Katie Couric's Notebook: Food Fight

By: Katie Couric
Topics: Katie Couric's Notebook

A food fight is emerging in school cafeterias.

The School Nutrition Association says with the economy sinking, there's a 16-percent increase in students who qualify for free or reduced-price school lunches. But it comes as others kids are saving money by brown-bagging it instead of buying lunch.

That means schools are paying more for food, but taking in less money. Some districts are being forced to revert to cheaper, less-healthful menu choices. These are small changes - canned fruit instead of fresh; white bread instead of whole grain - but they take our kids in the wrong direction.

School lunch programs have made great strides the past couple of years, offering more healthful options and cutting out the processed products.

The budget crunch is a real problem, but so are childhood obesity and diabetes. In the long run, a healthy lunch line can be good for a state's bottom line.

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by johnjacobs4 January 11, 2009 1:52 PM EST: Why is it? That people who find themselves in financial distress, often get punished for being poor. If someone, who is barely surviving financially writes a check or uses a debit card and didn''t realize the bank was about to charge their monthly fee to have a business checking account. They are hit with a $35 fine. I can''t remember a richer person having to pay that extortion money. They also will back up smaller withdrawals to cover the largest one. Banks also will take already paid debits and unpay them, so as to extort more overdraft fees.
Also, if this poor person can''t pay his utility bills, partially because of paying overdraft fines. The million dollar utility companies slap a late charge on you. If you can''t pay all of it. They disconnect the poor families water, electricity, phone service. With that being said, they have the nerve to charge the poor family a reconnect fee. And if, that''s not bad enough, they force the poorer family to pay a deposit. In the mean time, the poor family goes with out. I can''t imagine a well off person being subjected to this inhamane way of treating their fellow man; Reply to this comment


by akirayamanak January 10, 2009 9:31 AM EST: It is not only in the food that health matters.
Mom care about if the food is healthy or not for children in the house.
The people cared about if the bailout was healthy or not for the economy in the House.
In the end, the adult health and disease has affected the child ones.
The miserable is child or adult?; Reply to this comment


by petersemkiw January 10, 2009 4:44 AM EST: Childhood obesity and diabetes are serious health problems in our country. Growing children need the best proper nutrition there is, and even in this time of economic crisis, schools should not be saving money by providing children with less nutritious, less healthy lunchtime meals. I agree with Katie that this is one serious "Food Fight!!" that our children cannot afford to lose!
Katie, you are right again!
On the day that you were born,
The Angels got together,
and decided to create a dream come true!; Reply to this comment


by free2drm January 10, 2009 4:11 AM EST: You know, after your interview with Ms. Palin & your stint on letterman, your agenda is quite clear. I''m sure you would never have asked Obama such unimportant "got-cha" questions. I won''t be waching you anymore. Further more, since you like to jab Sarah on Letterman, let me throw this one at you...You are lookin'' pretty old these days. And I wonder how bad it felt to sit across from Ms. Palin, seeing she is so much younger and attractive than you. And of course, more powerful & smarter.; Reply to this comment