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"Not your average lunch lady" - Matthew Aquilone
I’m a public school kid, a “Cement Baby,” Brooklyn born and raised. I was a late comer to school lunch though, always being sent off with a brown bag or more likely running home for lunch since I lived close to my school, could see it in fact from my bedroom window. It was that kind of neighborhood, a thorough network of moms, friends, front stoops and kitchen tables. As my brothers and I became more independent my mother started working full time and there were no more lunches at home. My parents then enrolled us in the hot lunch program.
I remember it as a pretty emotional event. Gone were the comfort and security of mom and home and homemade meals. Replacing it was hair netted lunch ladies ladling barely recognizable substances onto plastic trays accompanied by miniscule cartons of milk. The lunchroom was a loud chaotic place, one I had not really experienced. Strange smells a <script type="text/javascript"></script> nd faces, a phalanx of teachers, parent chaperones and our drill sergeant vice principal keeping the hundreds of kids at their tables in relative order. Of course for some if not most of my classmates the lunchroom was a very familiar place. It was where they ate most of their meals. A large segment of the student body were part of the free breakfast program as well as lunch. In general this enrollment divided itself among racial and economic lines. I didn’t give much thought to it back then but most of my classmates relied on the school not just for their education, but for the bulk of their nutrition and their very survival as well.
Of course by now we have come a long way from Salisbury steaks and what could nominally be identified as peas and carrots that were served up in my youth. Food consciousness has risen to one of the most important issues both globally and locally. It is a matter that has economic, environmental, and technological as well as spiritual implications. A good friend of mine, Nancy Easton, an educator and mother here in NYC, has created a program called Wellness in the Schools that directly addresses the connection between nutrition and education. Pamela Enz sat down with her to find out more about it.
“ Do You Want This Program?”
‘ When Enough is Plenty” - Pamela Enz
Much like two of Rethos’ founders, cousins Alex and Pablo Salzman, Nancy Easton is an example of a youthful passion successfully transformed into adult action. A fellow Princeton alumnus she is co-creator of WITS: Wellness in the Schools, in short, a program based on the belief that a mind eager and ready to learn begins with a healthy body.
The foundation of the Salzmans’s success was I believe having a socially conscious, progressive and still active grandma paired with an inborn entrepreneurial bent. Ms Easton’s familial foundation was her own original “Earth Mother “ mom. Until her teens whole-wheat cookies and the granola contribution to the school bake sale along with the UGH! compost heap was a great embarrassment. It wasn’t until entering college that Nancy began to see the world catching up and that her mother’s “eccentricities” contained an embarrassment of riches, spiritual, spirited joys and life lessons. From a comfortable background she and her siblings were raised knowing that needs would be met, were in fact lucky to be able to taken for granted, but “wants” and certainly excess were not part of the equation.
For Nancy privilege was used to follow her heart and teach. What drove her to public education was I believe, like the Salzmans’s inborn – her love of sports, running in particular, which led to joining the track team. Dubbed “White Lightning” by her mostly black teammates she observed in dropping them off at public housing projects, the inequities of their lives.
Combined with her great capacity for nurturing and special insight and love of children it was not a great leap for her to want to do something and figure out how she personally could affect positive change.
What basic needs must be met for learning to occur? What was needed to equalize educational opportunities for children across the board?,
Working together with Kirsten Brashares and Rachel Tore “Wellness in the Schools” was created to explore these questions. They concluded that what is essential to learning and every child’s right, is a clean environment, free of damaging chemicals that contribute both to asthmas and sick days, as well as adequate healthy food and exercise without which learning becomes much more challenged.
Some of the programs begun or in the planning stages are cooking and nutrition classes, plus visits to markets and farms.cerun: yes"> They hope next year to have both a Chef-In Residence and Athlete-In Residence at as many schools as possible. To learn more about all the programs that she and her other cofounders Kirsten Brashares and Rachel Tore have formed and ways you can participate I strongly urge you to visit their website Wellnessintheschools.org
In the meantime parents and concerned adults should be aware that there have been two pieces of legislation passed, one mandating a Wellness Committee in all schools, and a second guaranteeing a clean environment for all students.
Ms. Easton describes best WITS involvment:
“Inspired by Governor Pataki’s mandate that all schools in the state of New York convert to green cleaning by September of 2006, we worked to ensure that the mandate was met. We insisted that the products used in our schools are the least toxic, most efficacious and cost-effective.
In addition to implementing specific pilot programs, we have introduced Wellness Committees into schools, a mandate introduced in 2007 by Governor Pataki. These Wellness Committees form the basis of our work, as we assess needs, share information and empower parents to continue to make their schools healthier.”
Ms. Easton also asserts that busy adults caring for growing children can work at home on fostering healthy habits . Most important is to include as much as possible children themselves in shopping and preparing food. She suggests beginning with talking to younger children about balancing their plates using color. How many are there on their plates? Or create rainbows from a weekly menu, and please if anyone knows let us in on how to avoid the junk food aisles in the supermarket.
Others, more inclined toward cocktails and networking I suggest buying tickets to the upcoming benefit for WITS on May 15th and supporting this wonderful effort.
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