0:00:00.772,0:00:02.312
I am a chef

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and a food policy guy,

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but I come from a whole[br]family of teachers.

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My sister is a special ed[br]teacher in Chicago.

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My father just retired[br]after 25 years teaching fifth grade.

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My aunt and uncle were professors.

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My cousins all teach.

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Everybody in my family, basically,[br]teaches except for me.

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They taught me that the only way[br]to get the right answers

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is to ask the right questions.

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So what are the right questions

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when it comes to improving[br]the educational outcomes for our children?

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There's obviously[br]many important questions,

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but I think the following[br]is a good place to start:

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What do we think the connection is

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between a child's growing mind

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and their growing body?

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What can we expect our kids to learn

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if their diets are full of sugar[br]and empty of nutrients?

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What can they possibly learn

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if their bodies[br]are literally going hungry?

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And with all the resources[br]that we are pouring into schools,

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we should stop and ask ourselves:

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Are we really setting[br]our kids up for success?

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Now, a few years ago,

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I was a judge on a cooking[br]competition called "Chopped."

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Four chefs compete[br]with mystery ingredients

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to see who can cook the best dishes.

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Except for this episode --[br]it was a very special one.

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Instead of four overzealous chefs[br]trying to break into the limelight --

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something that I would know[br]nothing about --

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(Laughter)

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these chefs were school chefs;

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you know, the women that you used[br]to call "lunch ladies,"

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but the ones I insist[br]we call "school chefs."

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Now, these women -- God bless[br]these women --

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spend their day cooking[br]for thousands of kids,

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breakfast and lunch,[br]with only $2.68 per lunch,

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with only about a dollar of that[br]actually going to the food.

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In this episode,

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the main-course[br]mystery ingredient was quinoa.

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Now, I know it's been a long time

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since most of you have had a school lunch,

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and we've made a lot[br]of progress on nutrition,

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but quinoa still is not a staple[br]in most school cafeterias.

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(Laughter)

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So this was a challenge.

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But the dish that I will never forget[br]was cooked by a woman

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named Cheryl Barbara.

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Cheryl was the nutrition director

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at High School in the Community[br]in Connecticut.

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She cooked this delicious pasta.

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It was amazing.

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It was a pappardelle with Italian sausage,

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kale, Parmesan cheese.

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It was delicious, like,[br]restaurant-quality good, except --

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she basically just threw the quinoa,[br]pretty much uncooked,

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into the dish.

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It was a strange choice,

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and it was super crunchy.

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(Laughter)

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So I took on the TV accusatory judge thing[br]that you're supposed to do,

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and I asked her why she did that.

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Cheryl responded, "Well, first,[br]I don't know what quinoa is."

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(Laughter)

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"But I do know that it's a Monday,

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and that in my school,[br]at High School in the Community,

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I always cook pasta."

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See, Cheryl explained[br]that for many of her kids,

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there were no meals on the weekends.

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No meals on Saturday.

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No meals on Sunday, either.

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So she cooked pasta[br]because she wanted to make sure

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she cooked something she knew[br]her children would eat.

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Something that would stick[br]to their ribs, she said.

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Something that would fill them up.

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Cheryl talked about how,[br]by the time Monday came,

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her kids' hunger pangs were so intense

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that they couldn't even begin[br]to think about learning.

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Food was the only thing on their mind.

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The only thing.

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And unfortunately, the stats --[br]they tell the same story.

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So, let's put this[br]into the context of a child.

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And we're going to focus on

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the most important meal[br]of the day, breakfast.

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Meet Allison.

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She's 12 years old,

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she's smart as a whip

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and she wants to be a physicist[br]when she grows up.

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If Allison goes to a school[br]that serves a nutritious breakfast

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to all of their kids,

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here's what's going to follow.

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Her chances of getting a nutritious meal,

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one with fruit and milk,[br]one lower in sugar and salt,

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dramatically increase.

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Allison will have a lower rate[br]of obesity than the average kid.

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She'll have to visit the nurse less.

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She'll have lower levels[br]of anxiety and depression.

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She'll have better behavior.

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She'll have better attendance,[br]and she'll show up on time more often.

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Why?

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Well, because there's a good meal[br]waiting for her at school.

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Overall, Allison is in much better health

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than the average school kid.

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So what about that kid

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who doesn't have a nutritious[br]breakfast waiting for him?

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Well, meet Tommy.

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He's also 12. He's a wonderful kid.

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He wants to be a doctor.

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By the time Tommy is in kindergarten,

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he's already underperforming in math.

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By the time he's in third grade,

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he's got lower math and reading scores.

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By the time he's 11,

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it's more likely that Tommy will have[br]to have repeated a grade.

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Research shows that kids[br]who do not have consistent nourishment,

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particularly at breakfast,

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have poor cognitive function overall.

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So how widespread is this problem?

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Well, unfortunately, it's pervasive.

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Let me give you two stats

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that seem like they're on opposite[br]ends of the issue,

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but are actually two sides[br]of the same coin.

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On the one hand,

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one in six Americans are food insecure,

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including 16 million children --[br]almost 20 percent --

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are food insecure.

