Message from the Borough President BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
On Sunday, June 9, Borough President Adams joined with advocate and journalist Andrea Strong, Council Member Rafael Espinal,
Balanced, Hip Hop is Green, True Healthy Initiative, and Green Beetz, alongside parents, children, advocates, nutritionists, doctors,
and wellness professionals, for a March for Healthy School Food across the Brooklyn Bridge. The marchers called on the Department
of Education to serve scratch-cooked meals to students, invest in culinary education, and create kitchen gardens, so children can get
a hands-on education in healthy eating. Borough President’s offi ce / Jonah Allon
Apple + Lentils = Health
A message from Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams
ONE BROOKLYN | SUMMER 2019 3
When I watched my son graduate from college,
I refl ected on how much time and energy his
mother put into his education over the years.
She researched and questioned every teacher and
principal who taught him. There was nothing she
wouldn’t do to make sure he was receiving the best
information to sharpen his brain. She liked to say
that a good, sound education would give him the best
chance for a good career.
His mom’s behavior was no different than countless
other moms and dads. There are few things that
get a parent more worked up than the thought that
their child isn’t receiving the best education. Ironically,
though, some people aren’t as concerned about
what we feed our bodies as what we feed our brains.
We have a health care crisis among children,
and our school system is feeding that crisis. We don’t
only teach our children how to read and write, we
also instruct them on how to lead an unhealthy lifestyle.
Think about that. One in fi ve kindergarteners
in New York City is obese, and 40 percent of elementary
school students are overweight. Studies show
that 70 percent of 12-year-olds have the beginning
signs of heart disease, which is one of the top killers
of Americans.
If 70 percent of students were failing any subject,
for example, the entire school community would be
up in arms. Are we lax because we don’t see the failing
grades of health until it is a crisis? Or are we
failing to connect the dots because we don’t believe
diseases like childhood obesity and diabetes are connected
to the food we are serving our children?
Whatever the answer is, we must become engaged
in the fi ght to reclaim the health of our children.
It is frightening to see reports indicating that
our children will be the fi rst generation to not outlive
their parents.
The reality is, most people don’t realize the consequences
of their dietary decisions until it’s too
late. The earlier we instill the value of healthy eating
in young people, the more likely they are to lead
healthier lifestyles without developing diet-related
chronic diseases.
That may seem like common sense to most people,
but our city doesn’t see it that way. More than
900,000 students in the public school system are
served lunch every day. And what’s on the menu?
Mozzarella sticks, chicken nuggets, burgers, turkey
roll ups, Tostitos-branded beef-fi lled taco bowls, and
pizza — highly-processed fast foods that are not only
completely devoid of nutritional value, but also can
cause health issues later in life.
In 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO)
declared processed meat a Class 1 Carcinogen,
meaning there is equal scientifi c certainty about
its carcinogenic effects as there is for cigarettes,
asbestos, and plutonium. Despite this fi nding, the
New York City Department of Education (DOE) has
been serving food that gives children a greater risk
of cancer, obesity, and other preventable diseases.
Fortunately, New York City is introducing Meatless
Monday in all public schools and taking processed
meats out of school lunches — but much more work
still needs to be done.
On Sunday, June 9, I marched across the Brooklyn
Bridge with Council Member Rafael Espinal and
more than 100 parents, educators, activists, and students
to send a clear message to Mayor Bill de Blasio
and the DOE: Stop poisoning our children. Stop
serving them food we all know is bad for them. Stop
feeding our public health crisis.
We can’t just tinker around the edges of the problem;
we need to re-think our approach to student
nutrition altogether. This paradigm shift means
scratch-cooked healthy meals in schools. It means
nutrition and culinary education starting in pre-K.
It means having school gardens where students can
learn fi rsthand how to grow and prepare their own
food. And it means giving students more time to
eat and to play, because compressing lunch and recess
into a half-hour period just doesn’t make sense.
Taken together, these steps would radically improve
our education system and our children’s health.
In my own life, making healthy meals with fresh
ingredients is now part of my daily routine. With a
diet revolving around whole plant foods and spices,
I know exactly what I’m putting in my body and how
it will fuel me throughout the day. For example, dark
leafy greens are some of the richest sources of calcium,
and when combined with foods high in vitamin
C (such as lemon juice or red bell pepper), can
also boost iron absorption.
Kids are smarter than we give them credit for.
They can intuitively grasp that fresh food is better
than processed food, that a simple list of ingredients
is more trustworthy than one laden with hard-topronounce
chemicals. We must equip students with
the tools to take control of their own health — fi rst
by making healthy foods the default at school. Just
like we teach all children that 1 + 1= 2, teaching them
that an apple + lentils = health is a lesson they’ll be
able to use for their entire lives.
/BROOKLYN-USA.ORG
