MILWAUKEE — The creators of the "Got Milk?" campaign are getting ready to make a big push to keep chocolate milk on kids' minds and on school lunch menus, a plan that has some educators and obesity activists none too pleased.
The new ad campaign from the dairy industry, set to launch Monday, emphasizes that sugary flavorings are ways to get kids to drink milk. Without them, some youngsters won't drink regular milk and won't get its nutrients, the ads say.
The "Raise your hand for chocolate milk" campaign starts Monday with an ad in USA Today featuring chocolatey brown colors and the launch of a Web site that asks people to sign a petition declaring their support for chocolate milk in school.
But some educators and obesity experts say kids get enough calcium — essential for bone growth — and will drink white milk if it's the only milk offered. They say kids get too much sugar, which is heightening America's obesity problem, and schools shouldn't serve chocolate milk at all.
The idea behind the campaign is to draw a distinction between chocolate milk and the soda and candy that have come under attack in schools, said Vivien Godfrey, CEO of the Milk Processor Education Program, the industry marketing group that developed the campaign with the National Dairy Council. Godfrey said the effort will cost between $500,000 and $1 million.
She said most kids choose chocolate milk, but without it they drink juice, soda or water, which don't have the same nutrients. The facts — that chocolate milk does have nutrients — are getting lost in the debate over school lunches, she said.
"If there's even a chance chocolate milk might get taken out of schools, that really can do more harm than good," she said.
It's not clear how many schools have chocolate milk or are pulling it. But parents and school districts are becoming increasingly concerned and asking for more information, said Margie Saidel, a vice president with Chartwells School Dining Services, which manages food programs in 600 districts and supports chocolate milk.
But experts like Marlene Schwartz, deputy directory of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, want chocolate milk tossed. She said kids have too much sugar already and chocolate milk has no place in schools.
Dairy products are a common source of added sugar in children's diets, so that's why parents and educators consider removing them, she said. But the research does not point to any calcium shortages when chocolate milk is removed in schools.
"I don't believe children are going to go on a thirst strike and refuse to drink anything," she said.
Kids happily drink white milk — now the only offering at the Boulder Valley School District in Boulder, Colo., said Ann Cooper, the school's director of nutrition services, who calls herself the "renegade lunch lady" for her efforts to promote more nutrition in school lunches.
She estimates that the extra calories from chocolate milk — as much as 40 or 60 calories on top of a typical 110 calorie 8-ounce serving of white milk — could add up to 5 pounds of weight gain over the 180-day school year. That's why the district no longer offers chocolate milk.
Chocolate milk does have its defenders, even among nutritionists.
"It's better to get the milk in with a little bit of sugary flavoring than have them pick almost any alternative," said Connie Weaver, head of the department of Food and Nutrition at Purdue University and a spokeswoman for the American Society for Nutrition. She has received research funding over the years from the dairy industry, but not on chocolate milk, she said.
A student petition got a Barrington, Ill., distrcit to compromise on its chocolate milk ban.
A soon-to-be fifth-grader, 10-year-old Haley Morris drafted her own petition in support of flavored milk and got about 70 signatures.
Superintendent Tom Leonard decided on a compromise: "Flavored milk Fridays" where the district offers chocolate or strawberry milk one day a week. The district is testing the program through January to see if kids drink more milk the days flavors are offered.
"All of my friends and I, we just wanted chocolate milk back to drink because we like chocolate milk better than white," Morris said.
Their beef? The AAFP announced in October that it accepted a six-figure grant from the Coca-Cola Co. to create content about beverages and sweeteners for the academy's consumer Web site, FamilyDoctor.org.
The AAFP said its first-ever "consumer alliance" would enable the academy to develop educational materials and "incorporate the products [consumers] love into a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle." The new content is expected to launch in January.
The partnership created a stir among some physicians, nutritionists and health experts. Many saw the arrangement as a threat to the 62-year-old academy's commitment to science and family medicine.
Among the critics, in addition to Esselstyn's group, are the Center for Science in the Public Interest and nutrition authority Marion Nestle.
Soda and other sweetened beverages are the No. 1 source of added sugars in the U.S. diet, the American Heart Association says, and many health experts blame the drinks, at least in part, for the soaring U.S. obesity rate. A 12-ounce can of soda can contain up to 10 teaspoons of sugar.
"The AAFP's Web site should be criticizing sugar-sweetened beverages in the strongest language and providing candid, objective advice about the health and safety questions related to diet drinks," the letter sent by Esselstyn's group says. "But with Coca-Cola providing the funding, the AAFP simply cannot do that."
(CNN) -- The first lady of the United States has opened up the White House to the Food Network in an episode of "Iron Chef America" that will air in January.
Michelle Obama will appear on the show and announce the "secret ingredient" to the chefs before the competition. The episode, which has already been filmed, will feature chefs using ingredients that were grown in the Obama family's White House vegetable garden.
