Eating healthy is an important life lesson.

Kids go to school to learn, and part of what they learn about is healthy food and nutrition. Even if what they learn about nutrition isn’t ideal due to the food industry’s influence on what is taught, the food served at school should set a healthy example. Students may like unhealthy foods, but the hypocrisy is not lost on them when schools serve food that is not healthy.

Just like students who go home and tell their parents not to smoke because of what they learned at school, students become advocates for healthy eating at home when they learn about and experience healthy eating at school – we have seen this happen with the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack programs and also our Cool School Food program, which provides healthy plant-based entrees at school. Learning about healthy eating is a life lesson that not only helps each student, but the ripple effect has a positive impact on their families and generations to come.