Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

[Pamela H in Texas]

does your first grader know his/her vegetables and fruits by name? Mine sure did (in 3 languages, actually). Don't fruits and vegetables go hand in hand with what sound a cow or a pig makes?

 

This really upset me. I don't think it was put on because 6yos are pretty honest. But I had a hard time believing it. I'm glad the teachers in that room picked up the slack immediately; but honestly, what is the deal with those parents, daycare workers, etc?

 

In my two yr old classrooms, in ever center I've worked, there has been a home center. In the home center, a kitchen set which included stove, sink, plastic food, plastic dishes, etc. Two yr olds practice preparings meals with <gasp> real foods. Sure, there is some prepared stuff and junk food, but that isn't necessarily bad, imo. But EVERY two yr old in every class *I* have been in has known a zucchini and an eggplant and a tomato and.....

 

Even if they never ATE it, I would think that between educational tv, daycare, home, etc they would have picked up the very basics in recognition!

 

I don't get it though. I understand when school aged kids have busy lives and eat out a few nights per week, of course, but are there REALLY families that NEVER eat one single vegetable, french fries excluded? What on earth are these people thinking? And when mom is 300something pounds, how can she blow her children up like that? I realize some would say the fact that mom is 300 pounds is part of the reason she did that, but when my kids gained weight (due to medication), I was scared. I didn't want them to get overweight or obese like me (and I wasn't anywhere close to 300 pounds). I wanted better for them so though we've made plenty of mistakes, I at least TRIED.

 

Profound statement: This generation of kids is the first who have a shorter lifespan expectancy than their parents.

 

WAKE UP people! You don't have to be a food purist or something. Just add in the good stuff and you'll naturally have less of the bad (your body won't be craving as much junk when it's gotten what it needs!).

 

The other thing is we need to do something about the issues with prepared foods. There is NO reason EVERY single food needs modified corn or soy products in it. If we all start having an issue with it, buying the stuff that is now more expensive, we'll get more and more choice for better prices in time. Our kids deserve it.

 

ETA: I think part of the issue is how they are going about things which seems kinda haphazard to me. They could do this more systematically and make a big difference. It just seems like everything is spur of the moment thinking. I realize there is a bit of planning and such, but it still seems like it's jumping desperately from one thing to to another, going day by day, rather than saying, "this is how we systematically change things up" and following a logical plan. There'd be a lot less failure, I think.

Edited March 27, 2010 by 2J5M9K

[keptwoman]

Red, yellow and orange bell peppers are in season right now. I've found that children really love these once they give them a try! So sweet! My 5yo son loves a plateful of bell pepper strips and fresh spinach leaves, sprinkled with raw sunflower seeds and a few raisins.

It amazes me how different our growing seasons are! Bell peppers (capsicums to us) are late summer veges, mine are all ripening right now.

[Slartibartfast]

 

Profound statement: This generation of kids is the first who have a shorter lifespan expectancy than their parents.

 

 

 

I think you really summed up how awful it all is with this sentence. :(

[Slartibartfast]

Did y'all see this?

 

It is a show with Gordon Ramsey showing people how to cook a meal live. Gordon Ramsey cracks me up a bit but he doesn't yell or cuss at anyone in this show

 

 

Edited March 27, 2010 by Sis

[Pamela H in Texas]

It is a show with Gordon Ramsey showing people how to cook a meal live. Gordon Ramsey cracks me up a bit but he doesn't yell or cuss at anyone in this show

 

Okay, I watched it as I'm waiting for the rest of the world to wake up (though I guess I could have been doing schoolwork!).

 

Anyway, just a warning since we do have a large group of very conservative people on here. Though Ramsay is just about charming (though extremely high energy!) in this video, it isn't completely free of iffy stuff (for some people). Cedric says a certain word twice. Ramsay says one. Allison uses Jesus when not speaking of him. And there are 3 or 4 times of some inuendo. Not horrible by most people's standards. You get much more in the average sitcom, I'd guess. But it is at least PG.

