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Summit Daily letters: School lunch, ColoradoCare and Russian uranium

What’s on your kid’s the cafeteria tray?

With the new school year starting, parents’ to-do lists are now filled with shopping for school clothes, school supplies and school food. That’s right — school food!

In past years, our nation’s schools were used by the USDA as a dumping ground for surplus meat and dairy commodities. It is neither a surprise nor coincidence that one-third of our children have become overweight or obese. Such dietary mistakes at an early age become lifelong addictions, raising their risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke.



Then came President Obama’s Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 requiring double the servings of fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, less sodium and fat as well as no meat for breakfast. The guidelines are supported by 86 percent of Americans.

Most U.S. school districts now offer vegetarian options. More than 120 schools — including the entire school districts of Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Oakland, Philadelphia and San Diego — have implemented Meatless Monday. Some schools have dropped meat from their menu altogether.



As parents, we need to involve our own children and school cafeteria managers in promoting healthy, plant-based foods in our own schools. Going online and searching for “vegetarian options in schools” provides lots of good resources.

Schuller Newcomb

Frisco

Vote yes on Amendment 69

This November, Coloradans will have an opportunity to vote YES on Amendment 69 and vastly improve how we pay for health care in Colorado.

Even after the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, 400,000 Coloradans remain uninsured. While this number is half what it was before the ACA, it is unacceptable to allow this many of our fellow citizens to live without health coverage. Medical costs are the leading cause of bankruptcy in this country. Also, currently 20 percent of our health-care premiums are wasted on bureaucratic administrative fees and corporate profits.

We are the only industrialized country in the world without universal health care. We just heard about the Aetna CEO earning nearly $28 million in 2015. Then we learned the CEO of Mylan, the pharmaceutical company that manufactures the Epi-Pen, which ironically was developed with taxpayer money, gave herself an $18 million raise just after the price of the medication was increased by 400 percent. The system is not working for us.

ColoradoCare will simplify health care and ensure every Coloradan will be covered. In addition, it will eliminate all premiums, deductibles and copays — saving Coloradans $4.5 billion a year while offering health care as good or better than anything offered on the Exchange.

Vote YES on Amendment 69 to give Coloradans ownership of our health care with a plan that gets corporate insurance companies and Washington politicians out of our health care decisions.

Diane M. Berry

Fairplay

Russian interest in American soil

It doesn’t matter of what political persuasion you may be, if you are an American you must be appalled and outraged that our government is allowing Russia — through a Canadian company, Uranium One, that they own — to actually mine our uranium here in the United States and ship it to Russia … 20 percent of our total production annually.

It has been going on since 2013, and no one has said a thing. A few maybe.

But not our Congressmen, not the radio, not the papers, not even Fox News. Everyone should all be screaming, STOP, STOP. This is outrageous and, at the same time, sad that our government is doing this. Think of our children.

How can you love America and let this happen? I’m sure it’s being sold to Iran and others. Depleted uranium is used in military ammunition and uranium in bombs. Politicians apparently have no problem with this. I don’t think the American people know this is happening.

Write your Congressmen, write the governor, write the editor. Tell anyone who will listen.

Carol Rockne

Breckenridge


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