Vegetarian Star

In an effort to curb a high rate of obesity among children in the San Francisco area, some sources which cite is as high as 30% among 5th graders in the city, the city handed down some guidelines to area McDonalds on how they could serve toys with Happy Meals.

Starting in December 2011, toys can only be included if the meals contain less than 600 calories, less than 640 mg of sodium and less than 35 percent of calories in the meals could come from fat (less than 10 percent from saturated fat).

Daily Show correspondent Aasif Mandvi points out that keeping toys out of Happy Meals is a bad thing, considering they are the most nutritious part of the meal. The newly named “Crappy Meals” in the video contain educational information like the Periodic Table and a plastic figure of Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius who gives sobering stats on the state of children’s health.

Yeah, pretty blah. It’s much more impressive if kids get a McCruelty Unhappy Meal featuring knife-wielding Ronald McDonald, bloodied chickens and a kaleidoscope of mutilated animals. Now, THAT’S how you solve childhood obesity.

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Elmo visited the White House Kitchen,  in perfect timing for the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act being signed into law by President Obama, which is expected to bring changes to school menus that involve more fruits and vegetables and less processed food.

Elmo was there to experience the veggie burrito with beans, rice and peppers that White House chef Sam Kass whipped up prior to his arrival. When Elmo expresses concern about going to school because of the food, Kass reassures him there’s good food at school, adding, “Because of this new law that is passed, we’re going to make sure that all food is healthy,nutritious and delicious.”

While Kass’ statement is mostly true, as we noted recently, it may be harder to get a true vegetarian burrito at school than we hoped. Crossing our fingers all veg children will be able to do the “melon happy dance” that Elmo does when they get in the lunch line next year.

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Iron Chef competitor, founder of Chefs for Humanity and a celebrity chef who’s publicly acknowledged the value of incorporating more vegetarian meals in a healthier diet, Cat Cora, is one of several celebrities praising Congress and Obama for putting the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act into law.

“From the First Lady’s Chefs Move to Schools initiative to the President’s Childhood Nutrition bill, the Obama Administration has instigated a much-needed attitude change towards proper nutrition. As a chef and as a mother of four, I understand the importance of providing my own children with wholesome meals and firmly believe that all of our nation’s children should be afforded the same opportunity to grow up healthy which is why this legislation is so important.”

A sample of what school menus looked like before and what they may offer now that the law has been signed is available online.

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The Child Nutrition Bill was passed by Congress and sent to Obama for his signature.

The bill received criticism from some who accused it of being overreaching and dictator-like in determining what’s acceptable for school children to eat while engaged in school activities. Bake sales may be a thing of the past, as the bill gives the government the ability to limit these if it determines they are being emphasized too much over healthy food.

The bill gives more money to schools to purchase food for meals, makes more children eligible for free or reduced lunch and gives cafeteria staff education in nutrition training. There’s also a mandatory $40 million in school garden and Farm To School programs to source ingredients from local producers.

The school gardens portion of the bill may boost students’ critical thinking skills as well as get their nutrition needs fulfilled. Third, fourth and fifth graders participating in school gardening curricula while receiving traditional classroom based education scored better on achievement tests than students who received classroom education only.

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Some parents name their children when they’re under the influence (of alcohol, epidural or whatever). Pink and her husband Carey Hart have decided to name their first child after the substance that causes tipsiness.

Pink told Access Hollywood, “My dad’s name is James, and my brother’s name is Jason. [Carey and I] are both Irish, Carey’s middle name is Jason, [and] Jameson – we like whiskey. That’s a no brainer.”

For those that worry about the well being of a child that’s named after alcohol, have no fear. Little Jameson is already on the cool list cause he’s named after vegan whiskey!

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Reports are that vegetarian designer Stella McCartney has given birth to her fourth child in London by Cesarean.

The birth comes just weeks after the launch of Stella’s first clothing line for children, which features eco-friendly organic fabrics, no fur or leather and even a shirt that benefits the McCartney family’s Meat-Free Monday campaign to reduce meat consumption’s impact on the planet.

Will Stella’s latest edition serve as an inspiration for more baby designs from her collection? Ethical and environmentally conscious moms of the world sure hope so!

Photo: PR Photos

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Neil Patrick Harris was a guest on the “The Talk” to discuss his experiences with parenting. The actor and his partner, through the help of a surrogate, are the parents of twins.

With vegan Sara Gilbert and the other ladies of The Talk, Harris explains how he rejected Gilbert’s unconventional advice to raise vegan kids and not vaccinate them.

“You’re a crazy, granola person,” Harris says to Gilbert. “Not to vaccinate for ages and feed them certain weird foods,” he continues when asked what Gilbert recommended, ending with, “You’re a crazy vegan.”

Speaking of vaccinations, the issue over whether a parent should refuse to vaccinate a school attending child is not solely one related to the potential health consequences of the vaccine. Vegetarians and vegans may find vaccines against their principles as some of the formulas have contained animal and even human components to them.

The MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) vaccine contains live strains of the virus that is grown in chick embryo cells and then added to a mixture that contains other animal and human cells (gelatin, human albumin, fetal bovine serum).

Yet, another ethical quandary is the use of human fetal tissue in other vaccines.

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As part of her Let’s Move! initiative, First Lady Michelle Obama is expected to make an announcement on Monday about a program that will put 5,000 salad bars in schools across the U.S.

The campaign is not expected to move without opposition, though, primarily because of the USDA nutrition tracking rules and local health inspectors, reports Grist.org.

As Jamie Oliver learned when he tried to transform a Virginia town’s diet, the USDA has some strict rules about what qualifies for nutritious food (French fries are definitely okay) and schools won’t be open to the plan if they cannot get proper reimbursement.

A few school districts, Philadelphia, Austin, Tex., and Montgomery County, Md, have already decided they will not welcome the bars once the initiative starts.

There is also the question of sanitation.

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