 

It was good though I'm positive that what took them 43 minutes to do would take me at least 2 hours! I can't move that fast, my materials wouldn't already be perfectly ready for me, etc. Well and I don't eat just about any of that stuff anymore but I could for a meal here and there, I guess :)

[MBM]

Really? I went to high school in California in the really late 90s. Our cafeteria served Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.

 

California has a reputation for being a health-minded state. (Yes, I realize it's not true for all out there.) I'm just teasing Bill, a Californian. :)

[Jen in PA]

For some reason the thing that bothered me most about last night's episode was the lack of knives. Seriously, the kids don't even get plastic knives? How are they supposed to learn to eat real food without them? I suppose it really sets the stage for a lifetime of eating no place fancier than McDonald's.

[Pamela H in Texas]

they didn't even get FORKS!

[Carrie12345]

For some reason the thing that bothered me most about last night's episode was the lack of knives. Seriously, the kids don't even get plastic knives? How are they supposed to learn to eat real food without them? I suppose it really sets the stage for a lifetime of eating no place fancier than McDonald's.

 

they didn't even get FORKS!

 

I didn't really buy lunch much in elementary school (except for pizza day, which back then was Friday ONLY!), so I have no idea what the utensil situation was in the early 80's. I'm trying very hard to remember if there were knives, even of the plastic variety, in high school. I am drawing a complete blank! :001_huh:

[Mejane]

How do the parents of overweight children really not get that their children are not healthy? I mean, the information is everywhere now. Yet they are always shocked when someone tells them their child is on the verge of diabetes and early death. I find it hard to believe people just don't know that certain foods are better than others. Dr. Oz has seriously overweight people on every episode, and they are always shocked when he tells them they are killing themselves with food. Or are all these people simply "playing dumb"?

Edited March 27, 2010 by Mejane

[LauraGB]

I didn't really buy lunch much in elementary school (except for pizza day, which back then was Friday ONLY!), so I have no idea what the utensil situation was in the early 80's. I'm trying very hard to remember if there were knives, even of the plastic variety, in high school. I am drawing a complete blank! :001_huh:

 

We had them. But I went to a Catholic school and table manners were paramount.

 

And we only had pizza on Fridays, too. Even in high school (which for me was public school).

 

Another thing I noticed that was for the chicken nugget lunch, they had a protein for the main, then another protein (beans) for the side, potatoes and bread. Where was the vegetable? Okay, I know potatoes are a vegetable, but don't they count more as a starch? Possibly I'm wrong there. Was there a fruit served? And considering how little those kids are and how much they didn't finish, it seemed like an awful lot of food to put on their plate at one sitting.

[LisaKinVA]

How do the parents of overweight children really not get that their children are not healthy? I mean, the information is everywhere now. Yet they are always shocked when someone tells them their child is on the verge of diabetes and early death. I find it hard to believe people just don't know that certain foods are better than others. Dr. Oz has seriously overweight people on every episode, and they are always shocked when he tells them they are killing themselves with food. Or are all these people simply "playing dumb"?

 

Some parents have tried, but throw up their hands when the children won't eat the healthier food... after all, the children have to eat, right? They give in, and go back.

 

Adults with their own health problems don't make changes... why is it any wonder they don't feel they can change their children's habits?

 

In our family, we have made changes (not nearly as many that we should, but baby steps, right?). I can see where we are headed, and it scares me a little because I have no idea how I'm going to fit THAT into our schedule too.

 

I am going to try to grow our own carrots this spring, though...

[Parrothead]

I don't necessarily mean that they know what isn't readily available in thier area. For instance, I can see lots of American kids not knowing at 6 years old what an eggplant is. Mine might not be able to accurately identify, say, a loganberry or a gooseberry. But to not be able to identify a tomato or know that thier french fries come from potatoes? I find that...odd.

Oh, tomatoes come from a can, if they come from anywhere at all, and French fries come from a bag in the freezer not a potato. :lol:

 

 

but are there REALLY families that NEVER eat one single vegetable, french fries excluded?

Yes, sadly there are. I've known a few.

