Let's get serious about healthy meals for kids
Kudos to Bill Lueders for his article on slushies posing as real food at O'Keeffe Middle School ("The Fuss Behind the Slush," 10/29/10) and to Martha Pings for raising the stink. As a Madison teacher, I've noticed that "food products" have mostly become the norm in school lunches, with few exceptions. People continue to buy them for their kids regardless, possibly feeling that they have little choice.
Food service director Frank Kelly not only touts slushies as healthy, he claims comestibles like chicken nuggets and French toast sticks contain the necessary nutrients. Let's tell it like it is: The typical lunch of mini-pancakes, sausage patty, carrot muffin, half a kiwi and chocolate milk (an actual lunch menu from last week) is so rife with sugar, hydrogenated/saturated oil and white flour that it's no wonder kids fall apart during their afternoon classes.
I know there are budget constraints, but Ann Cooper, the "Renegade Lunch Lady" from Boulder, creates healthy, whole-food lunches with a small budget. Put your money where your mouth is, Frank, and get to work on some healthier menus!
Kirsten Johnson
A league of their own
Dear Bill Lueders: Thank you for your clarification and support regarding LWVDC's Candidates' Answers and the candidate response rate ("Candidates to Voters: Go BLANK Yourself," 10/29/10). In light of the election results, it is evident that the efforts of the League of Women Voters are needed more than ever to ensure that democracy works.
As you have so eloquently stated, "There is nothing partisan about the League of Women Voters' mission, to help the electorate make informed choices." We will continue our work in this vein.
Earnestine Moss, President, League of Women Voters of Dane County
Some years back there was a letter to the State Journal from an official at the League of Women voters, disclaiming partisanship but going on to give a list of positions taken by the group. It came across as parody; every one of the positions was clearly liberal.
As it happens, I agreed with most or all of the positions taken, but it is a stretch to call the League nonpartisan. Would you expect a progressive candidate to respond to a voter information initiative run by a conservative political advocacy group?
Jeff Wick, Black Earth