I spent four of the last six years observing and writing about two of Columbus’ poorest urban high schools. Our barometer for poverty? Food. Between 70 and 80 percent of the students qualified for free or assisted lunches. And for too many of those students, the food provided at school was the only food in their lives that they could rely on. Period.

So I’m watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution and campaign with interest. I’ve seen the cafeteria trays full of highly processed foods and utter lack of fresh produce. I’ve seen attempts to make things “healthier” include weird appeasements like replacing soda in vending machines with sugary fruit drinks that have less than 10 percent juice.  So far, most of the focus of the show has been on childhood obesity. But not every kid that subsists on food that’s 90 percent byproducts and additives and really garbage is overweight. That doesn’t mean that the effect on a young person’s health isn’t just as negative.

Kids currently consume food made with lower standards than most fast food chains. If you’ve seen Morgan Spurlock’s documentary Super Size Me, think about that and read that sentence again. Go.  If you haven’t seen it, click that link and watch it.

I’ve wondered what it must be like to try and learn and focus when your body is running on that kind of fuel. How does a young person handle testing or classroom challenges or social conflict while his or her body is processing that kind of food? And if you don’t know exactly how bad school lunches can be, check out the blog Fed Up With School Lunch, written by a teacher who has committed to eat exactly what the kids are offered every day.

Through my association with the Ohio Moms Blog, I was able to jump on a call with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack several weeks ago. Several other women who blog for Silicon Valley Moms wrote about the call and the issues it raised. I’m pleased to know that the highly political USDA food pyramid is being revamped (Mark Bittman laid out the gnarled, industry-driven history of its existing nutritional considerations well in his book, Food Matters) and that slowly but surely, we are moving toward new, better choices.