By Joyce Ho
Los Altos has always prided itself on being a leader in promoting healthful lifestyles.
Driving from Stanford back to my cozy Los Altos abode, passing weekly organic farmers’ markets along the way, I spot packs of bikers sporting their sponsorship apparel, cycling determinedly down Junipero Serra Boulevard. No fewer than five Whole Foods Markets provide organic produce within 10 miles of the city, and more than 20 gyms dot the landscape from Los Altos to Cupertino.
Yet underneath this seemingly health-conscious exterior lurks a growing problem, one that is causing high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure in our children and teens. Recent research shows that 19.8 percent of children and teens are obese based on body mass index (BMI) measurements, and this percentage is on the rise. Through partnerships with local farms, we can counter this ever-increasing threat by improving school lunch menus to offer healthful and delicious meals to our children and teens.
One potential partner is Hidden Villa, a 1,600-acre farm and wilderness preserve founded in 1945 in Los Altos Hills. Hidden Villa has a history of growing organic produce, taking care not to use conventional (but still harmful) pesticides. Our schools should take advantage of this local resource by starting a program of food delivery, offering weekly meals prepared from Hidden Villa food instead of the usual school lunch. This ensures that the meals provided on those days will be healthful alternatives to the deep-fried, overly sweet, high-in-fat-and-sodium foods contributing to child and teen obesity.
Forming a partnership with farms will also result in long-term educational benefits for students. Hidden Villa offers classes for students from local schools as part of its goal to heighten awareness of environmental stewardship. Students on field trips to the farm simultaneously learn about ecology and home economics as they learn about and prepare foods on the farm.
If this program were expanded to elementary schools, it could introduce knowledge of the environment and healthful food at an early age. As students internalize the importance of healthful eating through hands-on experience at a farm, the prevalence of childhood and teen obesity will decrease.
After establishing partnerships with farms, schools can implement a cooking and gardening program on school grounds with the assistance of farm volunteers. This idea is modeled on The Edible Schoolyard program, started by world-renowned chef Alice Waters at a Berkeley middle school in 1995. Her vision was to create a garden that was well integrated into the school’s curriculum and lunch menu. Students take part in all aspects of garden maintenance, from planting crops to making meals. A similar program can be implemented in our schools. The cooperation of all school individuals will foster a sense of unity through working toward a common goal and will serve to create bonds among students, faculty and staff.
Obesity in teens and children has increased from 5 percent to 17.4 percent since the mid-1970s. Surprisingly, Los Altos is following this trend. Collaborations with local farms followed by maintenance of a garden on campus target learning nutrition at school, giving our children and teens more healthful meal alternatives that will decrease the prevalence of obesity.
Joyce Ho is a Los Altos resident who just completed her sophomore year studying human biology at Stanford University.
