The news on American school lunches has not been good since January 20, 2017. Roy Wood Jr. and The Daily Show team along with Margo Wootan, vice president for nutrition at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, compare and contrast the school lunch approach under Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
"Flavored chocolate milk" returned to the menu.
The segment allows Wooten to paint a picture of what lunch was like not so long ago. Food "is supposed to help you learn, not make them fall asleep," Wootan explained. "We give kids choices but all of those choices need to be healthy."
CSPI’s @MargoWootan discusses school lunch with @roywoodjr on @TheDailyShow: Trump administration putting politics before kids’ health by rolling back school nutrition standards. https://t.co/p9v066dV7n
— CSPI (@CSPI) May 7, 2019
She notes that the previous lunch program would reduce childhood obesity numbers by 2 million kids and save $800 million in health care costs.
"Three-quarters of kids who get school lunches come from low-income families," Wootan noted.
Wood takes on a drill sergeant motif to convince the kids to not eat the junk food. Wood's mantra of "nutrition now, nutrition tomorrow, nutrition forever" is a homage to "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" from George Wallace's 1963 Inaugural Address in Wood's home state of Alabama.
This illustration gives a sharp contrast filled with subtlety. The color of the bun indicates more whole grains and leaner meats have less visible fat. Carrots vs. French fries is a bit more obvious, even if Wood points out the potatoes also grow in the ground. Carrots are high in natural sugar compared to most vegetables but checks off more nutrition boxes than French fries.
The pictured chocolate milk in the segment is skim milk, robbing kids of fat from milk that can make them feel more full.
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BalanceofFood.com Daily Show coverage
Just so this story isn't completely depressing, Higher Ground, Barack and Michelle Obama's production company, is working on a half-hour series for Netflix called Listen to Your Vegetables & Eat Your Parents. The program will “take young children and their families around the globe on an adventure that tells us the story of our food.”
Since the show is aimed at kids, this might be an animated series though that is purely speculation.
We have said, even during the Obama Administration, that government can only do so much to instill better eating habits. A Netflix show can help more than the current regime.
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah airs Monday-Thursday on Comedy Central.
video and photo credit: The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Twitter capture: @CSPI
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