I’m glad others are wondering when the San Ramon Valley Unified School District is going to change the nutrition standards at our schools (Dec. 9-16). As a concerned parent I have asked the school district the same question. You, however, got an answer they were not willing to give me–that it is a cost issue. I have checked out the food programs at Sycamore Valley Elementary and Charlotte Wood Middle School, and I have to say the salad bar at Sycamore Valley has improved over the past few years but there is still room for more choices. In addition, the main entrÈes are kid-friendly fast foods but they do not include kid-friendly fresh foods. The salad bar at Charlotte Wood offers a nice selection of choices and tasty prepared salads as well. The variety of food is good, too; it’s just that the choices include too much fast food.
I reported to the food director my findings at the schools, and I also e-mailed Charlotte Wood about a fitness program called Live It sponsored by the Coca-Cola Co. This program would be a wonderful addition to the middle school fitness and nutrition program because it offers achievable and memorable rewards to the children. The exercise that the kids have to do is “stepping.” It is counted on a pedometer. This program can be viewed at www.liveitprogram.com. I would be happy to see our middle schools incorporate this program or a similar one into their existing P.E. classes because it will give all the children an opportunity to be rewarded for their hard work while continuing to be educated on nutrition.
Agnes Mulloy,
Danville
