The angry moms: Amy Kalafa (left) and Susan P. Rubin (right) fight for healthier food in schools.
Someone once told me that few things are as powerful as an angry mom.
This is true in humans and animals. Most people know not to mess with a mom whose kid gets picked on. They are smart enough not to too close to a nest full of baby birds. It’s only natural for mothers to protect their young. It’s just a characteristic of Mother Nature that has been observed for centuries.
Several years ago, two moms, one from Connecticut and one from New York, became angry about what their school district’s were feeding their children. That anger became power in the form of a documentary film exposing their view of un-nutritious school lunches across the country.
“Two Angry Moms” documents the politics behind school food and the mothers’ grassroots movement to improve what is served to children in cafeterias. The women focus their anger in investigations, meetings with state and federal officials and visits to schools to examine the food. Susan Rubin, one of the mothers, has been officially banned from her children’s’ school cafeteria.
The women have shown their film across the country and are getting ready to screen it in the Great Lakes region. On September 25, it will be shown in both Lansing and Kalamazoo, Mich. and on September 26 in Ann Arbor. Question and answer sessions about the connections between food, chronic disease, obesity and school gardens follow the showings. September is National Obesity month.
Perhaps the film will produce more angry moms in Michigan. I’m not a mom, but watching kids drink chocolate milk and eat deep fried fish sticks with cheese sauce makes me cringe.
You can find out more information on the events happening in Michigan and throughout the Great Lakes region visit angrymoms.org.