Oakland, CA - Approximately 100 leaders at a Mills College forum on April 4, 2007 called for major changes in children’s health and eating habits. Entitled “100 Leaders: the Mills Forum on Student Achievement, Children’s Health, and School Lunch,” the event featured national, state, and local leaders who also pointed out the need for increased funding to improve school meals. The event was sponsored by Mills College in partnership with The Center for Ecoliteracy and the UC Davis Center for Integrative Nutrition Environments in School Communities.

Delaine Eastin, former state superintendent of public instruction and a Mills distinguished visiting professor of educational leadership, led the first panel, pointing out that “Bringing gardens and cooking into the curriculum while we provide health education, can make schooling real and alive. And children who participate in a school garden will change nearly overnight, from anti-vegetable critics into vegetable advocates.” 

The first panel also featured Dr. David Styne, a leading pediatric endocrinologist at UC Davis, who cautioned that the effects of poor diet and insufficient exercise may not only result in dramatically shortened life expectancies in this generation of children, but extraordinarily high healthcare costs in the future.

California Secretary of Food and Agriculture A. G. Kawamura said the state needs a more focused approach to changing food policies related to breakfasts, lunches, and snacks served by various agencies. He urged the audience to engage in the reauthorization of the National Farm Bill before Congress this year.  Secretary Kawamura’s support for school gardens was instrumental in getting the administration to give the first state budget support, a $15 million set aside, in this year’s budget. Although when Eastin left office, in January of 2003, there were approximately 3000 gardens in California schools, few had been added in the last four years until this budget cycle earmarked funds for this purpose. 

Food service directors who improved menus in K-12 schools and colleges participated in a panel, and pointed out that the lives of children can be transformed by changing their school meals. 

A public policy panel featuring Tom Torlakson, state senator, Mary Hayashi, assemblywoman, Gina Daleiden, Davis school board member, and Michele Lawrence, superintendent of Berkeley public schools, was unanimous in advocating for more resources to improve California school lunches. The state subsidy, remaining flat at 12 cents per child for years, briefly climbed to 21 cents only to recently drop to 3 cents, resulting in a heavy reliance on surplus commodities that often offer unhealthy cafeteria options.

Senator Torlakson vowed to fight in the state legislature for a higher reimbursement rate and healthier food choices. He said, "Due to the obesity epidemic in California, we are facing a generation of children whose life expectancies will be shorter than those of their parents. As leaders, we must act now and reform our school cafeterias and physical education programs to mirror the nutrition we preach in the classroom. I was happy to share my vision for school food reform, SB 20, with the '100 Leaders Forum' at Mills College and applaud their efforts to make our schools healthier places for our children."

Berkeley chef and restaurateur Alice Waters, who with her Chez Panisse Foundation created the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, spoke eloquently about the joy of fresh, healthy food, and the comfort from slowly enjoying a meal with family and friends. She expressed concern that the lives of children will shorten  unless there is greater urgency about changing their eating habits.

The Mills Forum resulted in a Declaration of Principles that will be finalized and forwarded to local, state, and national policymakers. A follow-up conference at UC Davis is tentatively set for next year.

Mills College is a nationally renowned, independent liberal arts college offering innovative degree programs for undergraduate women, and graduate degree and certificate programs for women and men. Consistently recognized as one of the top 100 liberal arts colleges in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Mills currently ranks among the top 20 most diverse liberal arts colleges. The New York Times recently selected Mills as one of three leading California colleges for students to consider.

In 2006, the Washington Monthly College Rankings named Mills a leading liberal arts college based on community service, research spending, quality of preparation for graduate education, and social mobility. In addition, The Princeton Review’s annual guide, the Best 361 Colleges (2007) included Mills for the second year in a row among top U.S. institutions offering students an outstanding undergraduate education.

Nestled in the foothills of Oakland, California on 135 lush acres, Mills provides a dynamic liberal arts education fostering women’s leadership, social responsibility, and creativity.

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