CHOICE (Citizens for Healthy Options In Children's Education) was launched in 1994 by a group of concerned parents to promote a choice of wholesome plant-based meals and nutrition education in our nation's schools. It is supported entirely by individual contributions.

CHOICE produces and distributes teaching materials, supports parents working for change in their schools, assists school administrators and food service providers in developing healthier meals, encourages students to select healthier food choices, and reports on similar efforts throughout the U.S. 

The Problem - Diet and Health

A healthy diet is more important to development of good health during the early years than in adult life. This is because children's bodies are still developing, because children's dietary choices are more influenced by those of their peers, their parents, and the food industries' advertising, and because children's poor eating habits become lifelong addictions. 

Yet, school cafeterias across the country routinely serve meals laden with saturated fat, cholesterol, excess protein, hormones, drugs, and salt. It is a diet that contradicts good nutrition practices and promotes chronic illness, bacterial infections, and obesity. Moreover, these children's early dietary habits become lifelong addictions.

Consider the following: 

• School lunches contain 33% of calories from fat, including 12% from saturated fat, while U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend 30% and 10%, respectively. 

• 90% of children consume amounts of fat above the recommended level.

• Less than 15% of children eat the minimum daily recommended servings of fruit, and 35% eat no fruit on a given day.

• Only 17% of children consume the minimum daily recommended servings of vegetables, and 20% eat no vegetables on a given day.

• 15% of children ages 6 to 19 are overweight, and the Surgeon General has reported that obesity is reaching epidemic proportions, particularly among children. 

• 25% of children ages 5 to 10 have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or other early warning signs for heart disease. 

• As many as 30,000 children have Type 2 diabetes, once limited largely to adults. 

• The past decade has had 300 outbreaks of school food poisoning, affecting 16,000 students.

Diets high in animal fat and protein increase the risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke, several types of cancer, diabetes, and other chronic diseases that cripple and kill nearly 1.4 million Americans annually (100 times as many as homicides). Obesity, hypertension, and atherosclerosis, key precursors to these diseases, begin during childhood years. 

Moreover, a number of children who are diagnosed with flu symptoms are actually suffering from food poisoning by E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella, or other pathogens transmitted by contaminated meat, egg, and dairy products. 

Conversely, a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and grains is essential for good health. Such a diet supplies nearly all essential nutrients, contains little fat and no cholesterol, hormones, antibiotics, or heavy metals. It also provides carotenes and phytonutrients, which reduce the risk of cancer. Finally, there is evidence that children who consume healthy plant-based meals enjoy more energy and improved academic performance. 

Did You Know...?

• Only 17% of our children eat the recommended servings of vegetables, and 20% eat no vegetables on a given day.
  
  

• Fewer than 15% of our children eat the minimum recommended servings of fruit, and 35% eat no fruit on a given day.
  
  

• 90% of our children consume excessive amounts of fat.
  
  

• 5.3 million American children are overweight or obese.
  
  

• More than 25% of children, ages 5-10, have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or other early warning signs for heart disease.
  
  

• Yet, USDA spends $350 million on surplus beef and cheese for schools -- more than double the amount spent on fruits and vegetables (mostly canned or frozen).
  

The Problem - Nutrition Education

The dietary problems outlined above are due in part to the failure of schools to provide a balanced nutrition education. Other factors include TV advertising and distribution of promotional materials by the meat and dairy industries, government interference, inconsistent dietary practices at home, and food service's lack of resolve to improve school lunches. 

Our schools have an obligation to meet the U.S. Dietary Guidelines in the National School Lunch Program. In fact, they should meet this obligation in all foods served on school campuses. This will not be achieved until innovative, integrated, and balanced nutrition programs are introduced, providing students and parents with the factual underpinning for an improved diet. Sadly, in today's schools, this function is filled by the meat and dairy industries through distribution of slick 'fact' sheets, posters, and 'nutrition' seminars for teachers.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has long used the National School Lunch Program as a recipient for surplus farm commodities, including meat and butter. In an effort to prop up sagging dairy prices, Congress has mandated that each child be offered a glass of milk every day. 

Many school food service personnel still plan their menus on the basis of the discredited, but convenient food pyramid, which promotes consumption of meat and dairy products. Some cater to the children's flawed diets to keep them from taking lunch at fast food outlets across the street, or perhaps to keep these outlets from taking over school catering. 

According to a USDA poll, nine in ten parents feel that children should have healthy school meals. Yet most are the products of the faulty school lunch system and struggle to maintain a diet with adequate servings of vegetables and fruits. Their busy lifestyle encourages frequent visits to fast food outlets, and that message is passed to the children, continuing a vicious cycle.

The Solution - CHOICE

CHOICE addresses both problems by promoting a choice of plant-based meals and nutrition education in our nation's schools. 

The problems outlined above can be solved only with the active cooperation of five key constituencies -- parents, teachers, school administrators, food service personnel, and students. 

Our specific objectives are listed below:

• To encourage and assist parents in promoting a choice of wholesome plant-based meals and nutrition education in their children's schools and at home

• To encourage and assist teachers in providing plant-based nutrition education 

• To assist school administrators in switching to a 'healthy cafeteria'

• To encourage and assist school food service personnel in providing healthy plant-based meals in a 'healthy cafeteria' environment

• To encourage and assist students in selecting (and even preparing their own) healthy plant-based meals and in forming food and nutrition clubs

This web site addresses each key constituency in a series of dedicated sections. Each section is supported by fact sheets and links to additional resources. Other features include a guide to effecting change, a list of related programs, updates on recent developments, and a discussion board.

Finally, we strongly encourage your involvement in CHOICE with a donation or by contacting us to help you introduce needed reforms in your own community. 

CHOICE
PO Box 30654, Bethesda MD 20817

Visit the CHOICE Homepage