--- title: There's A lot of Junk Food at the School Nutrition Association's Annual Conference description: This year's annual conference run by the School Nutrition Association is not without politics canonical: https://time.com/2993491/theres-a-lot-of-junk-food-at-the-school-nutrition-conference/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-16T19:23:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:01:07.102Z article:section: Health og:title: There's A lot of Junk Food at the School Nutrition Association's Annual Conference og:description: This year's annual conference run by the School Nutrition Association is not without politics og:url: https://time.com/2993491/theres-a-lot-of-junk-food-at-the-school-nutrition-conference/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: There's A lot of Junk Food at the School Nutrition Association's Annual Conference twitter:description: This year's annual conference run by the School Nutrition Association is not without politics twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production video:duration: 04:14 video:published: 2014-04-24 section: ideas topics: edible education, school gardens, children and cooking, fast food culture, nutrition, traditional foods, collaboration, food stewardship, Edible Schoolyard genre: interview, documentary tones: earnest, passionate, hopeful, reflective emotions: passion (high), hope (medium), concern (medium), joy (medium) sentiment: positive audience: educators, parents, food enthusiasts, policy makers, students people: Alice Waters organizations: The Edible Schoolyard content_suitability: health controversy [00:29-00:47]; hunger and poverty [03:26-03:34] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable --- # There's A lot of Junk Food at the School Nutrition Conference > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=4c953add-b783-4a5c-adc2-24099c30131f&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Alice Waters on Edible Education [Watch (HLS stream): Alice Waters on Edible Education](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/BRkbfoQ5.m3u8) (4:14)  _Published 2014-04-24. Alice Waters, chef and activist, talks about her project The Edible Schoolyard_ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary Alice Waters, a chef and activist, discusses the idea of edible education and her Edible Schoolyard project. She describes the fast-food culture she saw in the 1980s and early 1990s and argues that children need to learn to grow and cook food. The video highlights students cooking together, a school cafeteria competition in which teams plan and present menus, and the need to make traditional nourishing foods taste good to children. ## Key points - Waters says edible education is an idea whose time has come, tied to growing food and the way people nourish themselves. (00:07) - Waters describes the mid-1980s and early-1990s as a fast-food culture in which fast, cheap and easy food had taken over. (00:29) - Waters says we need to edible educate every child in America so they learn to nourish themselves. (00:56) - Waters says she was moved most by the collaboration at the schoolyard, with children harvesting, bringing produce into the kitchen and cooking alongside the chef. (01:10) - Waters describes a master chef competition in which each kitchen table becomes a team that plans, executes and presents a menu without help from teachers or volunteers. (01:49) - Waters says traditional foods such as chick peas must be learned and made tasty, and that children initially resisted tasting them. (02:18) - Waters says learning to cook and grow food is essential for survival and that children learned to cut like a chef. (02:45) - Waters says she wants to win children over rather than tell them what to eat, because children will not change their diets simply because they are told to. (03:52) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:29] Edible education as an idea. Waters introduces edible education as a way of teaching about growing food and nourishment. - [00:29 to 01:05] Fast-food culture and the need to teach. Waters describes the fast-food culture of past decades and the need to teach children to nourish themselves. - [01:05 to 01:49] Experience at the Edible Schoolyard. Waters recalls what she loved about the schoolyard, especially the collaboration between children and the chef. - [01:49 to 02:18] Master chef competition in the kitchen. Waters describes students in teams competing to plan, execute and present menus independently. - [02:18 to 03:03] Making traditional foods taste good. Waters discusses reviving nourishing traditional foods and how children came to try them and learn cooking skills. - [03:03 to 03:38] Essential skills for survival. Waters argues that cooking and growing food are essential skills everyone needs to know. - [03:38 to 04:14] Winning children over and stewardship. Waters explains her approach of winning children over and calls for good stewardship and coming to the table together. ## Key quotes - [00:07] Alice Waters: "Edible education is an idea whose time has come." - [00:56] Alice Waters: "we need to edible educate every child in America." - [01:10] Alice Waters: "What I loved most was, the collaboration." - [02:18] Alice Waters: "we have to learn how to make these things tasty." - [03:52] Alice Waters: "I'm not wanting to tell children what to eat, I'm wanting to win them over." - [04:00] Alice Waters: "We need to live on the planet together." ## Questions this video answers - What is edible education? [00:02] - Why does Waters think children need to learn to cook and grow food? [03:03] - What did the master chef competition at the schoolyard involve? [01:49] - How did children react to traditional foods like chick peas? [02:18] - How does Waters propose getting children to change their eating habits? [03:52] ## Content suitability - health controversy [00:29-00:47]: Discusses fast food and its health effects in a critical way; no specific controversy named. - hunger and poverty [03:26-03:34]: Brief mention of poverty and hunger in America. by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jul 16, 2014 7:23 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jul 16, 2014 7:23 PM UTC The 68th [Annual National Conference](http://www.schoolnutrition.org/anc2014/) of the School Nutrition Association is finishing up today in Boston, and it’s not go on without controversy. Here’s some backstory: When the Obama administration revamped the school lunch requirements, they received a lot of praise and counted among their champions the [School Nutrition Association](http://sna.dev.networkats.com/home.aspx). But now, the group, which is a national organization of school nutrition professionals, is heading up a lobbying campaign to let schools opt out of the requirements saying they are too restrictive and costly. (You can read in detail what the group is pushing for [here](http://docs.schoolnutrition.org/meetingsandevents/lac2014/ppldocs/2014PositionPaper.pdf).) Many