My
Action Plan:
In
America, unhealthy eating habits have lead to an obesity epidemic. More than
one third of people in the United States are obese and numbers continue to
rise. Many Americans underestimate the significance of obesity and believe that
with diet and exercise the problem will be solved. This mentality, however, has
lead Americans to put off dealing with their health until it is too late. The
initial discomforts of obesity may seem unpleasant, but the long-term health
problems can be very serious. People who are obese are at high risk for
cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, and joint disorders. These conditions
are irreversible and plague sufferers for the rest of their lives.
To
effectively address the issue of obesity and promote social change, it is essential
to focus on the root of the problem. This is the youth of America. Each year,
more young people develop health problems directly related to poor nutrition. A
federal survey had found that the proportion of young people ages 12 to 19 with
diabetes or pre-diabetes increased from 9 percent in 1999 to 23 percent in
2008. Furthermore, studies show that obese adolescents have an 80 percent
chance of being obese as an adult. If young people become more aware of
the benefits of healthy eating, they will be able to turn their eating habits
around before it is too late. Although Americans are slowly becoming more aware
of this massive problem, steps taken to address the issue are negligible
compared to the tremendous impact obesity has on American society.
The
goal of my Action Plan is to educate students about the importance of healthy
eating by starting and maintaining a community garden at my school and donating
the harvest to a local homeless shelter. Recently, I have become more aware
that students at my school, El Cerrito High, don’t know where their food is
coming from, or what it’s made out of. They eat whatever meal is both the
biggest and cheapest. This is almost always unhealthy, processed food. Eating
processed food not only contributes to obesity, but also to a lack of energy and
motivation. If students become more aware of the negative impact of junk food
and choose to change their diet, they will not only become physically
healthier, but also become more mentally engaged in the classroom.
In
order to successfully implement and maintain a community garden at El Cerrito
High I will need to start a club. In order to start a club, I will need a
teacher sponsor as well as support from the Principal to borrow land. I
recently emailed my principal who pledged his support and provided me with the
name of a teacher who may be interested in sponsoring me.
In
the middle of November, there is a club fair at my school. This fair is
designed to give students the opportunity to learn about and sign up for clubs.
At this fair, I will set up a booth and provide students with information
relating to the problem of obesity in America and the necessity of a healthy
diet. Hopefully students will become more aware of the topic and want to make a
difference.
After
the initiation of the club, I will need to fundraise. Due to limited recourses
in my school district, it is unrealistic for me to expect any monetary support
directly from my school. There is a parent run organization, however, called
The Student Activity Fund that provides funding to worthy organizations within
my school’s community. Hopefully, this fund will provide me with the money I
need to start building the garden. It is often quite hard to get money from The
Student Activity Fund, especially if the money does not go directly to academic
related areas, so I cannot expect more than basic support. After the initial
funding, hopefully I will gain enough momentum to start fundraising in other
ways. One strategy is to create a cookbook with healthy recipes and sell them to
the outer community. I will also encourage students and members of the
community to donate supplies by creating a drop-box. Ideally, this box will be
located in the classroom of my teacher sponsor. After building the garden and
acquiring necessary supplies, the garden will cost little to maintain and
people power will become the main focus.
In
order to maintain the garden, I will need a lot of dedicated students. Several
of my friends have already pledged their support and I know I can count on them
to consistently help out. In order to graduate from El Cerrito High,
students must complete at least 20 hours of community service work.
Students who volunteer in the garden will be able to fulfill their
service hours while also gaining an understanding of the importance of healthy
eating.
Starting
the garden will take a lot of time, so I am also planning to create work days on
weekends where students can fulfill several of their community service hours at
once. Community members and parents will also be invited to participate. To
spread the word of these events, I will create both a Facebook group and
contact people through the El Cerrito High News email.
Once
the garden is established, members of the club will need to focus on taking
care of the plants. In order to do this effectively, students will need to
carry out specific tasks such as watering and weeding. I will create a
spreadsheet on Google Docs that specifies what needs to be done and for how
long. Here, members of the club can sign up for a specific task. This
spreadsheet system will also enable me to accurately monitor the community
service hours completed by specific students. In order to ensure members of the
club actually complete the task they sign up for, each student will need to get
a key from the teacher sponsor before entering the garden and return the key
after completing their task. With this system in place, I am confident that the
garden will thrive.
In
order to create a successful garden, it is essential that I create a timeline
for planting. I live in a relatively mild climate, so it probably won’t be too
hard to find plants to grow year-round, but I still need to make sure that I
plant the right plants at the right time. By early December, the club itself
will be established. For the next month we will focus on fundraising and
setting dates for building the garden. By March the garden will be complete and
students can focus on planting. It is unrealistic for me to expect students to
come during the summer to maintain the garden, so I am hoping to finish harvesting
the majority of plants by the middle of June.
I will consider my Action Plan a success if I am able to gain enough
members to successfully maintain a garden before I graduate from high school.
This gives me two years to fulfill my goal. During this time, I hope to empress
upon members of the club, as well as others in my school, the importance of
healthy eating and the significance of the obesity epidemic in America.
