Executive Summary
In 1992 Susan Campbell began working with EarthSave International, founded by John Robbins, the author of Diet For A New America. While collaborating with well-respected health and environmental professionals at ESI, Susan co-authored The Healthy School Lunch Action Guide and catalyzed the Healthy School Lunch Program, a nationally acclaimed award-winning program that develops healthy lunch programs in public/private schools and empowers children to choose healthier diets at school and home.
This work led Campbell to a basic realization: while a poor diet had multiple, negative short/long-term implications for children, it was also a major symptom of a larger issue -- the unhealthy mental, physical and emotional lifestyles of today’s youth. These unhealthy lifestyles are pervasive because there is no central integrative concept that increases health and is acceptable to youth. Instead, American children are cast adrift in an ocean of drive-thru media culture and consumerism that reinforces negative or indifferent behavior.
In such an environment consumption is not only about eating; it is also about socialization. American children are consuming a hodgepodge of practically everything but health and well-being. In this culture, it’s all too easy for children to find negative stereotypes or simply a void where positive, integrative models could exist. It is therefore no surprise that many kids fall by the wayside: 8.5 million American children between 6 and 18 are now taking anti-depressants or other medications for depression or mental illness – one of many such statistics.
This realization inspired Campbell to develop a project that would make a continuing impact on children’s health and wellness. Her subsequent research and discussions with students, health professionals, educators, and community, corporate, and government leaders led to the 1997 launch of Spirit in Action with the support of the Rockefeller Foundation, the New Earth Foundation, the Threshold Foundation, and private donors. The mission of Spirit In Action is:
to provide American caregivers with a comprehensive view of the known
causes for the rising epidemic of mental, physical and emotional health
problems afflicting millions of American children;
to develop positive health awareness and acceptance among American youth;to advocate ongoing use of the integrative healing methods offered in
nutrition, psychology, physical fitness, social practices, body-mind
techniques, and both alternative and conventional medicine.
Executive Summary
In 2003 Spirit In Action will fulfill this mission through two groundbreaking programs. The first, Healthy School Meals (HSM), develops a new, economically viable infrastructure for a Healthy Hot Meal and Salad Bar Program in a public school. To this end Spirit in Action has partnered with the Los Angeles School District to create a business and operational plan in The Accelerated School (TAS), whose students come from a low-income, multi-cultural inner city neighborhood. This 3-year project will develop a viable business and operational plan that meets all state, federal and district guidelines. The second and third years call for the plan’s implementation and documentation as well as marketing and distribution to school districts nationwide.The second project, Healing America’s Youth, provides healthy, integrated solutions and strategies for change through a powerful national multi-media campaign that includes a book, a four-part television special, and an interactive website.
Healing America’s Youth will reflect the fact that no single risk factor determines a child’s future well-being; rather, it’s the accumulation of social, economic, and environmental influences that account for differences in childhood development and health. Although specialists and researchers in a variety of fields have addressed these overlapping concerns, their findings are usually reported independently. Healing America’s Youth will be the first public education resource to document and link the consequences of poor nutrition, agricultural chemicals, media, commercial advertising, and the epidemic of childhood illnesses and concurrent behavioral disorders. Healing America’s Youth is a comprehensive program designed to uncover the systemic causes of these pervasive problems and offer practical, everyday solutions for positive, lasting change.
In 2003 Spirit In Action’s work will be partially supported by the Donner Foundation (contingent on matching grants), and private donors. Spirit in Action is seeking $2,259,415 for its combined remaining 2003 and 2004 budgets. This will enable: the development of the Healthy Meal Program model and its national implementation; completion of a scientifically documented book, Healing America’s Youth; production of the corresponding 4 Part TV series; development of an interactive internet resource for children, parents, and educators. The book, television special and interactive internet site will be completed in 2003 and available to the general public in 2004.
[ Healing America's Youth ]
Spirit
In Action
2525-E4
Arapahoe Ave. Suite 322
Boulder, CO 80303
949-307-7760
hchp@spiritinaction.org
Action Guide copy write @1994 Earthsave Foundation