By Rhonda Cornum and Angela Stark
Special to NKyTribune
It’s not often that a retired Army general and a middle school teacher share a stage. But there we were in July at Southern Middle School because we share a passion: healthier school foods.
Southern Middle School is the perfect place to talk about changes that are happening to school foods and drinks, because we’ve been working for years to make sure students and staff have healthier options throughout the day. With the help of the Healthy Schools Program of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, we’ve transformed our student-led school store, which now serves healthy snacks like yogurt and smoothies, and provided free access to drinking water. We’ve also met updated federal nutrition standards for school breakfast and lunch, which include more fruits and vegetables, whole grain-rich items and meals lower in saturated fat.
In Kentucky, healthy meals like the ones Southern Middle provides are the rule, not the exception. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 100 percent of schools statewide are meeting the updated school meal nutrition standards that went into effect at the start of the 2012-13 school year. That compares to 95 percent of schools nationwide.
These healthier meals are essential because 20 percent of children ages 10 to 17 in Kentucky are obese. In fact, obesity is the leading medical reason why 73 percent of young adults in Kentucky are unable to serve in today’s military. Numbers like these show that obesity threatens not just the health of our children, but also our national security. That’s why the retired generals and admirals of Mission: Readiness strongly support the healthier school meal nutrition standards.
This is not the first time that military leaders have spoken out about child nutrition. During World War II, the military discovered that four out of ten rejected recruits were turned away for reasons related to poor nutrition.
After the war, military leaders testified before Congress and played a leading role in the establishment of the national school lunch program in 1946, “as a measure of national security, to safeguard the health and well-being of the Nation’s children.”
Unfortunately, there have been recent efforts to undo some of the progress made with healthier school meals. As Congress prepares to renew the legislation that established the standards, they need to know that moving backwards is not in our kids’ best interest. The healthier standards are working, and we must uphold them.
Kentucky parents are on board. A recent poll found that the vast majority of public school parents support the healthier school meal nutrition standards. Fully 97 percent of parents support the requirement that schools include a serving of fruits or vegetables with every meal.
Schools in Kentucky are working to live up to parents’ expectations. At Southern Middle, we know that change takes time, but as we persisted over the course of a school year, we were able to get healthier meals onto trays, and more and more students and staff were on board.
These changes are not always easy, and some schools are having a harder time than others. But if a small percentage of students are struggling in science or math, we don’t let them opt out of those subjects. Instead, we make sure they get the help they need to succeed.
USDA is offering that help. The agency has already provided schools with flexibility on meeting certain standards and since 2009 has awarded $185 million in grants for school kitchen equipment, including more than $1.05 million to Kentucky in just the last year.
Retreat should not be an option when it comes to our children’s health–we should continue to move forward, not backward. Schools are showing it can be done, parents want healthier choices for their children, and our military readiness is at stake.
Rhonda Cornum is a retired Brigadier General, U.S. Army from North Middletown and Angela Stark is a teacher at Southern middle School in Lexington.