NDC/USDA FUTP60 Blogger Call Transcript

8/14/2019 NDC/USDA FUTP60 Blogger Call Transcript

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ndcusda-futp60-blogger-call-transcript 1/15



SUSAN CARTER: Good afternoon everybody and thank you for joining us. I’m Susan

Carter and I’ll be your moderator for today’s blogger teleconference. It’s our first one that we’vehad here at USDA with our new media. So thank you for participating and joining us.

Today’s subject, the Fuel Up To 60 or the “Fuel Up To Play 60” or FUTP60 campaign.And that’s going to be our topic of discussion this afternoon. And specifically, if you know,recently, there has been signed a memorandum of understanding between the National FootballLeague, the Dairy Management Incorporation, and the Department of Agriculture. And what itis to do is to showcase the importance of healthy eating and physical activity.

Someone here that knows more about this than I am and someone that you’re probablyvery familiar with is Karen Kafer. And she is the vice president of the health partnerships and

nutrition affairs for the National Dairy Council. And I’ll be introducing her in one second to getus going with today’s discussion. But first, if you do want to participate and ask questions of our panel, all you have to do is indicate that by pressing *1 on your telephone pad and that will let usknow that you want to get in on the discussion.

And now we turn it over to Karen.

KAREN KAFER: Thank you, Susan. Well, on behalf of the National Dairy Council, itis my pleasure to welcome everyone, including our esteemed speakers and also the health andnutrition bloggers on the call today. Thank you for joining us. We’re very excited to be herewith USDA to discuss “Fuel Up to Play 60,” a social marketing campaign to help fight childhoodobesity.

USDA recently joined the National Dairy Council and the NFL as well as multiple healthand nutrition organizations and several major corporations. Together, we will expand the “FuelUp to Play” program and bridge a common desire to improve child nutrition and wellness byempowering youth to make positive changes for themselves and changes in their schoolenvironment.

By starting with youth in the school environment and bringing in public and private partners, we have a tremendous opportunity to lay the foundation for adopting healthy habits thatwill last a lifetime well beyond the four walls of the school building. So joining me to tell youmore are U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Jean Ragalie, the executive vice

president of dairy health and wellness for the National Dairy Council.

And as Susan mentioned, after their remarks, you will have the opportunity for questionsand answers. Also after the call, the audio and text transcript will be made available on our blog,thedairyreport.com as well as on USDA’s Web site.



So now, I am truly honored to introduce our first speaker, Secretary of Agriculture TomVilsack.

SECRETARY TOM VILSACK: Well, thank you very much and I want to welcomeeveryone to this historic opportunity for us to reach out to the blogging community and to begin

the process of better educating all of America about the important necessities of better nutritionand physical activity. And I want to thank, first and foremost, the National Dairy Council andthe National Football League for beginning to develop what I think is a relatively unique

partnership, which has spawned a number of years in which the Dairy Council has beensupporting nutritious eating and the NFL obviously interested in physical activity.

This partnership and the willingness to expand it to include USDA is really an excitingopportunity for us to focus on better nutrition. We are obviously focused on making sure thatchildren in America understand the necessity of eating better and also understanding theimportance of having 60 minutes of physical activity each and every day.

There are multiple reasons for this, the most significant of which is that we are currentlydealing with a third of our youngsters in America today either obese or at risk of being obese.These are youngsters who will no doubt suffer serious chronic illnesses as they get older, if theyaren’t already dealing with juvenile diabetes. And so as we deal with the concerns that we haveabout health-care costs, this is one way in which we can significantly reduce long-term health-care costs by making sure that our youngsters are better consumers of more nutritious food.

We at USDA have a responsibility because we provide school lunches and school breakfasts every single day during the school year. And we recently asked the Institute of Medicine to take a look at the nutritional value of our meals. And what we found was that themeals that we’re currently serving are probably too heavy on sugar and salt and not enoughfruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products.

Too many empty calories, not enough nutritional punch to the meals that we are serving,which is why this partnership with the NFL and the National Dairy Council gives us anopportunity to enhance our message, to expand and amplify our message of better eatingopportunities and also to solicit the support of the people of the United States in encouragingmore resources from Congress under the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act, which will bediscussed and debated this year in Congress. This is the act that basically funds the school lunchand school breakfast programs.

We also know from the research that the National Dairy Council and the NFL have doneis that far too few schools in the country today provide for physical – opportunities for physicalactivity, physical education classes being limited or non-existent. And so the whole notion of

basically fueling up to play 60 is a great message.

