Last week I chatted with both Amy and Susan via phone to discuss what they encountered when making this film and what they hope the film can accomplish.
“We found the kind of food that doesn’t support a good health system and a lot of fat,” Susan says.
“When a kid is on that kind of diet, they can’t think clearly. You need to think about what fuel you’re putting into the tank,” she reiterated.
Amy says she had a personal “epiphany” about food and health when visiting in-laws in France in the 1980s—inspiring her to champion Susan’s cause. She said she followed her mother-in-law in the markets every day where she picked fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats for each daily meal. The idea of freshly prepared foods and meals cooked from scratch is not terribly American—but the benefits far outweigh the time constraints.
“I lived with migraines for years before that trip … In France, good food is part of the curriculum at home and at school—as opposed to a fast-food free-for-all,” Amy says.
While most Americans may not be able to live as the French do,—which includes two hour, leisurely lunches, typically buying only for the current day at local farmers’ markets and cooking from scratch—Amy and Susan both show in their film how schools can and should make healthier choices.
The film highlights various schools that have implemented changes (See Clips)—like one in New Hampshire that has replaced fried foods with baked items and now has a salad bar in the cafeteria. Other schools have created gardens—a little step that Amy and Susan insist makes a huge difference.
“Schools can have gardens—even in the inner city, you can have a garden anywhere with Earth boxes. … One school began to grow their own vegetables and held a farmers’ market at the school on Saturdays turning a profit,” Amy says.
So What Can I Do?
If you are reading this and thinking, well, I’m doomed to fix my children’s lunches until they graduate, take heart. Amy and Susan outline steps that anyone can take to tackle the bad food choices in their children’s schools.
