Setting a Good Example

While I don't agree with the Atkins Diet, I think what Mrs. Atkins did was pretty damned cool and sets a great example, and hopefully a precedent for schools to rethink what they teach their kids and what they make them do in the name of money.



Kids Say No to Candy, Get Gift From Atkins


FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - The widow of the man who ignited the low-carb craze said she will donate $16,000 to an elementary school where some students refused to sell candy as part of a fundraiser.

The North Side Elementary students said selling the chocolate bars and potato chips went against what they were taught in school about healthy eating. They were raising money for a field trip to Washington D.C.

Veronica Atkins said the donation will come from her foundation, which promotes her mission to combat Type II diabetes.

``I was so proud when the children said you're telling us not to go out and eat sugar and then you ask us to sell it,'' Atkins, 68, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Tuesday's edition. ``I said no way am I going to let them down and not let them go on the field trip.''

The donation will allow 36 fifth-graders to make the trip, Principal Michaelle Valbrun-Pope said.

Atkins' late husband, Dr. Robert C. Atkins, promoted a diet rich in protein but low in carbohydrates.