Healthier eating for kids in school, and it's about time

Unhealthy eating and overeating are such ubiquitous problems in American society that it's difficult to decide where to begin solving the problem.

How about schools, where meals are served to millions of our children every day? And, where the food service isn't what any reasonable person would call healthy.

In fact, our federal government contributes in a big way to the unhealthy nature of school meals by requiring that a significant portion of the federal money spent on school meal service be spent to buy surplus agriculural commodities, according to a story in today's San Francisco Chronicle.

The Chronicle story (read it here) spells out the issue and what some are doing about it.

(Photo credit: www.whitehouse.gov)

Good and healthy food is for everyone

The weekend Eat Real Festival at Oakland's Jack London Square successfully pushed the idea that eating healthy, with locally grown and sustainable foods, can reach the masses. As well it should.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the three-day festival drew 30,000 people a day for the good eats being peddled by local vendors, farmers and brewers. That's significant, and it rivals the number who attended the Slow Food Nation eat fest last year in San Francisco. The Eat Real Festival's price of admission -- free -- obviously was a major factor.

The success in Oakland this weekend shows the demand for healthy eating for all. With obesity among Americans at an all-time high and sugar intake under siege by the American Heart Association, the timing is perfect.

Credit some of those involved in last year's Slow Food Nation for working to extend the movement via the Eat Real Festival.