Food Revolution.

The Fine Print.

Rant ahead. Consider yourself warned.

So I mentioned that I would be posting about "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution", a new show that premiered a couple days ago. When I saw the previews for the show, I knew I would enjoy it, but I also knew it would probably frustrate me, and indeed it did.

I have given myself a couple days to try to compose my opinions into a meaningful and thoughtful post, rather than just running on at the mouth about a personal pet peeve in a way that might offend someone. I cannot guarantee that I will be successful in that endeavor. I will acknowledge also that some of my strong feelings may have been a result of having learned minutes before watching the show of the passing of the health care bill.

The premise.

"I believe that every child in America has the right to fresh, nutritious school meals, and that every family deserves real, honest, wholesome food. Too many people are being affected by what they eat. It's time for a national revolution. America needs to stand up for better food!" -Jamie Oliver

Jamie Oliver (a chef) is taking an initiative to revolutionize the way that people think about food and therefore, change what we eat in an effort to take on our nation's epidemic of obesity and disease. Jamie's efforts begin in Huntington, WV, which has the title of the unhealthiest city in the nation. Much of the first show was dedicated to detailing the challenge Jamie had at hand when it came to addressing the school lunch program in the school district.

I was appalled at the food that was on the menu set out by the district in accordance with the USDA's guidelines. Not necessarily surprised, but definitely appalled. These children are eating two meals a day at the school and so little of it had any real nutritional value whatsoever. Pizza for breakfast and chicken nuggets for lunch. I found myself wondering (in anger) if a nutritionist got any say in what food is given to these kids. The importance of adherence to the guidelines was quite evident, yet there didn't seem to be an understanding of the spirit behind the guidelines. The food on the school menu was packaged, processed, preserved...lacking in nutrient content. And the excuse/explanation was that it was quick to prepare and the children eat it. (Ex: flavored milk vs. lowfat plain milk, sugary fruit cocktail vs. raw fruit, white grains vs. whole grains, fried vs. roasted)

If it doesn't grow in the ground or have a mother, don't eat it.

As Jamie sets out to change the meals offered, the school cooks were adamant that the children wouldn't eat fresh, healthy options. At this point my blood was boiling. SO WE AREN'T GOING TO FEED OUR CHILDREN REAL FOOD BECAUSE THEY DON'T LIKE IT?!! SERIOUSLY? First of all, they don't want to eat it because their taste buds are so bombarded by salt and sugar every time they eat that fresh food tastes bland and boring. If they didn't eat those things on a regular basis, they would be able to better appreciate the flavors of fresh, real food that was grown in the ground rather than made with a machine. You have to teach them what to eat. Don't make all the junk an option, because of course that will be what they choose if they have the choice. But if the options are fresh, wholesome and nutritious, and that is the ONLY choice they have, they will eat it if they are hungry!

Give the children some responsibility. Teach them about why those choices are better. Explain how their bodies use that food and why it is important to feed your body the fuel that it needs to operate properly. Explain why whole grain offers your body what it needs while all the "white" options have been stripped of everything that might be useful to the body. Give your kids some credit, they can start making good choices for themselves no matter what the age. I'm not saying they shouldn't have choices. But the choice can be: broccoli or carrots? chicken or turkey? 

Eat less, move more.

I think we need to raise the awareness of the impact of our food on our bodies. I don't know if we take for granted that people will just know this stuff, or if people do know and just choose to ignore it, but whatever the issue, we need to take responsibility for our health. So many of the diseases that we are suffering from and dying from are a direct result of the food we eat. Let's start to battle health care costs by first taking responsibility for the things we have control over. Eat nutritious food. Move your body. 

Heart disease with a side of diabetes, please.

