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A report released this morning by Education Sector says one way to improve education, especially in underachieving schools, is to make the school day longer and/or add more days to the school calendar. It might be interesting to start by asking how we arrived at 180 6.5-hour days as a national standard. In fact, the report points out it has not always been that way.

In 1840, schools in Buffalo, N.Y.; Detroit and Philadelphia were open 251 to 260 days a year. New York City schools were open for almost the whole year. The changes happened mostly because rich families wanted to escape the city heat and go on vacation in the summers. By 1889, many cities started a two-month summer vacation.

Of course, in rural communities, the calendar was linked to the agricultural calendar. It really was not until the 1960s that we settled on the standard we have today. Kids in Europe and Asia attend schools 190 to 240 days a year.

Of course, extending the time would cost more. The report says a 10 percent increase in class time would cost about 6 to 7 percent more. Recently, Massachusetts increased class time by 30 percent and needed 20 percent more money (about $1,300 per student) to pay for the plan.

Of course, working parents might love the idea of not having to pay for expensive child-care in the summer or after school.

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Portion Distortion

Here is a cool Web site that shows how food portions have grown over the years. In 20 years, the typical bagel has doubled in size.
 

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It's Diet-Book Season

It happens every January -- a flood of new, trendy diet books comes out. The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee gives you the skinny.
 

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What's "Lean"?

FoodProductionDaily-USA.com, a Web site that caters to manufacturers, points out that the feds just changed the rules about what can be called "lean":

A number of convenience meal products will now be able to carry a 'lean' nutritional claim, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expanded the use of the term.

Under the final rule published last week, manufacturers of goods such as burritos, pizza rolls, egg rolls and sandwiches will be able to use the well-recognized claim to appeal to health-conscious consumers.

The move is the result of a petition filed by prepared foods company Nestlé in 2004. The firm had proposed that the term be approved for use on "mixed dished not measurable with a cup."

"In Nestlé's experience, and as evident in the marketplace, 'lean' has provided consumers with a valuable and accurate way to identify from the food label products that are formulated in a fashion that assists individuals in constructing overall diets consistent with consensus dietary guidance," said the firm.

The final rule allows for the nutrient content claim to be used on products that have less than 8 grams total fat, 3.5 grams or less saturated fat, and less than 80 milligrams cholesterol per reference amount customarily consumed (RACC) (140 grams). These levels are marginally higher than those proposed by Nestlé's petition.

Prior to this FDA rule, the nutrient content claim 'lean' applied only to seafood and game meat products and meal and main dish products regulated by FDA that meet the criteria set forth by the agency for these categories. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also already allowed 'lean' claims for meat and poultry products that fall under its regulation.

What about the words "light" and "fresh," and the phrases "a good source of ..." and "percent fat-free"? The feds have standards for all of them.
 

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What Does 200 Calories Look Like?

I have become a big fan of those little snack packs of crackers that have only 100 calories. Here is a Web site that shows what 200 calories of various foods looks like. Look at the muffin picture -- that's not much muffin, but it is 22 minutes on my elliptical running machine.

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Al's Morning Multimedia

I want to show you two projects this morning. One is simpler in concept. The other is a huge, whopping project.

PBS's "NOW" program has just launched a Web-exclusive video called "Back to the Front: Voices from Fort Stewart," which includes interviews from soldiers and families. The interviews capture the difficulties of active military life. I thought it was very interesting that PBS posted the video on YouTube and urged viewers to make it viral.

The second multimedia site is one that you may have heard of. If you have not, it is a must-visit site. "Faces of the Fallen" is The Washington Post's magnificent database of soldiers who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. You can search by state, city, branch of service, year of death or age of the fallen soldier.

You will find that 25 18-year-olds, 191 19-year-olds and 335 20-year-olds, who were not even old enough to legally buy a beer in most states, have died in the service of their country during these conflicts.

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Editor's Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and inaccuracies found will be corrected.

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