Schools' fresh foods initiative

Local schools should take note of a pilot program that will help provide locally grown produce to their pupils. Based on recent letters to the editor, the need for more nutritious food is apparent.

The issue has gotten attention in the Legislature, too, though a proposal to require public schools to provide healthier food failed to get committee approval last week. The proposal would have banned high-fat foods from school cafeterias and high-calorie snacks and sodas from school vending machines, The Associated Press reported.

Twenty-five schools statewide will have the opportunity to participate in the fresh food program, supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Awards will be made competitively, based on the willingness of school officials to work with local farmers to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables.

'Participating schools will make nutrition education a priority so that students learn the importance of these items in a healthy diet,' State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex said in a news release from the Department of Education. 'We believe that by creating healthier school environments early, we can help our young people develop good eating habits that will last throughout their lives.'

The program also has been enthusiastically supported by the state Department of Agriculture, which is promoting the sale of locally grown produce in grocery stores.

Local physicians, including one nutrition expert, have described in comments on our pages the importance of nutritious food and more exercise at school, as well as the long term health consequences of bad choices that tend to become habitual.

Obesity is viewed as endemic among young people by some health care professionals, and is related to a variety of long-term ills, including heart disease and diabetes.

Two physicians with the Charleston Medical Society recently cited efforts to improve nutrition in local schools by its School Health Committee. The pilot program could dovetail with those efforts.

But schools really shouldn't need the support of the USDA or a legislative act to make the decision for healthier choices for their students. Local districts should commit to the necessary changes in school menus, while taking advantage of all available resources to improve the health of school children.