I've been learning more and more about the preservatives, chemicals, hormones, additives, etc. that we've made a part of our daily diet and how they change the way our bodies work, resulting in a multitude of metabolic implications. I've been shocked to learn how greatly all these items contribute to many health problems beyond the usual ones we're all aware of. I wish I had educated myself about these things sooner.
And I would be less than forthcoming if I didn't admit that at times I've wondered to myself if these things had any hand in my mom's cancer, or Sadie's tumor, or a host of other things. I don't waste my energy dwelling on those things, but they have crossed my mind.

I was talking with my grandma on the phone today and she was asking me if I'm still eating organic food. She told me that when she was young and living in New Mexico, the food that they farmed didn't have anything sprayed on it or added to it. We don't live that way anymore. If you want to eat that way nowadays, you have to make a conscious effort. I wish that weren't so.

90/10

Now I like the tasty but nutritionally useless items as much as the next person, but I'm doing my best to teach my children by example that those choices should be treats, things we eat once in a while, not as staples. I in no way want to make my kids think that they "aren't allowed" to eat sweets or white bread or chocolate milk, I just want them to make enough good choices that the occasional bad choice will have minimal impact (90%healthy, 10%treat). We try to make many of our treats from scratch so that we can make them out of healthier ingredients and we know exactly what is in them. I eat the whole grain options on a daily basis so that I can occasionally have a cajun turkey sandwich (which is served on a white roll) at Roosters or club mex on challah at Einsteins. :)

Children need to be educated on how to make healthy food choices. Adults need to be educated for that matter. When you know better, you do better. Or at least that is what I choose to believe and I know that it is certainly true in my own life. 

Thank you, Jamie.

I guess I should probably end it here because I could go on and on, and besides, I just remembered how irritated I am that physical education is being removed from schools. That could be an entire rant in itself. So I'll wrap it up here, despite the fact that I know I'm forgetting half of what I had bottled up. I invite your feedback. I'm certainly not a nutrition expert. Just a girl with a lot of opinions. I am thankful for shows like this that challenge us to do better, raise our awareness, and hopefully educate us.

Comments

[lynnette]

really? physical education is being removed from schools??! that is insane.

[Mindy]

I SO AGREE!!! I also think kids are smart... if they're taught about good nutrition, and they are served good food, they'll eat it. What kid doesn't like fresh fruit??? My kids love vegetables... why? Because I've fed veggies to them since they started eating solids, and always told them they were good. I would LOVE to see healthier choices in the schools. Both of my older kids often choose the salad bar at school (which still isn't as nutritious as it could be...iceberg lettuce, but they still choose the healthiest option). Go Jamie Oliver!!!!!

[sarah sue]

I also agree! And I think Mike and I have our parents to thank for giving us good habits with fresh fruit and veg and wholegrains. Our girls enjoy them all too. I think it is about learning as well. Since living in Asia, everything I know has been turned inside out. There is even a Chinese version of the food pyramid that I found out about on line. Its not that the rules are different, but the choices available are different. Interestingly there isn't much processed food available, even our fridge rarely has stuff in it because we buy everything fresh each day. Not sure about the chemicals and hormones though. It's hard to tell what the situation is with that.

[Jan]

Great Post Dear! I love Jamie he's the Naked Chef! Kids love it when we 'Feed them Better'. I loved 'raw' vegetables growing up, still have memories of running out to our small family garden and ripping a carrot out, dusting it off and chomping it down!

[Sarah Lewis]

Very well said Jen! When Alex started attending full day this year I quickly realized that he would be taking a lunch from home each day. The lunch menu for his school looked pretty much like the one on the show. It's sad that that is the "norm". I definitely have had to tackle my own bad habits over the past few months as I learn about food and how much it affects you. Still a lot to learn, but my biggest prayer is that many more people start to learn and make better choices. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[Heather]

Oh Jen, I love you! I completely agree...although I will admit that my son will NOT each fresh fruit. He is completely fine with vegetables, but he doesn't like fruit except for an occasional apple. It's not from us not feeding him fruits as a baby/toddler, it's something about the texture I think. Anyway, I don't completely buy the idea that kids will eat good foods just because they have been educated on how good they are for them. That is not an excuse to serve them bad foods though...I just think it has to be forced sometimes. =) This whole issue is one of the reasons we chose the pre-school we did for our kiddos. They have a full-time chef who makes lunch each day from fresh (and almost always organic/natural)ingredients. Sometimes I wish I was eating lunch at their school on Tuesdays and Thursdays!

