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GOURMET NEWS APRIL 2015 www.gourmetnews.com GENERAL NEWS 6 Report Documents Effects of Hunger on Children In a report released on March 3, educators are revealing the effects that hunger and poverty have on kids, and what they see as the solution. According to the report, 76 percent of ed- ucators say they regularly see students who are struggling with hunger, and attest to the problems that causes. But many see a solu- tion that works: breakfast served as part of the regular school day. For classroom teachers, students who are well-fed are able to focus, function and achieve academic success. Surveying more than 1,000 school em- ployees nationwide, the Hunger in Our Schools report, released by No Kid Hungry, takes an in-depth look at the impact of childhood hunger through the eyes of teachers, principals, guidance counselors, bus drivers and more. "This is the first year we've had a free breakfast program for all students," said Margot Shaver, a first-grade teacher. "Not only are we feeding their physical needs, we're feeding their emotional needs. The light turns on; they're able to function in the classroom." News broke in February that for the first time, more than half of American public school students come from low-income families. School breakfast is a critical re- source for these kids, but while nearly 21 million students in the United States eat free or reduced-price lunch, only half of them (11.2 million) are getting the school breakfast they also qualify for. Three quarters of educators whose stu- dents eat breakfast in the classroom report that it makes a difference: students are more alert in class, exhibit less disciplinary problems and have better attendance. In addition, breakfast programs can foster a sense of classroom community and lessen the social stigma often faced by children from low-income families. "We've seen this work in school district after school dis- trict," said Billy Shore, Founder and CEO of Share Our Strength. "Some of the teach- ers we know that had reservations now tell us it's the best thing that's happened in their classroom." Many educators say that traditional school breakfast – served in the cafeteria, early in the morning before the bell rings – isn't always effective. "Most of the stu- dents that need breakfast the most arrive late, so they miss out on the breakfast program. Current breakfast programs do not work, because they aren't catering to the population that needs them the most," said Guidance Counselor Wintour McNeel. For the full report, visit www.hunger inourschools.org. GN Dietary Guidelines Continued from PAGE 1 In order to comply with the Dietary Guidelines, Americans may have to reduce screen time, eat at fast food restaurants less often, eat at home with their families more often and monitor their own diet and body weight. For this approach to work, it would also be essential for Americans, particularly low-income Americans, to have access to healthy and affordable food choices that re- spect their cultural preferences. The Advisory Committee would like to see the food industry respond by lowering the sodium and added sugars content of processed foods, raising the polyunsatu- rated to saturated fat ratio in food products and reducing portion sizes in retail settings like restaurants and the concession stands at sports venues – and then to convince Americans that they like the changes. "Efforts are needed by the food industry and food retail (food stores and restau- rants) sectors to market and promote healthy foods. The general public needs to be encouraged to purchase these healthier options. Making healthy options the de- fault choice in restaurants (e.g., fat- free/low-fat milk instead of sugar-sweetened beverages, and fruit and non-fried vegetables in Children's Meals, whole wheat buns instead of refined grain buns for sandwich meals) would facilitate the consumption of more nutrient dense diets. Food manufacturers and restaurants should reformulate foods to make them lower in overconsumed nutrients (sodium, added sugars and saturated fat) and calories and higher in whole grains, fruits and veg- etables," the report says. The Advisory Committee also urges government action to make sure that food nutrition labels are understandable by everyday people, includ- ing those who aren't fluent in English. The report asks the government to es- tablish policies to make healthy foods ac- cessible and affordable and to limit access to high-calorie, nutrient-poor foods and sugar-sweetened beverages in public buildings and facilities, to set nutrition standards for foods and beverages offered in public places and to improve retail food environments so that healthy foods will be accessible and affordable in underserved neighborhoods and communities. Accord- ing to the Advisory Committee report, Nutrition Facts labels should list added sugars in grams and teaspoons and in- clude a percent daily value to help con- sumers make informed decisions about how much added sugar is included in the foods they're buying, and revenues from taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages, snack foods and high-calorie desserts and other less healthy foods should be earmarked for nutrition education initiatives and obe- sity prevention programs. "... Taxation on higher sugar- and sodium-containing foods may encourage consumers to reduce consumption and revenues generated could support health promotion efforts. Alternatively, price incentives on vegeta- bles and fruits could be used to promote consumption and public health benefits," the report says. According to the Advisory Committee, Americans aren't getting enough vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, viatmin C, folate, cal- cium, magnesium, fiber or potassium. They aren't eating enough vegetables, fruits, whole grains and dairy. Americans in gen- eral are overconsuming sodium and satu- rated fat, refined grains and added sugars. Adult