And these are great deliverers of the message: the dairy farmers of the United States whoare working very hard every single day to provide nutritious dairy products; the NFL obviouslyinterested in professional athletics. And having some of these athletes come into our schools andsome of the dairy farmers come into our schools and better educate and connect with youngsters



at a level where they understand, hey, this must be important if dairy farmers and football playersare coming together to talk about this. This must be important if the government is interested inthis.

So I’m excited about this opportunity. We will take this partnership and utilize it to

better promote the dietary guidelines, the mypyramid.gov Web site that basically providesadditional information on more nutritious meals, better recipes, better opportunities for momsand dads to do a better job at home as well, because I know that moms and dads are veryinterested in making sure that their youngsters are well fed. But we’ve got a responsibility atschools and we need to do a better job at schools – and I’m pretty sure moms and dads knowthat. And certainly, the students know that.

So I look forward to continued partnership. And I think it’s going to be an excitingopportunity for us. And let me turn it over to Jean to talk from the National Dairy Council

perspective why this is important. Jean?

MS. KAFER: Thanks, Secretary Vilsack. Thank you for your commitment to the healthof our nation’s schoolchildren. And we too are very excited about this partnership. Next, I amgoing to introduce a National Dairy Council colleague and fellow registered dietician, JeanRagalie. Jean is executive VP of dairy health and wellness. And Jean is going to share aboutsome components of “Fuel Up To Play 60” and the commitment made by partners across publicand private sectors in support of this effort.

JEAN RAGALIE: Well, thanks, Karen, and thank you, Secretary Vilsack. We reallyapplaud USDA for their continual commitment to improving nutrition and health for allAmericans, and especially kids in schools. We’re very excited that USDA has stepped up to jointhis campaign that we have to really fight obesity among our children in America. And othersthat – you know, it’s National Football League, the National Dairy Council. There are multiplehealth organizations and numerous major corporations that are also trying to make this – are

joining us in this effort because truly no one organization or entity can do this alone. It’s goingto take everybody to truly make a difference.

The USDA’s involvement with Fuel Up To Play really further signifies your commitmentto child – you know, making a real difference here and now. As we know and as you stated,kids are fatter, weaker and wider than ever before. And we’re seeing that this may be the firstgeneration to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. I mean, that’s truly staggering.And that one in three children are now overweight or obese. And that trend continues. So we’reexcited that this program is based on the 2005 dietary guidelines.

And “Fuel Up To Play 60” is going to empower kids, especially in grades four through10 to engage with their peers to fuel up with nutrient-rich foods that they lack right now,

particularly low-fat and fat-free dairy products, whole grains and fruits and vegetables, and getup and play, as we say, for 60 minutes a day. And you know, NFL will bring a lot of the star

power to that. And we’ve already seen that really excites kids and makes a difference in schools.



So the difference in this program too is that it really gives the children a voice in makinga difference and being a part of the solution. And we know that when kids co-create something,they really engage in it in a much more meaningful way. So along with partners like the USDA,

National Dairy Council is going to provide this program to really lead those differences acrossthe country in schools across the country.

The components that are developed by the youth include things such as materials for in-school promotions, a Web site, they have youth social media partnerships. And then, they havelots of tools and resources and a guidebook to help them make it work within the school.

The other exciting thing is there is competitions within this program that will be able to provide grants to schools and rewards to the kids and the schools. And we know throughresearch that there is two things that are critical to making a program successful. One is that it’sfun. It’s got to be fun. And we also know that they want to have – and part of that fun was

building in a competition. Engage the kids. Make them want to compete as schools andcompete school-to-school. And the other thing is they do love that star power of the NFL. And

they wanted to see more of the NFL in the program. And so we have designed the program to dosuch that.

This was pilot-tested in over 500 schools across the country. And so we really arerefining it and know what we’re doing. And right now, we launched the competition in October.And in a matter of three months, over 60,000 schools enrolled for this program. And for those of you that work with schools or you have kids in schools, you know no schools do anything fast.

And the other exciting thing about this program is, like the fact that there is no nationalschool – they’re all local schools – that the way you implement programs has to have the abilityto have a lot of customization. And then, you have to also make sure that you can make itsustainable. And this program is designed to do just that.

The other thing is that this program also has the seal of approval of some of the leadinghealth organizations in the country, including the American Dietetic Association, the AmericanAcademy of Pediatrics, Action for Healthy Kids, National Medical Association, NationalHispanic Medical Association, the School Nutrition Association, and the American Academy of Family Practice.

