I sent an e-mail tonight to the director of the food service program at Birmingham Public Schools. I copied the e-mail below. It only took an hour of my time and I think it's little steps like this that could come back to make a huge impact.
"I had a meeting last week with with the Principal at Harlan Elementary, and she gave me your contact information. I wanted to write you and introduce myself. I'm a good friend of Eric Heim, a teacher at Harlan, and he asked me to help him reach out. To sum it up, I'm a pre-med student really just trying to make a difference in the community and to advocate for things I am passionate about. I volunteer extensively in our local communities and as a supplement to my academic goals, I started volunteering for an organization called the Food System Economic Partnership, based in Ann Arbor. This organization is allowing me the opportunity to work directly with students and parents, educating them about healthy eating and disease prevention. I was telling Eric a little bit about what this organization does for school districts and he became very interested in trying to incorporate some of these things at Harlan. The Principal thought it was a great idea but suggested that you would be the best person to contact.
As I'm sure you have noticed, a major revolution is starting to take shape in our country in terms of realizing the negative effects of our eating habits. Examples of this include movies such as Food Inc., Supersize Me, the new 'Forks over Knives' movie that comes out in the fall, and Jamie Oliver's TV show. This information is now becoming mainstream. Over the last 70 years, the food we consume has drastically changed from the simple 'farm fresh food' we ate a hundred years ago, to processed food filled with hormones and chemicals, fast foods, and sugary snacks, with little to no emphasis on promoting food that comes from the earth. We're feeding our kids fried food, chicken remains shaped into a nugget, and vegetables that have lost nearly all nutritional value in the processing, shipping, and preparatory process. We are teaching our future generations to consume the food that is killing our current generations. It doesn't have to be like this and it shouldn't be. As a result, the health statistics of our population have spiraled out of control, especially the statistics of childhood diseases such as obesity, Type II Diabetes, and even pediatric cancer. In my own family, I've lost every one of my loved ones over 60 years old, to cancer. That is my motivation for my career change and for my passion to make a difference. We must do what we can to turn this ship around, and it absolutely has to become a priority in our school districts.
I'm contacting you as a member of the community and as a friend to Eric, not on behalf of FSEP. But I will tell you what I know about the organization. FSEP is a nonprofit involved with promoting Michigan farms. Their 'Farm to School' program links local farmers with school districts, our colleges (and our hospitals). This organization is working to change the kind of food products being served in our institutions. They don't supply food, they just connect districts and their lunch program management companies (such as Sodexho) with local farmers to get fresh food at a reasonable price. Fifteen school districts in five of our local counties (such as Jackson, Ann Arbor, schools in Livingston and Wayne County, etc.) are currently working with FSEP to change their lunch programs. The city of Jackson, where 65% of the student population qualifies for free lunch, is currently implementing a healthy food program in their schools. This proves that change is possible in any district. Schools have implemented 'Local Food Fridays' and in some districts the kids are eating fresh food as much as 3 days a week. But any change is better than no change at all. As a result, the statistics in these schools are improving. The kids are eating and liking new vegetables, parents are on board and encouraging their kids to eat the school lunch, attendance rates are going up, and student performance is rising. They are also gaining a competitive edge over other neighboring districts because parents want to see that their kids are eating fresh, local food. Eric said he walked into the lunchroom recently and looked at his students lunches - chicken nuggets that were pink inside, french fries, fruit roll ups, candy, pop, etc., and it made him upset. The Birmingham school district can pioneer a health revolution too by working to change the products that are served to its students.
I am new to FSEP and I don't know the ins and outs and costs and numbers that you would want to know. I know it doesn't cost anything to work with FSEP. I'm just reaching out to you because it was important to Eric, and to let you know that there are excellent resources available to create an opportunity like this in the Birmingham School District. The majority of my volunteer work will be in the Jackson School District this summer. But I would be more than happy to help however I can in implementing a program like this in Birmingham and I know Eric is on board to help too. Maybe just a prototype program at Harlan to see how things go. I heard that Harlan won a 'green school' award this past year. Maybe it would be a good idea to supplement the award by pursuing sustainability as a whole entity, including helping Harlan's kids to be the healthiest they can be in all aspects of their lives. In addition to modifying the kinds of food ordered for the lunch program, there are so many things being done in schools that don't involve spending a lot of money. School gardens, where the kids help maintain and learn about the value of organic vegetables. Chefs are coming in and teaching kids how to cook, kids are cooking for their parents and getting them involved, activities are getting kids emotionally involved and excited about healthy food, teachers are eating with their kids once a week to set an example for what a healthy lunch consists of, schools are embracing foods from various cultures and introducing an appreciation for ethnic foods. And there is so much more."
The rest of the email just consisted of my contact information and a request for a formal meeting. Hopefully the words I chose were impactful enough to start making the necessary steps toward change in this district.
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