NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — It was with some fear that I read the newspaper report on food waste at Butterfi eld Trail Elementary School in Fayetteville. A budget watcher's first reaction might be: Wow, can we ever save a chunk of tax money here.
However, given the content my reaction was: Very interesting, but why no appetite? I recall from my days at the state Health Department this school is in a rather well-off part of town. So most of these kids likely got fed 1,000 calories at breakfast, were driven to the school front door, and spent the biggest part of the morning seated, learning how to pass standardized tests to keep the local School Board in control of the school. They likely weren't hungry, and that may be due to lack of physical activity. But, given the childhood obesity issue in America, not eating when food is off ered does not add up.
Perhaps the biological trigger of low blood sugar levels that cause hunger and the obesity issue are part of the same problem? The children are just not using blood sugars up like we did at that age, and the unused sugar is stored as fat. But the food they do eat at home, could it have an ingredient listed as GRAS (generally regarded as safe equals FDA OK) that is causing their blood sugars not to metabolize properly? That may be the real issue reported here.
GERALD O'BRYAN / Springdale
NEIGHBORHOOD IS SAFE?
I do not feel safe. I am a resident of the Fieldstone Division. I read Mayor Jordan's pronouncement that Fayetteville is safe. This statement came after a gunfight in one of the streets in the division.
I would like to know what Mayor Jordan classifi es as safe. With all due respect, Mayor Jordan, I do not feel safe in my neighborhood. We've had burglaries, drug houses, sex off enders, arson and now gunfights in the street. This is safe?
You do not leave your car unlocked in your driveway, nor do you keep your garage door open even while you are home. Needless to say, you keep your doors locked in your home at all times even when you are home. Now you can't even let your child play outside because of the possibility of gunfi re. This is safe?
This neighborhood is in distress. While I appreciate Mayor Jordan's statement that the police were making extra patrols, I haven't seen them. I do wonder how long these "extra" patrols will last. I'm thinking my only option is to move out of the neighborhood. I really don't see the city resolving the problems.
VALERIE BIENDARA / Fayetteville