So with that I’d be happy to answer any questions.

MS. CARTER: Once again, bloggers, to participate in our discussion – and we have herean excellent panel that we’ll be able to ask questions of regarding the health and the being able tomake sure that our children are going to be healthy as far as in their activities as well as eatinghealthy is an opportunity for you to just press *1 on your phones so that you can get in on theconversation.

I’m going to jumpstart this and say that I have two 15-year-olds and an 18-year-old. Andeating healthy was actually a lot harder when they were younger. I admit that. And I tried to be



the one to eat properly. So actually I’m probably healthier now as a result of having childrenwho were younger and wanting to eat for them in a healthy way.

And now, they don’t like going to really getting junk food, which is a good thing. Theysay that it just doesn’t feel right because that’s not what they’re accustomed to. But many of

their friends still want to do that. And so, how do you get – I know you want to start young. Butthen, you’ve got older children too. How do you get them to start getting back into that mindsetthat maybe I should take the steps? Maybe I should not just stand on the side of the escalator.Maybe I should get on the side and walk. And maybe I should get a bottle of water versusgetting that soda or getting that juice.

SEC. VILSACK: Well, I think there are a couple things. I’ll add to this. One thing is tomake sure that youngsters and children and older children have the information that allows themto make informed choices. I think part of what we’re going to try to do at USDA – and I knowthat the Dairy Council supports this and I’m sure the NFL does as well and all of the healthorganizations that are supporting this initiative – know and appreciate is that if you give

youngsters an understanding of the caloric and nutritional value of what it is they have at school,they’re going to make the right set of choices.

Secondly, I think it is important for us to have a consistent message, which is to say thatif you have great nutrition in the meals that you serve and you’ve got physical activity andyou’ve got PE class and all that stuff, but these kids are walking by vending machines thatcontain nothing but empty calories, you’re sending a mixed message. So I think it’s importantfor us to have a consistent message of the appropriateness of within the school environment,what happens?

Now, that’s not to say that occasionally there ought not to be treats. Surely there should be. But it’s a question of – as Sesame Street says, it’s the difference between sometimes foodsand everyday foods. You know, you have to understand that difference. And I think you have tohave a consistent message. I think you have to provide information.

And then, I think the star power of the NFL makes a real difference. When you see these National Football League players come in and say, you know, as Rasheed Mendenhall of thePittsburgh Steelers said recently, you know, I was in high school. Coaches couldn’t understandwhy I cramped up and I had to be taken out of the games. It was because I was drinking pop andeating candy bars before the games. Well, maybe it would have been better to have a glass of milk and a banana before the game, that type of thing.

As he understood nutrition, he understood that his performance was linked to thosedecisions he was making. And the more youngsters understand that in the things they care about,the more they’re going to make informed decisions. I think that’s kind of – and we want to joinwith Jean’s comments about competition. We want schools across the country to also embraceour U.S. Healthier School Challenge, in which we will acknowledge and reward those schoolsthat basically raise up their nutritional – improve the nutrition of their meals – and also at thesame time promote physical activity.



MS. KAFER: I know one of the things that the first lady has mentioned that if youactually win in that, she will go to your school. (Chuckles.)

SEC. VILSACK: I want to make sure we don’t commit the first lady to go to 60,000schools.

MS. KAFER: But as an incentive, she did say that if you do it and you do it right, thenyou have a good chance of my saying maybe I’ll come out and visit. Is that safe to say?

SEC. VILSACK: That’s pretty close. I think the important message there is that the firstlady who is a real champion for this effort, for the nutrition effort and the physical activity effort,is a very powerful spokesperson. She is the mother of two beautiful children. She cares deeplyabout them and she cares deeply about America’s children. And her husband also cares.

I know this because when I was hired for this job, the first thing he said to me wasimprove the nutritional quality of foods that kids have at schools. This was an important

message to me in terms of our broad responsibilities here at USDA. So we have presidential andfirst lady leadership on this, which is important.

MS. CARTER: And we also have our first blogger on the line, Eddie Kohen with ObamaFoodarama. Eddie?

EDDIE KOHEN: Hello. Secretary Vilsack, thank you for speaking with all of us today.I was wondering – I have a couple of questions. As far as the Healthier U.S. Schools campaigngoes and the first lady, how does this fit in with that? Is this a component of it or is it a wholeseparate project?

