Junkfood Makes for Fat Fat Children!!!!

Ever since I got here, to the US of A that is, I have heard left and right, on TV, in the newspapers and from neighbors, how miserable and unhealthy the fare is that all schools - public and private alike - feed our students. And I hear, that with such a bad and unbalanced, hence unhealthy diet, it is little wonder that the majority of kids end up hopelessly overweight.
We all foot the bill of that state of affairs down the road: fat kids make fat adults, who will get nasty things such as diabetes, heart and circulatory problems, pulmonary problems, joint problems, back problems and so on.... all of which translates into millions and hundred of millions of dollars spent on more or less inadequate treatments for the most part. And by that I mean that those treatments do not manage to fix and eliminate the causes, they just maintain some form of status-quo-sick-existence.
And while I know that everybody loves to complain about that situation, I have not seen or heard of a single official at any level who came up with a solution. Makes me think this is part of what I call the national hobby: it feels so nice to whine about something, without any intention of ever seriously fixing it!
So, what if we could fix it? Can you imagine? Hundreds of thousands of children eating healthy and balanced meals in the school cafeterias around the entire country!! Now, that would be a beautiful sight, wouldn't you agree?

Here is what I would do to fix the situation:

Get rid of the cafeteria routine as the schools practice it, entirely! No more deep frying and smoking up the dining room, no more unhealthy, greasy burgers from contaminated beef, no more concern of potential salmonella infections! A dream? not at all! read on!

Schools need to build a freezer storage room, with lots of shelves, where the stinky hot and smokey kitchen used to be. Then, they order an adequate number of microwaves, which they install inside the cafeteria. Then, they chose a provider of frozen meals. I am thinking frozen menus such as Healthy Choice, or Lean Cuisine, just to name two, or any other balanced brands of frozen meals. Any of these offer a rich variety of meals, from chicken to fish to red meat to vegetarian, so there is something for every taste in there.

Kids can then make a selection every morning or whenever the organizer of the program sees fit, and at lunch time, the team has pulled the ordered trays out of the freezer, and students heat them in the microwave, and they can discard the trays afterwards and recycle the paper. No need to have a dishwasher and waste money on maintaining a multi-personnel kitchen team.

It is that simple! And there is no down side to this plan, every aspect of it is positive. I am sure meals could be less costly for the student, all the while still yielding a little profit to the school.

So here is the big big question, the one that really matters: Do the parents and teachers in this country REALLY and TRULY love their kids, or do they just want to keep on paying lip service?!

Heck, if I were the marketing director of any of the frozen meal producing companies, I would have already jumped on this one and made it work:

I'd find myself a school district, or a good size school, who would be willing to receive free meals for all its students from my business for one year. I'd also hire an independent team of nutritionists and scientists who would monitor the children from the beginning to the end of the year. That way, I'd be able to document the changes that will occur in the weight of the kids, or, I'd document that no changes had occurred if that turned out to be the case. Personally, I think the changes would be truly significant! (But, it is good to document it for the most reticent doubting Thomas, who will only believe it if it is served in the form of graphs, statistics and page filling reports with lots of verbiage.)
What is in it for the frozen food company? Lots of things:
They boost their image, as they show concern for America's children and their good health.
They can publicise this fact everywhere, not just on TV ads, even on their wrapping materials.
They can write it totally off as marketing and advertising cost, so it is not even a financial burden.
They will acquire a whole new customership from the hundreds of thousands of students who come to like their dishes and get used to eating frozen dinners.
They will increase their product volumes considerably, once the program goes nationwide.

And the kids? What if they don't want to let go of greasy hamburgers and deep fried fries?
I'd chose two or three of the pop artists who were the most popular with the teenage crowd, and I'd hire them to promote the new eating habits. Once the kids see that their stars think of this as cool, they will all follow suit. Bingo!

So, this is what I want! Let's see what happens next.... I am used to getting what I want!