Posted 12:39 am Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Ag Commissioner Preaches The Importance Of Breakfast
By MEGAN MIDDLETON
Staff Writer
The state's Agriculture Commissioner munched on ham and biscuits alongside students during breakfast at Ramey Elementary Monday morning in an effort to promote National School Breakfast Week.
Staff Writer
The state's Agriculture Commissioner munched on ham and biscuits alongside students during breakfast at Ramey Elementary Monday morning in an effort to promote National School Breakfast Week.
Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, who is also a former state senator and state representative from East Texas, then talked with students about the importance of taking time to eat breakfast each day.
"Eating a healthy breakfast makes you smarter. It makes you do better on tests. It makes you feel better throughout the day," Staples said. "We really think it's important in the state of Texas that you have healthy, nutritious meals."
Staples is also visiting schools in San Antonio and Harris County this week to promote the importance of breakfast.
According to Staples' office, research shows that eating breakfast helps weight management, while missing breakfast puts children more at risk of obesity.
"We're facing a crisis in Texas today," Staples said after his talk with students. "We're sixth highest in the nation in the number of obese children. And taxpayers are picking up the tab for poor eating choices."
He said the good news is that schools are doing an outstanding job in preparing nutritious breakfasts and lunches.
"But we're losing the battle after school, on the weekends and during the summer," Staples said. "We want to highlight the importance of not only eating right, but healthy lifestyles."
Ramey Elementary School Technology tacher Kris Ann Benett assists Fifth grader Christian Merrick in using a laptop to monitor the live cast on video of the morning announcements.
He said to do that they have come up with the "Three Es" initiative, similar to the "Three Rs."
The "Three Es" are education, exercise and eating right.
The Texas Department of Agriculture administers the school lunch and breakfast programs in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and with schools statewide.
"We're very pleased that participation in the school lunch program and school breakfast program has been on the rise," Staples said. "It means we're reaching out to more kids ... and it's having an impact on the overall health of our kids."
Kids without proper nutrition and who are overweight are more prone to have diabetes, heart disease and other ailments, he said.
"Parents have to be involved in every aspect of their children's lives, particularly eating choices," Staples said. "We're here to partner, but it all starts at home."
During his talk with students, Staples also quizzed them on state agriculture issues, from what the state flower is to what the state fruit is as well as how many cows there are in the state.
"We have 14 million cows in Texas," he told the kids during his agriculture talk. "We have more cows in Texas than they have people in 46 states. We have so many cows in this state, we have enough hamburger patties if you laid it side by side to go to the moon and back two times or to circle the earth over 40 times."
Staples, along with his wife, also toured Ramey Elementary with students and school officials
Diana Gonzalez, a fifth grader at Ramey, said it was nice the state leader visited her school and ate breakfast there. She said the importance of eating breakfast is for "the nutrition."
She eats breakfast every morning, "so I can work better in the class..."
Victor Olivares, food service coordinator for Tyler ISD, estimated that about 9,000 students eat breakfast at TISD.
Breakfast is offered at no charge to all TISD elementary students, a program the district started a few years ago to promote breakfast, Olivares said.