SEC. VILSACK: It was in place before this memorandum was signed by USDA and itisn’t necessarily part of the MOU. But it is consistent with the message the Dairy Council andthe NFL want to project and that health organizations want to project, which is a combination of

better nutrition and more physical activity in the long run is better for children, better for their education and better for the country.

And our ability to recognize schools that do an extraordinarily good job of improvingnutrition and also increasing physical activity is a way of reinforcing that message. So whilethey’re not necessarily part of the program; they are certainly consistent with it.

MS. KOHEN: And since it is part of the National Dairy Council and milk and water are better choices for beverages, are you seeking to remove sodas and sugary beverages fromschools in a consistent way across the country?

SEC. VILSACK: When we propose amendments or changes to the child nutrition programs, we will be looking for authority or permission from Congress to establish standardsthat will significantly upgrade what is in vending machines and what are competitive foods, if you will, in the school environment. I don’t know that we’ll necessarily be prescriptive that it’sgot to be water or it’s got to be milk or what kind of milk or what kind of water it is.



But we clearly want to significantly change the makeup of what’s in those vendingmachines because the reality unfortunately today is a lot of youngsters, particularly as middleschool youngsters and a little bit older, a lot of their calories are not solid calories. And if youtake eight-year-olds – there was a recent study of eight-year-olds – the average eight-year-olds

takes about 1600 calories. About 750 of them are empty calories. So we could do a much better job of spending those calories more wisely by giving these kids better choices.

And that’s what it’s all about. And you know, I would certainly hope that schools wouldunderstand that it’s better to have low-fat milk and water and vitamin drinks and things of thatnature than it is a sugary drink that could be a treat at the appropriate time but not necessarily inthe context of school.

MS. KOHEN: And do you by any chance have any position on flavored milk beverages,chocolate and strawberry? That’s been a bone of contention among nutrition bloggers lately.

SEC. VILSACK: Well, I’m probably not the right person to ask about chocolate milk. Ilove chocolate milk. (Laughter.)

MS. KOHEN: And may I ask one more question?

MS. CARTER: Yes.

MS. KOHEN: Is there any concern that – the NFL is a tremendous organization. But isthere any concern that because it’s particularly male – obviously all – (inaudible) – thatsomehow girls are going to be left out of the mix in this program?

SEC. VILSACK: Well, that’s an interesting question, and I think the reason why Jeanemphasized the health organizations and the extensive nature of the health organizations is toindicate that this is not just for athletes. It’s not just for guys. This is about every child. And Ithink this is an important point I want to make.

When we talk about obesity or we talk about the other aspect of hunger, which is anequally troublesome aspect of our school lunch and school breakfast programs that we have todeal with, I think we have to realize that we’re not talking about someone else’s child. We’retalking about every youngster in that school, and here’s why: If you’ve got a hungry youngster sitting next to your youngster, that hungry youngster is not likely to be able to perform at his or her highest level, which means that they get shortchanged.

But they’re also going to shortchange your child because they’re not going to challengeand push your child the way your child needs to be pushed and challenged, because they’reobviously not going to be able to be as productive and as engaged as they need to be inconversations or discussions or debates that take place during the school day. So it’s important,for every child, for us to have adequate nutrition.



And candidly, I think it’s also important for the farmers of America because it creates a better connection between the 99 percent of us that don’t produce food and the 1 percent that do,so that we have, at least, a better understanding of precisely how it works and what farmers haveto do and the risks that they take to put food on the table, so there’s a greater appreciation for what they do.

MS. RAGALIE: And I can add to the NFL question. Actually, we tested that and wefound that, in fact, with boys and girls, and that they actually wanted more – they were veryattracted to the NFL – I think it’s just because of the celebrityism (ph) of it. And in fact, both

boys and girls wanted more of the NFL in the program. So we looked at that; we questionedthat. And it proved out not to be right, but in fact – so just a lot of attraction for that.

MS. KAFER: Our next blogger on the line is Hemi Weingarten with “Fooducate”.Hemi?

HEMI WEINGARTEN: Hi. It’s actually “fooducate,” as in educate. We try to educate

our readers about how to choose healthier food. Thank you very much for this opportunity. AndI think this is a wonderful program and I wish we’ll see further programs like this to help educateour youngsters on how to choose and eat better food.

My question is about chocolate milk, and I’m sorry if I’m stepping on anybody’s toeshere. Flavored milk is actually three added teaspoons of sugar for a small, 8-fluid-ounce serving.That’s a lot of sugar for a kid to consume with the low-fat milk. The problem is not just that onecup of flavored milk; later on, when that kid comes home, he doesn’t want or she doesn’t want tohave the milk served at home with, let’s say, just one teaspoon of the Nesquik, because it’s notsweet enough.

