Traverse City Record-Eagle

Opinion

February 5, 2012

Letters to the editor: 02/05/2012

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Don't want to pay more

The Grand Traverse County Road Commission is getting ready to proceed with another attempt at a road maintenance millage. I will not vote for it. The commission has done nothing internally to change its business model and/or management team. This is the same group that perceives that they need raises and vehicles to drive back and forth from home to work. I don't want to pay more taxes and have them poorly utilized.

The state is going to raise gas pump prices and vehicle licensing; we can't afford to have every other entity go to the trough, too. Take Gov. Snyder's advice, have the county take over the road commission and do away with a layer of boards and governing.

Bill Plough

Traverse City

Burgers still dominate

School lunches may soon look different — but not different enough to stem the tide of childhood obesity. The U.S. Department of Agriculture just issued new guidelines for school lunches, but as a dietitian, I think it's unfortunate that burgers, pizza and other unhealthy foods will likely still be front and center.

The new guidelines do not require schools to offer meatless entrées or nondairy beverage options to all students. Meat, milk and cheese are packed with calories and saturated fat, and they play a huge role in the obesity epidemic. The new guidelines offer low-fat and nonfat milk, but these products are still high in sugar and cholesterol. And a cup of 1 percent, unflavored low-fat milk has about the same amount of calories as a cup of sugary soda.

It is estimated that students get half to one-third of their calories at school. We need to make sure schools provide foods that set our future generations up for lifelong good eating habits — and lifelong good health.

Susan Levin

Washington, D.C.

The writer is director of nutrition education for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

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