As a follower of Bettina's blog, The Lunch Tray, for years, I was thrilled to learn that she was finally writing a book. Given her background as a lawyer, her subsequent work as an (admittedly accidental) activist, and her always thoughtful analyses of the issues she writes about on her blog, I knew this book would be thorough, well researched, and well written. In another writer's hands, this book could've easily been a 200-page screed about the many ways in which our nation's food culture is harming our children, with fingers pointed at all the obvious sources (i.e., food marketers). As a mother of two young children, I'm constantly ranting to my husband about the many ways this culture thwarts our attempts to raise healthy eaters at every single turn---from the well-meaning folks who offer my kids lollipops seemingly every place we go, to schools that teach children about healthy eating but then serve Doritos and ice cream novelties and "carnival food" to them at lunch, to the entire market of "kid food" that assumes children will only eat food if it's highly sweetened, shaped like an animal, or festooned with cartoon characters.
But while Bettina does point fingers at all the many factors that combine to create a grossly unhealthy food culture for America's children---and believe me, there are many---she does so with a humility and an almost compassionate acknowledgement that there are even larger forces at work in almost every instance. Take, for instance, her chapter on the school lunch program. I approached this chapter expecting to feel a sense of righteous indignation at the junk they're feeding our nation's kids and actually finished it feeling quite sorry for school nutrition directors. Yes, there are certainly a few questionably bad actors in the bunch, such as the school nutrition director who unabashedly boasted about offering his students a "sweet deal" that included pink frosted donuts, funnel cakes, fried potatoes, and chocolate milk, with a pale little sliver of shrink-wrapped watermelon for good measure (which would be laughable if he were, say, the manager of a Chuck E. Cheese, but is somewhat horrifying knowing he's a school nutrition director?!). In reality, the vast majority of school nutrition directors are genuinely trying to do right by their students, but they're strait jacketed by severe fiscal, nutritional, and logistical constraints. Consider the task of feeding a healthy meal to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of children when you have just over a dollar per meal to spend and have to jump through the twin hoops of satisfying minimum requirements for certain vitamins and minerals without exceeding limitations on sodium and fat. Now consider doing this with staffing shortages in too-small kitchens, all the while competing for precious dollars with the junk sold in vending machines and school stores, and you begin to get a sense of what these directors are up against. Because the school lunch program is self-funded, schools rely on student participation to keep themselves afloat, which means that school nutrition directors try to do everything in their power to entice children to buy school lunches. Will putting tofu stir-fry on the menu have students lining up in droves? Likely not. Domino's Smart Slice pizza and chicken nuggets? Now that's a much safer bet.
I'll admit that I often feel overwhelmed and hopeless when it comes to battling the Kid Food culture in this country, but Bettina offers numerous suggestions for staying the course and ways to be an effective advocate at the local level. Bettina acknowledges that changing the food culture in our country is a steep uphill climb, but she strikes an optimistic note, reminding us that the collective force of parental political will can compel food companies to adapt and can drive much-needed policy changes, and pointing to the numerous areas in which progress has already been made. I know that people like me, who already agree with everything Bettina is saying, will flock to this book, but I fervently hope that those who are skeptical of or opposed to federal-level attempts to change food policy will read it, too, and see the many benefits of an improved food culture that we can hopefully all agree on, regardless of party.
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他の国からのトップレビュー
Alyson
Deserves 10 stars---well written, thoughtful treatment of an important issue
2019年11月26日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済みAmazonで購入
NYCMama
A remarkable, thought-provoking work on the kid food landscape, empowering and useful!
2019年11月8日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済みAmazonで購入
A.E. Woody
Great book for beginners at this topic with younger chhildren
2021年2月2日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済み
LeeP
10/10 Recommend - A Must Read Book for Anyone in Food Policy
2020年8月15日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済みAmazonで購入
