What kids eat for lunch in France

This video is a couple of years old, but it's an interesting look at a very different sensibility surrounding school lunches.  I don't know that we can ever get to escargot, but price doesn't have to be as much a barrier as we make it out to be.

The Big Majority of the Public is FOR School Food Reforms

Sometimes it can seem like the conservative voices in opposition to school food reform are the majority.  It turns out that they're just louder; they are the squeaky wheels of the public discourse on school food.  The actual fact of the matter is that a healthy majority of Americans want policies and legislation that mandates healthy food in public schools.

Exhibit A is this new report from Gallup on a poll they conducted:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/161318/americans-favor-limiting-sale-unhealthy-food-schools.aspx

Can We Use Architecture and Design to Foster School Food Reform?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has just published an article, authored by T. T-K. Huang and colleagues, in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease, that has some interesting ideas about how to design the physical structure of a school to undergird school food and exercise reforms.  The article, "Healthy Eating Design Guidelines for School Architecture," can be found at the following link:

http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2013/12_0084.htm

Some interesting visuals are included from actual schools in Virginia.

Alongside environmental changes suggested by Brian Wansink and colleagues, seen in their New York Times feature, one can really sense that there are ways to structure schools and food environments in them to help meet the goals of reform without all the pesky legislative battles and name-calling that often accompanies taxes, subsidy reductions, and standards creation.  We need those things, too, of course, but why not bring as many tools as possible to the fight?

Infographic on How the Food Environment Has Changed