And I think there’s a term called infantilizing our taste buds. What happens with thisflavored milk is that we get too used to sugar. Is there a way that the USDA can work together with the National Dairy Council to influence manufacturers to lower the amount of sugar? Kidsdon’t need that much sugar in their milk.

MS. RAGALIE: You know, I’ll take a crack at that. And one thing – just two things thatthe dairy industry is developing some delicious, lower-sugar alternatives for use in schools. Butat the same time, as a mother and a dietician, I’d say that we know that children that do drink flavored milk meet more of their nutrient needs. And they don’t consume any more added sugar,fat or calories, and they’re not heavier.

But the thing, I think, to remember, that only 2 percent – I think when you look at thestudies that only 2 percent of sugar intake comes from flavored milk in the diet overall. So it’s

probably other places we can be looking. I hear what you’re saying about the sugar issue, butchocolate milk isn’t a big contributor to that.

SEC. VILSACK: And let me add to this. I think there is a responsibility on the part of USDA to continue to do research on how to make more nutritious foods more appealing toyoung people. Now, whether that’s adjusting the taste or adjusting the appearance or adjusting





The last question is related to additional partnerships, though, within government. Andhas there been any reaching out from USDA or the others to the Department of Education andHHS, perhaps the President’s Council on Physical Fitness?

SEC. VILSACK: We have – I have, I guess I should say, specifically talked to Arne

Duncan, the secretary of education, and he is very supportive of our efforts to improvenutritional value. He understands the linkage with the educational component. And KathleenSebelius and I are good friends, having served as governors together in the National GovernorsAssociation. And we have a number of joint programs focused on not only nutrition, but also onfood safety.

MS. KAFER: Up next, Tara Kennon from Healthy Schools Campaign.

TARA KENNON: Hi. We are interested in learning about this program, and specificallyabout how it can connect to the advocacy that we’re all doing for a strong reauthorization of theChild Nutrition Act, and how you see those things working together.

SEC. VILSACK: Well, let me, first of all, say that it is really, really important for thereto be a strong advocacy effort to support a strong, properly framed, structured, comprehensivereauthorization. I say that because of the quirky nature of the way in which appropriations arehandled. As you may or may not know, Congress has a program called PAYGO, whichessentially says if you’re going to increase additional spending in some area, you have to tell ushow you’re going to pay for that additional increase. Are you going to have fees? Are yougoing to have taxes? Or are you going to reduce spending in some other area?

And so when you’ve got that kind of structure, you obviously make a lot of friends whenyou propose increasing funding for something, but then, if you have a corresponding reduction inresources – and there are a multitude of ways to do that – you’re going to incur some concerns.So it’s important for this to be perceived to be what it is, which is a national priority. This isn’t

just about kids; it’s about the country and the future of the country.

Let me just tell you the nature of the history of the school lunch and school breakfast programs started with the military. In 1946, the military leaders of this country were veryconcerned that our youngsters would not be strong enough and vigorous enough, after WorldWar II, to be able to withstand whatever challenges we were going to face in this new world.And so they decided that they needed a nutrition program within the schools that wouldguarantee that youngsters would be strong enough and vigorous enough to, potentially, beinvolved in military service.

Today, our military leaders are essentially saying the opposite, which is they’reconcerned that because our youngsters aren’t vigorous enough, because of the fact that a third of them are at risk of being overweight or are overweight or obese, that there may not be sufficientnumbers of youngsters to be able to serve in an all-volunteer army. So this is such an issue of

broad perspective. It’s an education issue; it’s a health-care issue; it’s a nutrition issue; one canargue it’s a national security issue. And so it’s a very important thing to make sure that we havea strong, coordinated advocacy group.



So we have reached out to a wide variety of nutrition organizations, nutrition associationof doctors, dieticians, food companies – a whole broad array of – farm groups – whole broadarray of people that we are looking to have support from as we go to Congress and say this isenough of a priority that it requires additional resources to expand access to the program.

So that every youngster who qualifies gets benefits from the program; to remove thestigma that’s sometimes associated with free and reduced lunch; to make sure that we upgrade,significantly, the nutritional value of these meals with more fruits, more vegetables, more low-fatdairy products; that we have the standards in place to make sure that these meals are meetingdietary guidelines; and that the competitive foods and vending machine foods are sending aconsistent message, and that we maintain the integrity of the program.