This will mark the first time that a first lady has appeared in a reality television series. Obama agreed to take part in the show as part of her efforts to promote healthy living to the American public.
The episode will feature White House executive chef Cristeta Comerford as well as celebrity chefs Bobby Flay, Mario Batali and Emeril Lagasse.
Cook-off judges include British chef Nigella Lawson, actress Jane Seymour and U.S. Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin.
During her appearance, Obama spoke about the influence that cooking shows like "Iron Chef" have on the American perception of healthy foods.
"It's going a long way to help change the way this country thinks about food," she told the chefs.
The first lady has begun a crusade to get Americans, particularly children, to follow a healthier diet. She launched the Healthy Kids Initiative to encourage healthier eating and urge children to reject fast food.
White House aides said that Obama's willingness to appear on the program and invite the show into her home proves her dedication to this cause.
Have you been to the San Francisco Ferry Building lately?
The economy may have many consumers in a stranglehold, but you'd never know it at ground zero for Bay Area food culture. Folks are still lining up to nibble on Scharffen Berger's Asante single origin chocolate ($7), to guzzle Blue Bottle's New Orleans iced coffee ($3), and to stock up on 7-ounce bottles of Stonehouse blood orange olive oil ($14).
I know, I know. You may not indulge in such edible extravagances. But before the boom expanded our grocery budget and the luxury food business stepped up to fulfill our every desire, how many of us indulged in gourmet vittles at all? Now many Bay Area residents are addicted to at least some level of gastronomic indulgence: If not coffee then tea, if not pomegranates then pine nuts, if not shiitakes then organic sausage.
Indeed, numbers support the idea that foodies (and we know the Bay Area has a lot of them) aren't willing to do without. According to consumer research firm Packaged Facts, sales of gourmet, specialty and premium foods and beverages have been growing at much faster rates than those of the overall food and beverage industry for the past five years.
In a recent Harris Poll (funded by Whole Foods), 51 percent reported eating dinner at home more often, but 76 percent said they were not willing to compromise on food quality, regardless of prices. Recent research by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade found that consumers in the western United States are 13 percent more likely to buy specialty foods than the rest of the country.
Curious about how a new economic reality - 2.2 million unemployed people in California - has changed the market for gourmet foods, I began grilling Ferry Building merchants amid their impatient, hungry clientele (how long do you have to wait for a muffuletta, I ask you?). The response was unanimous: The bust had changed buying patterns, but not profit margins.
John Smit, owner of Hidden Star Orchards, purveyor of apples, grapes and delectable fresh squeezed juices, has noticed that though restaurant orders have declined, orders by small specialty grocers like Bi-Rite have more than made up the loss. "It's balanced out," he says.
Jacky Recchiuti, co-owner of Recchiuti Confections, echoed this sentiment. While big orders for parties and weddings had dropped, sales from individuals buying for their own consumption seem just as strong if not stronger than before. "There are fewer people," she said. "But those that come seem to buy more."
An assistant manager at Scharffen Berger (the other cacao den down the hall) speculated that the resilience of the high-end chocolate market is in fact a side effect of our new austerity: "I think people will luxuriate in a chocolate bar when they no longer let themselves go to restaurants."
Indeed, the gourmet product market seems to be surviving the restaurant industry's dark days - and even benefiting from them. (In a recent Bay Area survey by Zagat, 52 percent of responders reported that they were eating out less because of the slow economy.) A clerk at Stonehouse Olive Oil told me that sales have improved because people are cooking more.
If people were no longer buying the $5 T-shirts from Mervyns (which filed for Chapter 11 in July 2008), how could they afford $5 bars of chocolate?
"We've definitely cut back in all areas of spending except for food," said Adam Gard of Oakland, speaking for most locals queried in my random (albeit unscientific) survey about their food shopping habits. "It's the small daily pleasures that make the other sacrifices easier to handle. ... It's not cheap on the pocketbook, but we view it as an investment in our health along with our spirit ... the spirit that thrives on tasty edibles."
Many offered details about how their expensive purchases somehow managed to save them money. "The one area I absolutely will not compromise on is food," explained Holly Hansen, adding that she splurges regularly on free-range chickens for $20 each bought directly from a rancher. "They are worth every penny, and I can get at least two meals for my family of four out of them, because they go further and just taste so much better than some mass-produced chicken."
In a sense, food culture seems to be toughing it through economic times because it's not just about dollars and calories. In the Bay Area, food has become the presiding metaphor for a consciously led life: pleasure, politics, identity and love for family all wrapped up in one. And that's one reason why staying home for the holidays may not be cheap, but it's almost guaranteed to be tasty.
I have decided that this six-course meal will be French-themed. Therefore, each course should draw from the amazing cuisines of France for inspiration.
Bon Appetit!
At this point, poor Vanessa is all alone for dessert. So if you would like to help her out, sign up in the comments section below.
