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A preschooler in Raeford, North Carolina, was given a school cafeteria lunch when a state inspector deemed her sack lunch inadequate by USDA nutritional standards. The 4-year-old girl ate three chicken nuggets from the cafeteria meal.
The girl’s turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple juice did not meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, according to the interpretation of the agent who was inspecting all lunch boxes in her More at Four classroom that day.
The Division of Child Development and Early Education at the Department of Health and Human Services requires all lunches served in pre-kindergarten programs — including in-home day care centers — to meet USDA guidelines. That means lunches must consist of one serving of meat, one serving of milk, one serving of grain, and two servings of fruit or vegetables, even if the lunches are brought from home.
When home-packed lunches do not include all of the required items, child care providers must supplement them with the missing ones.
The girl’s mother — who said she wishes to remain anonymous to protect her daughter from retaliation — said she received a note from the school stating that students who did not bring a “healthy lunch” would be offered the missing portions, which could result in a fee from the cafeteria, in her case $1.25.
Now, you may think that apple juice, potato chips, and a banana would count as at least two fruits or vegetables, but it appears to be a matter of interpretation. Jani Kozlowski of the state’s Division of Child Development said there was nothing wrong with the bagged lunch, and the parent should not have been charged for the cafeteria meal. She hinted that the school may need more “technical assistance,” meaning training. Link -via reddit
(Image credit: Flickr user Jeffrey Beall)
The USDA food pyramid was revamped in 2005 as My Pyramid, with more accurate but also more confusing information about recommended nutrition. Now it’s been revamped again, and the pyramid is gone. The new graphic is called MyPlate, which somewhat resembles a pie chart laid on a table setting.
At a news conference Thursday morning, First Lady Michelle Obama, together with Surgeon General Regina Benjamin and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, unveiled the new icon, called My Plate. The plate features four labeled sections: two larger, equally sized sections representing vegetables and grains, and two smaller sections for fruit and protein. Perched on the right side is a smaller circle for dairy — perhaps for a cup of yogurt or low-fat milk — and to the left sits a fork, completing the full dinner-plate effect.
“When it comes to eating, what’s more useful than a plate, what’s more simple than a plate?” Obama said. She called the new design “a quick, simple reminder for all of us to be more mindful of the foods we’re eating.”
The balance between simplicity and comprehensiveness is never easy. Critics say the new MyPlate does not give enough information. Link to story. Link to website. -via J-Walk Blog
Controversy is brewing in the state of Maine over a proposal to designate the whoopie pie the official state dessert.
The designation, supporters say, would give Maine bakeries a marketing edge and raise awareness that the pies are more popular here than anywhere else in the country. But opponents say the legislation sends the wrong message at a time when the nation is struggling to fight childhood obesity, an issue the first lady has championed… Rep. Donald Pilon dismissed whoopies as “frosting delivery vehicles” and suggested that wild-blueberry pie deserves to be the state’s official dessert.
The “pro-pie forces” claim the dessert “has ingredients that serve as antioxidants that relax blood pressure,” and that it serves a useful function as a “comfort food” in times of economic hardship.
Those unfamiliar with this dessert may recognize it as a northern variant of the southern “moon pie.” The origin of the name is uncertain; it dates from the same period as the “Making Whoopee” song in a 1928 musical. The cake component can be changed in a variety of ways; the shortening/sugar filling is reminiscent of that inside an Oreo cookie. Some examples are presented at The Nibble. This week the New York Times featured a history of the whoopie pie and noted that its popularity has spread far from its regional origins.
Now whoopie pies are migrating across the country, often appearing in the same specialty shops and grocery aisles that recently made room for cupcakes… Under the name “sweetie pies,” heart-shaped whoopie pies showed up in the February catalog from Williams-Sonoma. Baked in Maine with local butter and organic eggs, they sell for $49 a dozen.
An additional controversy has arisen in the state of Pennsylvania, whose residents claim to have been the originators of the whoopie pie, thought to have been a Pennsylvania Dutch creation which was only secondarily adopted by people in Maine. The Wall Street Journal has more details.
But back to the original controversy. Should “state foods” take nutritional value into consideration? A group of fourth-graders in Wisconsin are presently asking for cream puffs to be designated the official state dessert of Wisconsin. Other interesting state foods include Illinois’ popcorn as a state snack food, Indiana’s hoosier pie as a state pie, Massachusetts’ Boston cream pie and chocolate chip cookies, and Oklahoma’s sausages and gravy as the “state meal.” Most states have designated milk as their state beverage (but one opted for whiskey, and another included Kool-Aid).
Story link, via. Photo credit Labadie’s Bakery, via What’s Cooking America, which has recipes for making your own whoopie pies.
With 37 ingredients it might be easier to list what isn’t in a Twinkie.
A popular rule of thumb among proponents of healthy food is that the fewer ingredients there are in something, better it is for you. With a remarkable 37 or so ingredients, many of which are polysyllabic chemical compounds, Twinkies would seem to embody the antithesis of that rule.
It appears that this started out as a ordinary instructional cooking video, and then someone overdubbed it with basic nutritional information. She is careful to caution that her recipe is “not your conventional macaroni salad.”
Don’t you just love fresh strawberries in season? They also pack a nutritional punch! Health Assist has a list of twelve ways strawberries help you live longer by fighting cancer, heart disease and general body decline.
New research from Harvard Medical School[9] found that strawberries may offer cardiovascular disease protection. The study found that those who reported eating the most strawberries experienced lower blood levels of C-reactive protein.
C-reactive protein or CRP is a blood biomarker that signals the presence of inflammation in the body. Elevated levels of CRP have been shown in multiple studies to be a potentially good predictor of risk for both heart disease and stroke, as it is generally a signal of atherosclerosis.
Link -Thanks, Karen!
