It’s not often that school foodservice programs get positive coverage on television. Even less frequently does such coverage include a food manufacturer. But on a program called "The Balancing Act," which appears on Lifetime Television, Hillsborough County Schools in Florida and The Schwan Food Co. have been given the opportunity to air their views about school nutrition.
In a segment on the hour-long program, part of the show’s Health and Wellness series, Mary Kate Harrison, general manager of school foodservice for Hillsborough; and Karen Wilder, R.D., R&D Director of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs for Schwan’s, talked about how foodservice directors and food companies are working to reduce the amount of salt, sugar and fat in the foods served in schools.
I’ve not yet seen the segment, which aired Oct. 25 and will appear again Nov. 8, so I’m not touting the content. I’m not Lifetime Television’s demographic, and when The Balancing Act airs—7 a.m.—I’m already on my way into the office.
From viewing the program’s Web site, www.thebalancingact.com, I can tell that the show has the support of several food companies, so I can imagine that the segments on The Balancing Act are slanted toward the messages that these companies are trying to convey.
I’m not making a value judgment here. If anything, I’m happy to think that school foodservice can be seen somewhere in a positive light. Two themes have been rampant recently in the media: children eat too much processed food and school foodservice is in large part to blame for childhood obesity. We know the latter is a gross overstatement, and as to the former, if it is true then all the more reason to profile companies that are trying to use their power and influence to make children healthier.
I’ll take the opportunity later to view the segment, and invite you to do the same at www.schwansfoodservice.com. Whether you ultimately agree or disagree with what was presented during the segment, I believe that healthy, ongoing debate is necessary in order to effect any changes in people’s eating habits. And if companies that are seen to be part of the problem can become part of the solution, we can only benefit from that.