They say that truth is stranger than fiction and that certainly appears to be the case in Fox River Grove, Illinois, a small town of only 5000. Dave Warwak, a middle school art teacher, was dismissed last fall, according to the school system, for "turning his classroom into a forum on veganism" and abandoning the art curriculum.
Warwack obtained approval from school administrators to do a "be kind to animals" project that apparently evolved into more, based on the interest of the students. The principal, Tim Mahaffey, testified at a hearing on the matter that "the problem was when it turned into a PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) advertisement and it was against the school lunch program." God forbid anyone should criticize the school lunch program!
In fact, the school district promotes unhealthy foods to kids, and Warwack was offering a contrary point of view. The schools in the district have huge milk mustache and Body by Milk posters hanging on the lunchroom walls. In his defense, Warwack reminded the Board of Education that the school lunch program was responsible for serving children meat from downer cows until Hallmark beef was recalled earlier this year.
Dr. T. Colin Campbell testified on behalf of Warwack, stating that the National Dairy Council's in-school promotions featuring pop stars and sports figures are misleading and harmful. "The consumption of dairy, especially at younger ages, is a problem," he said. Indeed, dairy consumption has been linked to many forms of cancer, osteoporosis, chronic infections, autoimmune diseases, juvenile diabetes, constipation and other conditions. It is appalling that such as food is not only offered in schools but is actively promoted by school systems at the request of the Dairy Council.
Dr. Campbell reminded the board of education that dairy claims are written by a USDA committee whose members were forced by the court to disclose their ties to industry (this lawsuit was initiated by the Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine). "Six of the 11 members of the committee including the chair had an association with the dairy industry. And the chair himself had taken more money without telling the public about it than he was allowed under the law."
The school board has yet to issue a ruling on this case, but there are several words of advice. First, we must work harder to get the influence of industry out of our schools. Kids should be offered meals that are healthful based on the best independent scientific research, and schools should not be the dumping grounds for excess junk food from the USDA's commodity foods program. Agricultural organizations like the Dairy Council should not be allowed to aggressively advertise and promote their products in schools.
The public should be outraged that in a school, where the goal is to expose kids to many schools of thought and to teach them to think, that the Board of Education wants to silence a teacher for talking about healthy diets. With the epidemic of unhealthy kids burdening our system, we need to have everyone engaged in this process.
For the teachers in my listening audience, do not be discouraged, and do not be frightened about talking about healthful diets in your classroom. There are many things that Warwack could have done differently in presenting this information. He could have notified parents in advance that he would be talking about the issue, brought in outside speakers, and had the kids do research on both points of view to insure that there was no perception of indoctrinating. I know this seems ridiculous in view of the fact that dairy industry indoctrinates in a very public way, but the goal is to win this battle and we have to be strategic about how we present information in venues like schools.
In the meantime, congratulations to Warwack for stepping outside the box and doing what he believed was right. We need more teachers like him!
Return to Article Library