Once again Sesame Street takes it upon itself to teach children about social and political issues.
The “food insecure” Muppet is being used to promote a national “Food for Thought” campaign that teaches poor families how to find nutritious food and to eat with the taxpayers paying for it.
Lily the Muppet – who is really concerned about her family not having enough money to feed her properly -explains the solution -free food at school:
“Sometimes we can't always afford to buy all the food that we need,” Lily said. “I mean, but we've been finding lots of ways that we can get help...Yeah, for example, at school I get a free breakfast and a lunch...part of the meal plan."
Lily’s message is being passed around through schools, hospitals and food assistance programs as part of Sesame Street’s “Food for Thought” multi-media campaign, which includes DVDs and a booklet listing “services that can assist your family” as well as “referrals to social service agencies.”
Organizers say they have produced a million of the kits.
The Rev. Douglas Greenaway of the National WIC (Women, Infants and Children) Association happily approves the Sesame Street’s ‘Food For Thought’ campaign – comparing it to the federal deficit-reduction.
“What ‘Food For Thought’ does is remind people that eating healthy now gives them a good health outcome in the long term. So the folks you’re looking at up here, the programs that they represent, what ‘Food For Thought’ does is really a deficit reduction strategy, and we hope policymakers will take notice of that,” Greenaway said.
Greenaway however, failed to explain how this would reduce the deficit.
The Food for Thought Web site tells people to “feel good about food.”
Officials with Sesame Street say that the positive reaction to Lily and the Food for Thought program is so strong they are looking to expand her message.
Sesame Workshop, the organization behind the TV show, announced that it plans to appoint a Poverty Advisory Board in 2012. The first meeting will be in Washington on Jan. 10.