All of that has to be involved in a reauthorization effort, and that will require additionalresources because we’re dealing with over 30 million children. And we’re also dealing with

programs that also deal with the gap between youngsters who – when school is out – weekends,

summer programs. So there’s a whole host of things that are involved in this. And so it isessential for the USDA to have as many allies and to have as coordinated a message as possible.

That is why what the Dairy Council has done and what the National Football League hasdone is, it allows us to utilize the star power of the NFL, the agricultural production capacity of the National Dairy Council, and be able to broaden and expand, dramatically, the folks who aresupportive of nutrition, supportive of more physical activity.

MS. CARTER: We have time for one last blogger question, and that comes from DinaConte Schulz with the Kid’s Doctor Radio Show. Dina?

DINA CONTE SCHULZ: Thank you for doing this. It’s so important. On a weekly basis, on our radio show in Dallas, we talk about these types of issues all the time and this “FuelUp to Play 60” program is very high profile here, with the Dallas Cowboys. My question is, thisis such a high-profile opportunity, you’re in the schools; but how do you truly motivate the

parents?

The parents are ultimately going to be responsible for making those food choices. Thesenumbers continue to increase. It is very frightening to hear that our kids are going to be fatter,weaker and wider, and their life expectancy is going to be shorter, than our generation. So howdo we truly motivate parents to make them realize this is so critical to the overall health of their kids?

SEC. VILSACK: Boy, there are a lot of answers to that question. First and foremost, Ithink it’s starting with parents when they become parents. We have partnered with SesameStreet Workshop and other early childhood advocates on the WIC program to make sure thatthere’s an understanding and appreciation for the value of nutrition early, early, early in life.

And Sesame Street has put together a very interesting bilingual packet of information – programs, ideas, menus – as to how you can, at a very early age, get that preschooler, get that





MS. RAGALIE: I think in every school district and every school that implements this program, you’re going to see incredible things. One thing I’ve seen in working with kids – theycome up with the greatest ideas and then really engage other kids in this. Like, one example is,the kids wanted healthier beverages and they weren’t really sure what to do.

So they brought in different samples and had taste tests that then spawned a healthy foodtaste test every Wednesday in the school. So kids were exposed and then they had differentchoices, and then they encouraged the school food service director to bring those choices thatthey liked in. Another school in Arkansas, on the physical activity side, they started a walkingclub. Then they didn’t have a track, so they went to the community to ask them to help themfund a track, and the next thing you know, the local community raised enough money to build atrack for both the high school and middle school there.

So kids do amazing things, and I can’t wait to uncover all the examples, over the nextyear. And we’ll be able to do that and we’ll share that in a number of different ways. And Ithink we’ll – you know, interesting, asking how do we influence the parent – I think one strong

way to influence a parent is through the child, and the child coming home and bringing homeinformation and being excited. That’s the theory behind this program, kind of like the seatbeltand some other programs that are out there that, you know, were started from the kids.

SEC. VILSACK: I mean, I can’t imagine – we were in New York City last week and the NFL commissioner was there and there was a New York Giant, a Jacksonville Jaguar, a ChicagoBear and a Pittsburgh Steeler in a middle school group of roughly 100 students. I can’t imaginethe conversations that took place in the families of those students that day. What did you do atschool? Oh, not much, just four NFL players came and the NFL commissioner. What?(Laughter.)

And that would have spawned a whole conversation about nutrition and about activity.And it gets the wheels turning. And then when mom or dad are in the grocery store and they seea Good Housekeeping article that says nutrition or they read in the paper about USDA’s effortsto child reauthorization, they become engaged and they go oh, that’s what Johnny was talkingabout when he came back from school.

And then they’re going to see PSAs – public service announcements – that the NFL andthe Dairy Council are going to be sponsoring with that message being reinforced at times whenvirtually everybody in the country is going to be watching television – during football games,during major football games at the beginning of the football season, when people are reallyfocused on all this.

So I mean, there’s an unlimited potential to this type of thing, and hopefully – and I think the NFL would be the first to admit – they’re hopeful this spawns other sports leagues toconsider working in conjunction with the NFL so that we continue this momentum.

MS. CARTER: Any closing remarks?

SEC. VILSACK: That’s it.



MS. CARTER: That’s it? Well, I want to thank everybody for participating in our first bloggers teleconference. And that’s it from here, the broadcast media technology center at theDepartment of Agriculture. Thank you for joining us. I’m Susan Carter. Have a goodafternoon.

(END)

Documents

NDC/USDA FUTP60 Blogger Call Transcript