 

The other thing is we need to do something about the issues with prepared foods. There is NO reason EVERY single food needs modified corn or soy products in it. If we all start having an issue with it, buying the stuff that is now more expensive, we'll get more and more choice for better prices in time. Our kids deserve it.

 

I piked up one of those cooking magazines yesterday. 95% of the recipes in it called for some type of prepared food. The recipes for pie called for refrigerated pie crust. The ones for baked ingredients called for baking mix or cake mix. Quite a few cans of cream of ___ soup. One recipe for waffles with fruit toppings called for frozen waffles, frozen berries and blueberry syrup.

 

Needless to say I've got to use the magazine as a way to use the waffles I've made on the waffle iron, and start early making the pie because I've got to make crust in the food processor.

[Parrothead]

In our family, we have made changes (not nearly as many that we should, but baby steps, right?). I can see where we are headed, and it scares me a little because I have no idea how I'm going to fit THAT into our schedule too.

 

I am going to try to grow our own carrots this spring, though...

I'm glad that you are making changes. We, too, are making them daily. I'm not sure how it happened but dd when from underweight to overweight in 3 years. Since we started implementing mostly veggies for meals and no more prepared food coming into the house things are looking better.

 

I've gotten up every day this week and made breakfast for the family. I've cooked 3 times a day most days. It was not a difficult thing to do. I had to listen to the ladies on TWTM about food choices, watch Jaime's show, watch, Food Inc., and make a decision about what is best for us. And now surprisingly dh is involved. My die-hard meat lover is not complaining about no meat every other day. (I used Lent as a reason for no meat Fridays and took off with it. We will see what happens after Easter.)

 

So food preparation and exercise can be worked into any schedule. You just have to want it. Almost like I did not quit smoking until I wanted it. Now that I have I can safely say I never want another smoke.

[MomsintheGarden]

Oh, tomatoes come from a can, if they come from anywhere at all, and French fries come from a bag in the freezer not a potato. :lol:

 

Dd (7) was reading this over my shoulder. She thought this was a hilarious joke.

 

I had to explain that some people really think this way!

 

GardenMom

[abbeyej]

I watched this last night and it seemed very familiar. Was this a repeat of a show that appeared on cable? Everything about it seemed familiar. The lunch ladies, the cheering over pizza, the losing battle over processed foods, the newspaper article.

 

I agree that Jamie will have a HUGE effort on his hands. He needs to meet with many families if he is going to change the food culture.

 

There was a British version that I didn't see, but may have been quite similar. I also so clips from this on JO's Ted Talks earlier this year.

[Mejane]

Some parents have tried, but throw up their hands when the children won't eat the healthier food... after all, the children have to eat, right? They give in, and go back.

 

 

 

This goes back to my former point about kids eating what's available. Sometimes as the parent we have to be the bad guy. Believe me, I wear that black hat often! If we only buy good stuff, that's what the kids will eat. They're not going to starve, after all.

 

I have a friend who buys nothing but pop-tarts, Count Chocula and Hot Pockets, then wonders why her kids are always sick. She's really not ignorant, but in this case, she sure acts that way. :glare:

[Spy Car]

California has a reputation for being a health-minded state. (Yes, I realize it's not true for all out there.) I'm just teasing Bill, a Californian. :)

 

No teasing necessary (or maybe it is :tongue_smilie:).

 

The thing I can't wrap my head around is that California is (at one and the same time) a state where people are supposedly health conscious, but we (at least our school) also FAILS in the student lunch program.

 

It might be ever-so slightly better than W Virginia, but it's not enough of a difference to make a spit.

 

It is really sad, and no one seems to care.

 

Bill (who's pleased his son could name all the vegetables)

[Crissy]

How do the parents of overweight children really not get that their children are not healthy? I mean, the information is everywhere now. Yet they are always shocked when someone tells them their child is on the verge of diabetes and early death. I find it hard to believe people just don't know that certain foods are better than others. Dr. Oz has seriously overweight people on every episode, and they are always shocked when he tells them they are killing themselves with food. Or are all these people simply "playing dumb"?

 

I don't understand this, either.

