Super Size Me Page #7

the feeding of your children to.

Sodexho services more than

400 k-12 school districts

nationwide every day,

providing quality food like

little Debbie snack cakes,

Gatorade, and candy bars

to your children.

They also operate prisons

and feed thousands

of inmates worldwide.

Part of our position

is that we're hoping

that through

nutrition education,

the students will learn

to make the right food choices

without restricting

what they can purchase.

At this middle school

in Beckley, west Virginia,

the school lunches don't have

the flair they do in Illinois.

This school does not outsource

their food service,

but they are on the federal

school lunch program,

providing USDA reimbursable

meals to the students,

most of which are reheated,

reconstituted packaged foods.

Some days the amount of calories

in each meal tops 1,000.

So, the USDA

sends this food

for you

to prepare for kids.

Right. Well, not all of it, now.

You've got sloppy Joe

bar-b-que sauce with pork.

From the government.

Whatever happened to cooks

actually cooking?

I don't know what happened.

Too many whiny people.

They don't want

to work hard.

It's easy to come in here.

This is the best tool

we got right here --

box opener.

That's your chef's tool,

the box cutter.

Open up a box, serve it,

give it to them.

Let's look at the things

that are actually cooked.

Here's a menu.

Mashed potatoes.

Ham.

Chili will be homemade.

The chili

will be homemade.

What about

the tomato soup?

Campbells.

Meatballs?

Comes in a box.

You heat it up.

Out of the course

of an entire month,

6 out of 36.

You're only cooking

6 out of 36 meals?

Appleton central

alternative high school

is filled with students who have

truancy and behavioral problems.

But they've turned

things around --

not through discipline,

but through diet.

We were fortunate

to kind of stumble across

this healthy program

as a result of some contact

with natural oven and bakery

of Manitowoc Wisconsin,

and they believe

in low-fat, low-sugar,

non-chemically processed foods

that are free of dyes

and preservatives,

full of whole grains,

a lot of fresh fruits

and vegetables.

We do no beef here at all,

and then it's the method

of preparation,

where we don't fry.

A lot of baking

and then just fresh preparation,

as opposed to opening cans

or thawing things out

from the box.

We got rid of candy machines,

soda machines,

brought in bottled water,

and it was just a situation

where we saw a major change in the kids.

If you walk through these halls,

and you're here,

these do not look like at-risk,

out-of-control kids.

Their behaviors are better.

They seem to be more focused.

Teachers will tell you

that they get more

out of them in the class.

Keep in mind,

this is not a private school.

These are the "trouble kids"

of the public school system

in Appleton, Wisconsin,

that are eating so well.

and it costs about the same

as any other

school lunch program.

So my question is --

why isn't everyone doing this?

There's an awful lot

of resistance

from the junk food companies

that make huge profits off

schools at the present time.

They don't want to get kicked

out of the school system.

They want to be there

to addict the children for life.

The soft drink companies,

especially, boast about

how they're contributing

to America's education,

but, in fact, what they're doing

is they're draining money

from the community

rather than contributing money

to the community

because the soft drink companies

aren't pumping those dollars

into the machines.

It's the children

in the community

who are getting the money

from their parents,

and instead of that money

going directly to education,

the soft drink companies

are taking a cut of it

and walking away rich

as a consequence.

We just banned soda

in our school district,

and the sugar here shows you how

much sugar a student will drink

in a week of just soda.

Forget about

the rest of the food they eat.

And some of these companies

are really opposing the ban

for reasons of

that we would lose revenue.

And it's not about money.

It's not about economics.

It's about health.

The McDonald's

Texas home-style burger meal.

That's a --

that's a local specialty.

So it's kind of like

a big 'n' tasty?

Yes, except the big 'n' tasty

comes with mayonnaise.

Oh, then, you know what?

I need the McDonald's Texas

homestyle burger meal, please.

Would you like

to super-size it today?

Oh, yes, I would.

Do a lot of people

super-size it?

Yes.

Say you asked five people.

How many of those five do it?

Actually,

I get mostly all of them.

Mostly all of them?

So you're batting about 100%?

I guess.

See that?

She's that good.

Deborahs that good.

First meal inside the restaurant

that I went in to get,

and they asked me

to super-size it.

We're gonna keep a little tabs,

see how many times they ask me

to super-size it here in Texas,

'cause Texas, out of the top 1

5 fattest cities in America,

Texas has five.

Here we are -- Houston, Texas,

fattest city in America,

getting my first breakfast.

Hi, can I help you, sir?

When it comes

to the topic of obesity,

many people are quick

to point the finger

at various foods

and food companies,

but the grocery manufacturers

of America,

a Washington, D.C.-based

lobby group,

whose mission

is to advance the interests

of the food, beverage,

and consumer products industry,

are quick

to shift the focus away

from the companies

they represent

and to remind everyone

that there's more at work here

than just eating poorly.

We believe

very strongly in our industry,

and in other industries,

I think you'll find

there's a growing consensus

that the solution

lies in good education.

We have to get good information

to parents

so that they can

teach their children

better exercise

and nutrition habits

and so they can lead

the healthy lifestyles.

We don't teach physical

education in schools anymore.

In the U.S., only one state

requires mandatory physical

education for grades k-12.

It's also one of the fattest -- Illinois.

You got a heart rate?

Phil Lawler

is the phys ed teacher

at Madison junior high school,

home of the soaring war hawks,

the snack-ridden school lunches

we saw earlier,

and one of the most

well-executed

physical education programs

in the country.

Supported mostly by fundraising

and parent involvement,

Lawler has created a role model

for instructors

and school districts nationwide.

When's the last time you

ever heard of a science class

fundraising to get their labs?

eventually, society

has to step up to the plate

and say, "This is important.

"We should have

daily physical education

and equip it properly."

We have to say,

"Our greatest strength

is the resource

of our young people."

That's our future,

and the way we're treating

our resources right now,

we're running into some

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