Farm-to-School Program: how much do we value the health of children? (Rule #1 & 4)

As a society faced with challenging economic times, we are looking to reduce costs everywhere we can, but at what expense? The health of our kids? The quality of the local environment? Launched in 2008, the state run Farm-to-School program has the great intentions of keeping kids healthy while helping schools support local farmers, truly a win-win for all involved. There are challenges though, and those come at a higher premium - prices that tax payers may not be willing to support. So, the question is "How much does society truly value healthy kids?" The Farm-to-School program has the rare opportunity to bring real world experience to kids of any grade level by allowing them to be involved in the process of growing, harvesting, and preparing food - with the outcome of healthier kids who are more aware of where their food comes from and how it gets to their plates. Many families don't have the time or knowledge of nutrition to consistently provide their children with the education on how to eat properly and select food that is not only good for them, but good for the planet as well. As taxpayers, it is our job to support an educational process that produces children steeped in the skills necessary for life, and I hope we would rate eating well in-line with reading, writing and arithmetic. Take a moment to review the comments on the article and you will see just how divided we are on the topic.

Read the whole Seattle Times article here.