This one is a cyber-pbbbbtttt to everyone in my life who claims that eating a diet of whole food doesn't really matter, or that there is no harm in feeding the kids junk for a day or two. I'm seriously considering making copies of the article to give to some of these people.

From On Wisconsin, the UW-Madison Alumni magazine:

In 1998, Wisconsin's Appleton Central Alternative High School was dealing with worrisome discipline problems in the classroom. Students were caught with drugs and weapons. They were hostile to each other and to their teachers, and their behavior was out of control.

Did the school turn to a psychologist, a consultant, or an educational specialist? No - they contacted Paul Stitt MS '69, the owner of Natural Ovens Bakery.

"When the Appleton school system came to us and said could you help us, we said we'd love to," Stitt says. "And we said, 'Certainly, we know how to correct the situation. Throw out all the vending machines with all the high-sugar, high-fat foods; throw out the pop machines loaded with sugar; put in water coolers; and start educating the kids about what they need to do to be good to their bodies'."

Stit and his spouse, Barbara, underwrote a program that allowed the school to start serving a menu emphasizing fresh fruits and vegetables, whole-grain products, entrees free of chemicals and additives, and energy drinks.

The results were dramatic. Truancy rates took a nose dive. Grades shot up. Vandalism and littering went down. The alternative school went five years with no expulsions, no dropouts, no drugs on campus, no weapons and no suicides. It was the only school in Appleton with a perfect record during that period.

Although the food costs were higher, the school saved money because it no longer had to pay for a full-time police officer, and with better discipline, it was able to increase class size from eight to fifteen students.

And this:

The Appleton program was originally inspired by Barbara Stitt's work as a probation officer. She realized that a lot of her probationers were junk food junkies who lived on soda, caffeine, and sugar, and not much else. When she showed them how to follow a healthy diet, those who stayed on it were amazed at how different they felt, and their improved attitudes and behaviors helped them stay out of jail.

And this:

One technique that Stitt says was especially effective with the Appleton students was an agreement that if the kids would eat healthy for a month, then they would get a junk food day. But after one day of eating all the snacks, desserts and soda they wanted, he says "they were so shocked and dismayed at their awful behaviour and the terrible way they felt that some of the teenagers actually begged us never to require another junk food day. They couldn't believe that they could go from feeling so good to just becoming an animal. No one ever imagined that a simple thing like vitamins and minerals and so forth could make such a huge difference. They thought it was a lack of religion or training or home life or something else."

Mary Bruyette, and English teacher at the school, concurs. "Students told me how awful they felt after the junk food day, and they said they never wanted to feel that way again."