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In this city alone, in New York City,

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474,000 kids under the age of 18[br]face hunger every year.

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It's crazy.

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On the other hand,

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diet and nutrition is the number one cause[br]of preventable death and disease

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in this country, by far.

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And fully a third of the kids[br]that we've been talking about tonight

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are on track to have diabetes[br]in their lifetime.

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Now, what's hard[br]to put together but is true

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is that, many times,[br]these are the same children.

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So they fill up on the unhealthy[br]and cheap calories

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that surround them in their communities[br]and that their families can afford.

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But then by the end of the month,

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food stamps run out[br]or hours get cut at work,

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and they don't have the money[br]to cover the basic cost of food.

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But we should be able[br]to solve this problem, right?

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We know what the answers are.

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As part of my work at the White House,[br]we instituted a program

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that for all schools that had[br]40 percent more low-income kids,

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we could serve breakfast and lunch[br]to every kid in that school.

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For free.

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This program has been[br]incredibly successful,

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because it helped us overcome[br]a very difficult barrier

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when it came to getting kids[br]a nutritious breakfast.

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And that was the barrier of stigma.

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See, schools serve[br]breakfast before school,

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and it was only available[br]for the poor kids.

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So everybody knew who was poor[br]and who needed government help.

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Now, all kids, no matter how much[br]or how little their parents make,

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have a lot of pride.

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So what happened?

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Well, the schools that have[br]implemented this program

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saw an increase in math and reading[br]scores by 17.5 percent.

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17.5 percent.

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And research shows that when kids[br]have a consistent, nutritious breakfast,

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their chances of graduating[br]increase by 20 percent.

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20 percent.

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When we give our kids[br]the nourishment they need,

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we give them the chance to thrive,

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both in the classroom and beyond.

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Now, you don't have to trust me on this,

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but you should talk to Donna Martin.

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I love Donna Martin.

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Donna Martin is the school nutrition[br]director at Burke County

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in Waynesboro, Georgia.

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Burke County is one[br]of the poorest districts

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in the fifth-poorest state in the country,

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and about 100 percent of Donna's students[br]live at or below the poverty line.

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A few years ago,

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Donna decided to get out ahead[br]of the new standards that were coming,

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and overhaul her nutrition standards.

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She improved and added[br]fruit and vegetables and whole grains.

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She served breakfast in the classroom[br]to all of her kids.

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And she implemented a dinner program.

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Why?

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Well, many of her kids didn't have[br]dinner when they went home.

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So how did they respond?

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Well, the kids loved the food.

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They loved the better nutrition,

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and they loved not being hungry.

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But Donna's biggest supporter[br]came from an unexpected place.

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His name from Eric Parker,

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and he was the head football coach[br]for the Burke County Bears.

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Now, Coach Parker had coached[br]mediocre teams for years.

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The Bears often ended[br]in the middle of the pack --

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a big disappointment in one[br]of the most passionate football states

0:10:02.890,0:10:04.058
in the Union.

0:10:04.542,0:10:09.150
But the year Donna changed the menus,

0:10:09.174,0:10:12.681
the Bears not only won their division,

0:10:12.705,0:10:15.144
they went on to win[br]the state championship,

0:10:15.168,0:10:17.534
beating the Peach County Trojans

0:10:17.558,0:10:18.880
28-14.

0:10:18.904,0:10:21.259
(Laughter)

0:10:21.283,0:10:22.797
And Coach Parker,

0:10:23.507,0:10:26.788
he credited that championship[br]to Donna Martin.

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When we give our kids[br]the basic nourishment,

0:10:32.059,0:10:33.464
they're going to thrive.

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And it's not just[br]up to the Cheryl Barbaras

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and the Donna Martins of the world.

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It's on all of us.

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And feeding our kids the basic nutrition[br]is just the starting point.

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What I've laid out is really a model

0:10:49.506,0:10:52.581
for so many of the most pressing[br]issues that we face.

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If we focus on the simple goal[br]of properly nourishing ourselves,

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we could see a world[br]that is more stable and secure;

0:11:04.929,0:11:08.097
we could dramatically improve[br]our economic productivity;

0:11:09.023,0:11:11.574
we could transform our health care

0:11:12.736,0:11:14.412
and we could go a long way

0:11:14.436,0:11:17.482
in ensuring that the Earth can provide[br]for generations to come.

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Food is that place[br]where our collective efforts

0:11:22.198,0:11:24.071
can have the greatest impact.

0:11:25.825,0:11:28.910
So we have to ask ourselves:[br]What is the right question?

0:11:28.934,0:11:30.462
What would happen

0:11:30.486,0:11:36.011
if we fed ourselves more nutritious,[br]more sustainably grown food?

0:11:36.702,0:11:38.066
What would be the impact?

0:11:39.184,0:11:40.599
Cheryl Barbara,

0:11:41.909,0:11:43.531
Donna Martin,

0:11:43.555,0:11:45.714
Coach Parker and the Burke County Bears --

0:11:46.539,0:11:48.183
I think they know the answer.

0:11:48.207,0:11:49.818
Thank you guys so very much.

0:11:49.842,0:11:54.314
(Applause)