The article's title "Kraft Foods announces plan to put healthier snacks in kids' lunch boxes" is a little misleading, but it is all relative I guess. -- After reading majordojo-20%26creative=D1WN3AGPOVJFTU%26camp=2025%26link_code=xm2%26path=ASIN/0060938455">Fast Food Nation (which is about much more than McDonalds BTW) I was most shocked by what I learned in regards to the tactics employed by the food industry to market to children directly in our public school system, and how willing schools are to let them do it given how strapped for cash they are. In any event, I am by no means giving Kraft a standing ovation for their latest set of announcements, but I have to at least give them a nod for taking a step in the right direction. Children are never taught about proper diets by our school system (unless it is by the meat or dairy industry i.e. "The 5 basic food groups," see Diet for New America), but they do develop dietary habits in our school system. And hell, how could an unsupervised child not buy a Coke instead of a fruit juice, or a package of Oreos instead of a healthier alternative? No wonder our country is facing an obesity epidemic.
Kraft foods to battle obesity in children!
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This, at least, is encouraging: "[Kraft] is forming an expert advisory council that will review Kraft's products and recommend changes in its single-portion packages of cookies, crackers and other snacks." I think one of the biggest causes of America's obesity epidemic is our totally out-of-control idea of food portioning. And how much people eat has little to do with how food is packaged: A pint of ice cream, according to the nutritional information on the back, comprises 4 servings. But how many people knock out a pint in one or two bowls, or consume the equivalent in their daily lunchtime shake, alongside a burger and SuperSize fries, no less? It's not as though smaller packages is a great solution, especially when you consider the impact on the environment, but as you say, in a food culture so hopelessly out of whack, every little step counts.