experts in the school-nutrition world are surprised by the stance the SNA has taken and some of its members have resigned, voicing criticism of SNA for accepting sponsorship money from food companies. At the same time, Congress is considering legislation to delay by one year some of the school-lunch regulations, as the _New York Times_ [reported earlier this month](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/02/us/nutrition-group-lobbies-against-healthier-school-meals-it-sought-citing-cost.html). Given the ongoing debate about school nutrition, it shouldn’t be surprising that this year’s convention—which brings together 6,000 school nutrition professionals and industry members—has been mired in politics. As [Politico](http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/white-house-school-nutrition-association-108874.html) reported: Sam Kass, the Executive Director of Let’s Move! was even turned down when he asked to speak at the conference this year. Though the conference has long allowed food companies to be involved, their new position on the school lunch standards have some nutrition groups and experts skeptical. And that makes the presence of fast food and junk food at the event all the more surprising. Here are some tweets from public health lawyer Michele Simon: > [](https://twitter.com/MicheleRSimon/status/489082512791318528) > [](https://twitter.com/MicheleRSimon/status/488714126920015873) > [](https://twitter.com/MicheleRSimon/status/488709682664837121) > [](https://twitter.com/MicheleRSimon/status/488708855036395520) > [](https://twitter.com/MicheleRSimon/status/488700995900547072) To be sure, there were certainly booths with healthy food–even a great vending machine idea like this one: > [](https://twitter.com/JDonzeBlack%5FPew/status/488721738721554432) > [](https://twitter.com/JDonzeBlack%5FPew/status/489165709860036608) So while the conference highlighted ways to get kids to eat more healthy food, it’s hard to take seriously when Cheetos and pizza are so heavily marketed. ## Transcript [00:02] [ SOUND ] Edible [00:07] education is an idea whose time has [00:13] come. It's a way of teaching. It has to do with the [00:17] growing of food and the way that we nourish ourselves. [00:22] [ MUSIC ] In [00:29] the mid' 80s and early' 90s, we were really [00:33] in a fast- food culture, it [00:38] was also the vice of fast, cheap and easy [00:43] that had really taken over. Tonight, McDonald is [00:47] making my family dinner because there's no way I can [00:50] tell these big brown eyes mommy doesn't have time. [00:53] And we need to teach children how to nourish [00:56] themselves. And we need to edible educate every [01:01] child in America. When I [01:05] went to the edible school- yard, I was flowered. What [01:10] I loved most was, the [01:15] collaboration. The urgency of working together and [01:16] making things work, of the children taking what they [01:21] were planting and cutting down and gathering, and [01:24] bringing it into the kitchen and cooking along with the [01:28] chef. I also loved the way the chickens walked around [01:32] [ LAUGH ] and visited everyone. This [01:36] isn't just a garden in a school, I've never thought of it [01:38] that way. I always thought about it as a complete [01:45] [ INAUDIBLE ] that had the cafeteria at the centre. [01:49] They could learn the value, the cooperation that [01:53] happens when children cook together. They [01:57] are having a master chef competition. Each table [01:59] becomes a team, and they compete with the other two [02:02] tables in the kitchen to plan a menu, execute the [02:06] menu, and then present it. They're working [02:07] independently with no help from any teachers or [02:10] volunteers. And they are selecting their own [02:12] vegetables, and timing themselves, and organizing [02:14] themselves. We need [02:18] to understand the traditional foods that were so [02:22] nourishing to people, and we have to learn how to [02:26] make these things tasty. And it [02:31] actually tastes good like, it's sweet and spicy, and [02:33] really nice. When they first saw food like chick peas, [02:35] [ SOUND ] they didn't want to taste it. You know, the [02:40] unknown doesn't always look like it's smiling at you, I [02:45] love to see the children really cooking. I love the way [02:48] they learned to cut like a chef. They learned to, try [02:50] food. Honestly the sausage stuff if really good. I used [02:50] some of the recipes that they can own and if I really [02:51] like it, then I start [02:56] trying to cook it. [03:03] Learning how to cook, learning how to grow food. [03:08] Everyone needs to know these things, [03:12] because they're they're essential for our survival. We [03:26] know about the health issues of fast food, we [03:31] know about poverty, we know about hunger in [03:34] America. This [03:38] is something that there really needs to be taught [03:43] in a very different way. Children will not immediately [03:48] change their diets because someone has told them [03:52] that it would be better to do so. I'm not wanting to tell [03:56] children what to eat, I'm wanting to win them over. We [04:00] need to live on the planet together. We need to [04:05] be good stewards, we need to know how to nourish [04:07] ourselves, and we need to know how to come to the [04:10] table. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2993491/theres-a-lot-of-junk-food-at-the-school-nutrition-conference/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2993491/theres-a-lot-of-junk-food-at-the-school-nutrition-conference/"},"headline":"There's A lot of Junk Food at the School Nutrition Conference","datePublished":"2014-07-16T19:23:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:01:07.102Z","description":"This year's annual conference run by the School Nutrition Association is not without politics","url":"https://time.com/2993491/theres-a-lot-of-junk-food-at-the-school-nutrition-conference/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","Nutrition","Michelle Obama","Fast Food","food industry"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2993491/theres-a-lot-of-junk-food-at-the-school-nutrition-conference/","name":"There's A lot of Junk Food at the School Nutrition Conference"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Alice Waters on Edible Education","description":"Alice Waters, chef and activist, talks about her project The Edible Schoolyard","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/BRkbfoQ5/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-04-24T10:24:55.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/BRkbfoQ5.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/2993491/theres-a-lot-of-junk-food-at-the-school-nutrition-conference/","duration":"PT4M14S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/2993491/theres-a-lot-of-junk-food-at-the-school-nutrition-conference/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```