women aren't getting enough iron. More than 49 million people in the U.S., in- cluding nearly 9 million children, live in food insecure households, a condition in which the availability of nutritionally ade- quate food is limited or uncertain. According to the Advisory Committee, Americans should be "encouraged and guided to consume" a diet that's rich in veg- etables, fruit, whole grains, seafood, legume and nuts; moderate in low- and non-fat dairy products and alcohol (for adults); lower in red and processed meat; and low in sugar-sweetened foods and bev- erages and refined grains. This is pretty much the same dietary pattern characteris- tics recommended five years ago by the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Com- mittee, according to the report. GN Nutrition Continued from PAGE 1 lawsuits to keep that cholesterol recom- mendation on the labels, but those are likely to be ineffective, since the nutrition research that has been done over the past 30 years has shown that dietary consump- tion of cholesterol has no effect on blood levels because the cholesterol that's con- sumed in foods is broken down by diges- tive processes. "Dietary cholesterol doesn't count; it doesn't matter that much," Lem- pert said during a presentation at the Nat- ural Products Expo West. Grocers need to be prepared to respond to consumer confusion about the Nutrition Facts labels because consumers are reading those labels more than they have in the past, partly because Baby Boomers are ac- tively looking for products that will im- prove their nutrition and support their health as they age. They're more likely to be looking for nutritional support from the food they're eating than through supple- ments and vitamin tablets. More than half of consumers who partic- ipated in a recent survey said that they're eating a healthier diet now than they were a year ago, and grocers are seeing that at their checkstands. According to Supermarket News' annual Whole Health industry survey, conducted by Penton Research during the month of January 2015, 79.4 percent of re- spondents said that sales in health and well- ness-related categories have increased over the past 12 months and almost half said that their health and wellness category sales had increased by more than 15 percent. Lempert noted that some grocers are al- ready responding to consumer concerns about nutrition by hiring chefs, nutritionists and dietitians, and the investments in such personnel are paying off for those stores. As well as educating customers about nutrition, those professionals are helping Millennial generation customers who are more inter- ested in cooking at home than ever before and who are excited about food but are hun- gry for new ideas, learn how to prepare it for their tables. "Millennials have changed every- thing: the Millennials who are living at home with high college debt and low-paying jobs, have found one aspect of life to celebrate, and that's food," he said. Evidence of that can be noted in social media-driven food raves and food trucks and the proliferation of food blogs and online photographs of food. Lempert noted that the Millennial gener- ation's excitement about food has already changed the way we talk about food, how and what we eat and even how we photo- graph food. "We need to be thinking about what the consumer is thinking, and the consumer is thinking about something dif- ferent all the time," he said. "Your shoppers know a lot more than you think they do." Lempert noted that consumers have an enormous databank of recipes available to them online but insisted that they still want more, and grocers should provide them. "Although it might be trite to say people want more recipes, people want the adven- ture, they want excitement in food. Whether you're a brand or a retailer, give recipes," he said, adding that food manu- facturers should change the recipes appear- ing on their packaging now and then instead of leaving the same recipe on the label for a very long time. But even though consumers are excited about their food, they're not necessarily ex- cited about their grocery stores. Lempert noted that conventional grocers are losing market share. "Over the past 10 years, they've lost 15 percent to other channels, in- cluding convenience stores, fresh format stores and dollar stores," Lempert said. "Peo- ple want to buy food from people who stand for something. It doesn't matter what you stand for, whether you're ethnic or fresh for- mat, but you have to stand for something." Vic Sohagi's Lazy Acres Market is an ex- ample of what it means to stand for some- thing. His two Southern California natural foods stores are part of the Bristol Farms group, and they're "all about natural, or- ganic, gluten-free, low sodium, non-GMO. That's what we sell; that's what we're all about," he said. Sohagi is the President of Lazy Acres Market, and his customers aren't just Southern California surfer boys and girls. "I don't know that we have a typical shop- per," he said. "The market is very seg- mented. We have the hard-core natural food shopper who is dedicated to buying natural organic foods produced without chemicals. Then there's another group who are regular occasional shoppers who are typically after very specific items, often connected with a malady that affects them, then there's the occasional shopper who comes in very rarely. Our whole purpose is to get these people to move up in their pur- chases." It's often having children that makes young people look for healthier food, according to Sohagi, while older shoppers are often looking for foods that fit into diet-related illnesses. "Kids are a lifestyle change that encourage people to shop organically," he said. "Age-related health issues, such as diabetes, also bring people to look for foods that are low sugar. Low sugar/no sugar added is a big deal. People are looking for pasta sauces without sugar or sodium." GN

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