Written By: Gina
Has anyone watched or heard about this new Food Revolution promoted by Jamie Oliver? I heard about it months ago and ignored it because I thought it was just another chef trying to reach national stardom. Then I was watching TV one Friday night because there was nothing else on and I got hooked! Jamie Oliver has been working with an elementary and high school in Huntington, West Virginia (“We Are Marshall”) to change the menu options for the kids in the town. He met with a lot of trepidation to say the least, and he had a tough time trying to instigate change.
In the first episode I watched, I saw that the elementary kids were eating PIZZA for breakfast! I about passed out! Jamie was showing the food choices kids are given while at school and it was limited to processed, frozen and unhealthy food. I thought of how I would feel if my kids went to that school and had only these options to super-charge their bodies mid-day during school. No way!! I have worked so hard to make proper food choices for my kids, especially since Alexa’s past diagnosis of Hypogammaglobulinemia, and I would be really bent if the only options they have are total crap. The lunch ladies kept saying, “We could serve vegetables and salad but the kids don’t like it so it just sits in the trays.” Well sure. If you put veggies up against frozen pizza, of course the pizza is going to sell out! Jamie Oliver suggests ensuring that ALL lunch options are nutritious so that kids can have a choice, but they have to choose from good, fresh foods.
I joined the revolution. Jamie Oliver is asking that healthy food options replace frozen, processed junk at these schools. Instead of fries, he suggests a stir-fry with vegetables. Instead of pizza and frozen chicken strips, he suggests chili, homemade spaghetti sauce with buckwheat past and fresh fruit. Instead of strawberry and chocolate milk, he suggests plain white milk. I didn’t even know there was strawberry milk!! I guess I am shocked to know that these food options are not available in schools and that kids really are being given junk. I am sure I could dig up a million studies about sugar and improper foods versus attention span and educational production…but I won’t. Unless someone challenges me to! Many suggest that the food tastes bad- that more organic foods just don’t stack up. Well minus the extra sugar and salt, I, personally am OK with having my kids eat the good stuff!
http://www.abc.go.com/shows/jamie-olivers-food-revolution
Here’s the link to Jamie’s website promoting the program and where you can join the revolution. Interestingly enough, California has 49,219 of 368,179 supporters, with Texas and New York at 24,660 and 22,311 joined respectively. How are parents not having a conniption over the food our kids are being served?! Are there certain schools that have better options than others? Do private schools have a more nutritious menu? I would love to hear from all the parents out there whose children have lunch while at school. We hear so much about ADHD, Autism and Immune Disorders lately, I am wondering if other parents find a correlation between food choices and behavior and educational success. I am so curious to know how the rest of you feel about school lunches..and do you have your kids brown bag it instead?
The truth is, we can only do so much as parents. When the kids are at school, they will have to make their own choices about what they eat and I’m not so sure I would choose the broccoli over the french fries if I am being honest! That’s why I think it’s so important to have a salad bar and healthy options and not just processed and frozen food. Thoughts?
In health~
Gina
Let sleeping babes lie.
5 days ago
I agree. The food choices are so unhealthy at schools. I watched a show that Shaquille O'Neal was a part of a few years ago; where he created a school program to help obese children. I was appalled by the lunch choices given to kids. Shaq tried to initiate changes and hit brick walls along the way. It seems that processed foods are a lot cheaper then healthy meals. However, the cost will come into play when kids are sick more often and have to fight obesity. So how much is REALLY being saved?
When my daughter attended a special education pre-school (when we thought she was autistic) I was shocked by their food choices. For snacks they ate Fruit Loops, those Fish crackers, Fruit Roll-ups and other snacks with zero nutrition. Sorry, but just because it has the word “Fruit” in it does not make it healthy! One would think that in an environment such as that, you would want to give the healthiest snacks you could. I am shocked how most schools do not understand the value of healthy eating: Students would be better behaved, they could absorb more information and they would probably not fall asleep in class after their sugar high ends.
I have had my family on the gluten-free/casein-free diet for two years now. The food costs for this diet are actually cheaper than eating a processed food and crap diet. So, it can be done!
One more thing, my mother teachers at a very expensive private school and they eat healthy snacks. They get fresh fruits and vegetables. Hopefully, public schools will jump on board by the time my kids enter the system.
I am hooked on the show too, Gina and God love you for placing the urgency to watch it on your blog. To see Jamie my favorite chef BTW, do this brought tears to my eyes. We don't realize how ignorant people can be who feed their kids junk and do not even see the exogenous obesity growing.
xxoo Bettye