Activist turns from sex ed to food ed for White House

LAURA BERMAN

It says something about these times in which we live that the state of Michigan's go-to sex educator is turning her thoughts, and expertise, to another area that excites passions and desire: food.

Sex and food have much in common, says Barb Flis, including this central key to talking about either one: "You can't blame them or shame them."

Her sudden turnabout in subject matter is a direct result of a call from the White House in March, when Flis was summoned to Washington: The first lady's team wanted to hear her thoughts about getting parents involved in kids eating healthier foods and exercising more.

At that point, Michelle Obama was preparing to roll out her "Let's Move" program ( http://www.letsmove.gov">www.letsmove.gov). Flis offered very specific expertise: For a dozen years, she's been working with parents to help schools devise sex education curriculums. Her forte is defusing the emotion around a sensitive subject and getting people to talk -- and to understand the importance of good information, rationally delivered.

What works for sex ought to work for food.

With childhood obesity rates at epidemic proportions, and the first lady campaigning to intervene, Flis opted to help: If her advice was useful to Washington, why not help with the effort, she reasoned.

"The government isn't going to be able to create change," says Flis. "Parents are going to have to."

Now she's reaching out to activists like Rachael Hilliker, a Lansing-area government worker and mom, who is screening "Two Angry Moms," in Lansing next month -- a documentary about two women who declared war on their local school lunch program and actually created change.

She's made contact with a couple of Chelsea neophyte gardeners who named their community vegetable gardening effort, undertaken with the help of a master gardener, "Two Dirty Virgins and a Hoe."

See? There's that link between food and sex again. "There are a lot of similarities: It's all about practicing good behaviors, good habits, thinking critically about how you act -- or eat," she says.

And she's incorporated Obama's official "Let's Move" banner into her own website, Parent Action for Healthy Kids.

Flis is working on a statewide survey of parents that will canvas health habits, the state of school lunch programs, and how parents plan meals and snacks.

Activists like Hilliker -- who sees herself launching a grass roots effort to force healthier school lunches -- are part of her focus. But after a decade of talking about sex with parents and teens, she believes in the wisdom of a gentle approach.

As an advocate for making good choices, Flis was already a fairly healthy eater. But even she has adopted better habits over the past few months. She stopped eating sweetened low-calorie yogurt, switching to a high protein, unsweetened Greek-style brand.

She kicked the diet soda habit, after reading that artificial sweeteners can cause food cravings. Now she intends to quietly encourage others to change their behavior, in their homes.

Wary of being panned as a "food Nazi" or health nut, Flis is more educator than activist. She's all in favor of small changes, duly rewarded.

So join the movement: Steam up a batch of broccoli and brown rice, exercise for 30 minutes, and congratulate yourself.

Laura Berman's column runs Tuesday and Thursday in Metro. Reach her at lberman@detnews.com">lberman@detnews.com or call (313) 222-2032