Udder Controversy ? The Mommyhood

Have you seen the video CNN aired this week as a follow up
to Jamie Oliver?s Food Revolution in Huntington? Two
years after the Food Revolution finished production in Cabell County schools,
controversy still swirls over whether or not to provide flavored milk
(chocolate and strawberry) to students.

During production, Oliver tried to provide healthy changes
to Cabell County?s school lunch program. Although the West Virginia Office of
Child Nutrition already set the bar higher than most states with regard to
providing healthy school lunch meals, Oliver did find room for improvements.

He wanted meals that had less processed meats, free-range,?organic eggs and?more fresh fruits and more vegetables. One of Oliver?s biggest
gripes was with the milk. He requested that chocolate and strawberry milk be
removed from the cafeteria.

When school officials stopped serving flavored milk, dairy
consumption dropped by 38 percent in elementary and middle schools. Children started
bringing juice and soda from home and were missing out on important nutrients
that milk provides (protein, calcium and vitamin D, just to name a few).

While you have to admire his ideology, many of Oliver?s requests
were too unrealistic for a school system to implement.? ?However, several demands resulted in healthier
and sustainable changes. ?Milk is a good example. After the Food Revolution aired, milk manufacturers lowered the sugar content
of flavored milk by 29 percent.

So, why won?t the argument over chocolate milk go away? Many
nutrition experts say we should only serve white milk to children. They argue
that any added sugar is too much. And too often, the flavoring includes high
fructose corn syrup. On the flip side, most research suggest that children who
drink chocolate milk?consume?less soda and fruity drinks.

Flavored milk, like most food choices, is a personal
decision. What do you think? Do you allow your children to drink chocolate milk
or do you stick with strictly white?

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This entry was posted on Saturday, March 31, 2012 at 6:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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