Documentary Moms Angry Over School Food

Though the documentary Two Angry Moms came out almost two years ago, it's still drawing a crowd and getting a response.

The hour-long documentary was screened Wednesday night at the Ridgefield Library. Its filmmaker, Amy Kalafa of Weston, and the nutritionist featured in it, Ridgefielder Karen Siclair, were on hand for a question-and-answer session for the 30 eager attendees.

The event was part of the library's series of events.

The film opens with a discussion of childhood obesity and related health problems. It moves on to the sort of fare often found in school cafeterias: trans-fat laden muffins and cookies, greasy French fries, pizza and chicken nuggets. Even many of the students interviewed admit the food is unhealthy.

The movie also interviews parents, from local to celebrity, with Marcia Gay Harden, Marion Nestle and Alice Waters making comments about nutrition in American schools.

The documentary elicited audience reaction when it made mention of childhood obesity statistics, like the fact that one in four American children are on regular prescriptions and don't get enough exercise and the fact that one in two urban children are overweight or obese. The theory that the current generation of kids will be the first to have shorter lives than their parents elicited the strongest response.

The movie goes on to visit schools across the country that are doing a good job with nutrition, and they are few and far between—locally, the Katonah-Lewisboro schools in nearby Westchester County have made strides with their gardening and nutrition program while the fare on offer in their cafeterias lags a bit behind.

The movie concludes that parents need to be informed and become activists for their kids and that eating healthy at home isn't enough.

In the Q&A following the film, Siclair noted that Ridgefield's school lunches were provided by Chartwells and, while they were doing a better job than the previous company, things were far from ideal.

The new company is serving a menu more sensitive to kids with allergies, using more whole grains and fewer genetically-modified foods and unhealthy options, but upgrading further would be expensive.

Siclair also shared that the schools have a staff nutritionist with whom any parent can schedule a meeting.

Kalafa spoke at-length about New Canaan's ideal in-house school lunch program that employs a chef who creates seasonal menus using local ingredients. Siclair added that eating in that cafeteria is "like dining in a 4-star restaurant."

She left the audience with this thought: "Why should a school district try to make money on food? They don't make money on textbooks or charge students to use the bathrooms. You can't think well if you don't eat well."