I also wanted to add a little to your discussion. It's my understanding that these "calorie minimums" in public school breakfast/lunch programs actually did come from good intentions. (This is not meant to excuse the fact that schools are filled with over-processed, under-nutritious food, but I think it helps us understand that the gov't did not intentionally decide to feed kids unhealthy food from the beginning. And I won't tell you where I stand on health care reform for fear that my comment will be completely dismissed! =). Because most kids that were eating breakfast at school were not getting adequate breakfasts and dinners at home, the goal was to give kids the calories they would need for the entire day in these two meals in case they didn't get dinner at home. Now, obviously this has been taken too far when fresh vegetables do not meet these calorie minimums, so schools serve fried foods or add sugar to everything. A change definitely needs to occur.

My last comment - we cannot expect change unless we are willing to pay for it. We all know how much more expensive buying all organic produce is (this and education are why families in low income brackets tend to eat the least amount of fresh food), so we must be willing to pay more in taxes for education if we want public schools to change.

And physical education in schools - so sad that it and the arts are not emphasized. I guess the sadder issue, is that kids don't tend to play outside and get excercise after school at home either. That's why Carter will probably be attending a charter school when he starts kindergarten...so we can choose one that focuses on other areas (definitely the arts!) more than public schools do.

Thanks for the post Jen!! I love these types of discussions!

Heather

[Tori]

I disagree with the statement that all families have the "right" to wholesome food. (If this is a "right"- will it lead to taking children away from those who don't feed it to their families?) Is that "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?" If so, how far do we take it?
I guess I like the idea of living in a free country. (And explain to my kids- as I heard a teacher explain to his students- that we are free to do whatever we want because we live in America. We have to realize, however, that we also have the "right" to face the consequences of our choices.)
Should people be better educated about food choices? Yes. Should school lunches be more nutritious? Yes. Perhaps information about the effects of bad eating habits should be more readily available to people. (It can be time consuming to try to figure it all out for yourself- perhaps that hinders some?) It does cost more to eat healthy- but if it isn't a priority that comes before entertainment...then people won't make healthy choices.
As parents we (hopefully) try to make the best decisions for our children. We don't feed them bad food thinking- "why should they deserve better than those who can't afford it?" Is not this the same reason we may home school our kids or look into other schooling options. It is not so much that we think our kids deserve better- just that we want to give them what we think is the best for them.
A year or so ago I realized that I was sinning in the area of my food habits. Perhaps it was laziness- yep, that was it. I drank chocolate milk every day myself. Now the kids talk about the time when their mom thought chocolate milk was healthy. :) "Mama, why did you used to think chocolate milk was healthy?" Truly I felt that I needed to seek forgiveness in this area- repent of bad eating habits and seek to please God in this area of my life. My newest addiction is fresh juiced carrot apple juice- possibly with spinach thrown in the mix. (It doesn't compare to my sister's healthy vegetable juice with beets, celery, etc.) We all probably have room for growth- but it must really come down to a matter of priority. If you spend your money early in the month on healthy foods...you just don't have as much to spend on junk (or clothes, or entertainment)and you make do.

What would be really helpful to me, Jen, is if you shared all the things you have learned about healthy eating. (What is best to buy organic, what doesn't really need to be. Recipes you like. Things your kids enjoy. How you have set your priorities in grocery shopping. What foods you have found (in research) to cause (contribute to) cancer or diabetes.) If you shared once a month on the subject the things you are learning... the rest of us could grow with you. Maybe some others could comment with what they've learned. We could grow together in this way?