out the stuff was coming out of the cafeteria,” Rubin recalls.

But it wasn’t just about cavities. Rubin was worried about the overall health of her children because of the food schools offered. She wanted to do something about it, so she left dentistry to become a holistic nutritionist. Now she and BSF are reaching out to schools across the country to try to stem childhood obesity.

“Every school has a bureaucratic system and you have to play by those rules,” says Rubin. “So I decided to form this organization outside of the schools because then there were no rules.”

Better School Food’s mission
Like the name says, it’s about better school food – specifically, BSF wants every school-age child to have access to whole foods and fresh fruits and vegetables. Its goal is to also get rid of unhealthy ingredients, like trans fats, High Fructose Corn Syrup, and potentially harmful preservatives, from schools and from kids’ daily diets.

BSF is made up of health professionals, educators, and concerned parents. The group supports pretty much anyone across the country who wants better food in schools – from the cafeterias to the food sold for fundraisers.

“We’re just kind of creating an army of advocates,” Rubin explains. “It’s not just K-12. I really believe we’ve got to hit it earlier in child care centers, pre-schools, and after school programs.”

Back in time
To move forward, Rubin says we have to go back to how things used to be. We went from growing our own foods long ago to buying processed foods, and now there’s a push to eat organic, whole foods again.

Rubin believes a way out of the obesity epidemic is for students to go back to eating foods they’ve grown themselves in school gardens. This lets kids learn about fruits and vegetables by doing, instead of just reading about them in textbooks. She says because they would actually see where their food comes from, they’d be more likely to connect with and want to eat fruits and vegetables they have planted and nurtured themselves.

No More Sweets?
Don’t worry – she’s not saying sweets should be banned. But when you have them, why not have the good stuff made with all natural ingredients?

“My kids eat cookies,” says Rubin. “They make chocolate chip cookies from scratch with the best ingredients. So I’m not saying, never do this. I’m saying, bump up the quality and have less.”

Movement turns into movie
Rubin’s passion caught the attention of filmmaker and mom, Amy Kalafa, who featured BSF in the documentary, Two Angry Moms. Rubin and Kalafa became two angry moms when they saw the poor diets their kids were eating in schools and how it affected their health, behavior, and learning.

“It’s a real story about school food and the challenges and the successes that are out there. So we always joke that Two Angry Moms is the movie and Better School Food is the movement.”

The dangers of food additives and preservatives

FatFighter — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:20:56 +0000

Want some calcium stearoyl lactylate with that meal? Say what???! Doesn’t sound too appetizing, does it? But it’s one of the many ingredients in those packaged foods we eat. The dangers of food additives and preservatives are revealed in a new report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). CSPI says most food additives and preservatives are safe and can sometimes even make the food more nutritious. But some of them haven’t been tested enough. And others can be dangerous.

So, which ones are okay… and which ones could hurt you? This month, CSPI ranks food additives and preservatives in several categories: “safe,” “cut back,” “caution,” “certain people should avoid,” and “everyone should avoid.”

Here are some examples of additives everyone should avoid:

Acesulfame potassium, Aspartame, Saccharin. These are artificial sweeteners that are either unsafe or poorly tested.

Partially hydrogenated oil. Yes, trans fats are still being used at many restaurants and in many food products.

Potassium bromate. This chemical strengthens dough. Most of it breaks down harmlessly, but bromate itself causes cancer in animals and isn’t worth the small risk it poses to humans. Many bakers have stopped using bromated flour.

An additive certain people should avoid:

Mycoprotein. This is a vat-grown fungus used only in the Quorn line of meat substitutes. In some people, it can cause nausea, severe vomiting, or dangerous anaphylactic reactions. CSPI says the FDA refuses to take it off the market or require labeling.

Some safe food additives:

Maltodextrin. This is a thickening agent and sweetener made from starch. It’s used in canned fruit, salad dressings, and instant puddings.

Sodium Carboxymethyl-Cellulose. Another thickener that also keeps sugar from crystallizing. You can find it in ice cream, beer, pie fillings, icings, diet foods, and candy.

Thiamin Mononitrate. A form of vitamin B-1 used to fortify cereals and flour.

Sucralose. Better known as Splenda. Used in some baked goods, frozen desserts, and diet soft drinks. CSPI says unfortunately, it’s often used with acesulfame.

CSPI says a simple, general rule about additives is to avoid sodium nitrite, saccharin, caffeine, olestra, acesulfame K, and artificial coloring. These are among the most questionable additives, and are mainly used in foods low in nutrition.

And don’t forget about the two most familiar additives: sugar and salt. They may be the worst because we consume so much of them.

You can find CSPI’s complete rankings of food additives and preservatives here.

Get your FREE copy of "Recipes and Tips for Healthy, Thrifty Meals" Download e-book here.

Fat Fighter TV » preservatives

Better School Food: Making a Healthy Difference

Related posts

The dangers of food additives and preservatives

Related posts