A Wellness Committee grows in Hoboken and First Lady Michelle Obama visits Newark!

This blog was started because after I saw what our kids were eating, shocked at the poor quality of food they were receiving, and concerned with their health, I felt that it was important that the Hoboken School district form a Wellness Committee to help address these issues through wellness policies that really impact our kids health in a positive way.  On Monday this committee met for the first time! Today, I reached out to the Hoboken School District with the hopes of serving on this committee even though my child now is in a Charter school.

Patch.com reported on it:  Hoboken Board of Ed Forms Wellness Committee.  The committee is set to focus on nutrition education for both students and parents, exercise, and also food choice. I look forward to following their progress.

And in other exciting news:

In the summer of 2009, Maple Avenue School begun their journey to sustain healthy living and eradicate obesity. And so the 'Growing Minds Program' was born!  With funding and support from Slow Food Northern New Jersey and the Beth Israel Medical Center, they were able to implement and integrate nutrition into the curriculum and also promote the importance of good nutrition.

Slow Food Northern NJ provided grow boxes, seeds, planting materials, and curriculum for three different grade levels which was easily integrated within the curriculum. I am huge believer in making the connection of healthy nutrition through school gardens. Not only is it exciting for them to watch their hard work flourish but they can make a real connection with where food actually comes from! 

The program was so successful it caught the attention of First Lady Michelle Obama and her Let's Move campaign. Tomorrow she will be visiting Newarks' Maple Avenue School, to talk about nutrition and physical education. Mayor Cory Booker will moderate the event which is part presentation and part discussion. According to statistics released earlier this year, one in five Newark children are obese; 43% of the city’s boys and 45 % of its girls, according to the Center for State Health Policy. 

'Go Newark' and 'Go Hoboken' for trying to the change the future of our children!

The Beginning....

This past week, I decided to start taking notice of what our kids over at Mile Square, St.Francis were being fed for school lunch. Of course I knew it wasn't going to be gourmet cooked meals, but I did think/hope that it would at least be edible. Now, I'm not a food snob, I come from a developing country were there are more poor people than not, where more people go without than with, but what I am discovering is as sad as it is infuriating.

And so a daily photoblog with some commentary of the school lunches is born and inspired by Fed Up With Lunch: The School Lunch Project. Thanks Mrs.Q!

I will post them so that we can raise awareness to the food quality that is being served to our children and I am hoping that other parents will be moved into action and help form a Wellness Committee, which by the way, was mandated by the State back in the 2006. The Hoboken School district has yet to see one.

Please feel free to get mad and leave comments! And then do something about it!