A Shining Example of Healthy Living Found In (Wait, That Can't Be Right)

I happened to catch a story by CNN's Sanjay Gupta on an elementary school in Illinois that received a Gold Award by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation for their healthy living program aimed to fight the childhood obesity problem. Only three schools have ever been awarded Gold, and one of them is Northeast Elementary in Danville.

(Are there two Danvilles in Illinois? No? It's the Danville I'm thinking of? Weird...)

Students at Northeast had their school lunch menu overhauled. No more fried foods, fish actually gets served multiple times per month, and fresh produce is making a comeback. In addition to the 30 minutes of mandatory gym class per day, Danville students are taking yoga breaks in the middle of class.

(Yoga. In Danville. Take a moment. Soak it in.)

All kidding aside, when you think of Danville, Illinois, healthy living is not even on the radar. Rather: Last town before Indiana - Cheaper hotel rooms for Illini games - That big blue abandoned factory along I-74 - Hometown of Gene Hackman and Dick Van Dyke - Giant VA Hospital. Danville is typical of so many small, struggling cities in the Midwest with the crumbling infrastructure, giant prison, abandoned buildings, and sagging economy. So, if Danville (seriously, DANVILLE) can turn around their schools like this, what's stopping the rest of the country?