How on earth can a woman feed her children chocolate dipped donughts for breakfast, let them eat chicken nuggest, fries and drink chocolate milk for lunch, then serve them crappy frozen pizza as a snack and fast food for dinner without knowing what she is doing to those kids?

 

Last night's JOFR was so frustrating to watch. When JO pointed out the list of trashy ingredients on the side of the box of chicken product and the "cooks" shrugged their shoulders and said they feed their kids well I wanted to huck my remote at the television.

[Crissy]

I have a friend who buys nothing but pop-tarts, Count Chocula and Hot Pockets, then wonders why her kids are always sick. She's really not ignorant, but in this case, she sure acts that way. :glare:

 

This is my sister.

I visited her house last weekend, and just before lunch her kids were eating gummy candy and potato chips, and drinking root beer. By the time lunch was served, of course, they weren't hungry.

She made some comment about how hard it is to get them to eat.

:001_huh:

[Jami]

One thing that most people don't mention about adopting healthier eating (no processed foods) whether it's after hearing JO, Michael Pollan, or watching Food Inc. is that eating whole foods requires that someone in the family be available to prepare them. We can't have it all. If experts want to see children eating better foods, then they also have to encourage a parent to be more fully available at home. Perhaps not one full-time Stay at Home parent, but I don't see how two full-time working parents can really have the time to thoughtfully shop for and cook whole foods. Real food takes time.

[stripe]

I've long observed people's lack of cooking skills and lack of understanding of how to cook, whether it's food on a budget or not. I used to shop at Sam's Club and what I saw was two types of shoppers:

* Those buying bulk basics -- oil, rice, pasta, canned tomatoes, milk, eggs

* Those buying prepared foods -- frozen pizza, giant boxes of candy, chips, frozen fried foods, sausages

And with very few exceptions, those in the first category were immigrants, and those in the second were not.

 

I don't quite understand how it all happened. Was the 1950s/canned food style of eating that inspiring? While there are pockets of "foodies" in this country, there have clearly been lots of people who don't know how to eat well (by which I mean tasty + healthy), even if they want to.

 

I think we are so caught up in valuing our time, that we don't want to spend it on "boring" things like cooking -- which end up impacting us dramatically.

 

It is tremendously sad. And the effect this has on people's health is hard to underestimate. I've seen the same Oprah shows with Dr Oz or the debt coaches where they talk to people who eat hamburgers/soda/fast food all day long and have digestive issues and/or financial problems, but I feel like something is simply missing in our culture that is very unnatural and unusual. (I am not saying whether it occurs in other cultures, since I am not a world expert, but given several things I've seen/read, the UK seems to have this problem at least to some degree as well.) There does seem to be some aspect of denial. I wonder if this is the same thinking that leads to the high unintended pregnancy and HIV rates in this country as well -- hoping one won't "get caught" while throwing caution to the wind?

[Crissy]

One thing that most people don't mention about adopting healthier eating (no processed foods) whether it's after hearing JO, Michael Pollan, or watching Food Inc. is that eating whole foods requires that someone in the family be available to prepare them. We can't have it all. If experts want to see children eating better foods, then they also have to encourage a parent to be more fully available at home. Perhaps not one full-time Stay at Home parent, but I don't see how two full-time working parents can really have the time to thoughtfully shop for and cook whole foods. Real food takes time.

 

I believe even a family with two working parents has time for the things they find important.

These families are obviously shopping at some point if their homes are full of frozen pizza, 2 liter bottles of soda and bags of chips.

I can't see how it would take that much extra time to make better choices when they shop.

A bunch of bananas is as easy to pick off the display as a box of pop tarts.

 

In the time it takes for a pizza to be delivered, a pot of pasta can be cooked and tossed with fresh steamed broccoli and sprinkled with a bit of parmesan cheese.

[kmacnchs]

I think it is a worthy cause and I am all for it...however, did anyone notice that he was giving the kids white bread and enriched flour tortillas? You gotta start somewhere, but I just noticed that and wondered if anyone else did?

[stormy weather]

play out in my extended family. I'll just use one branch of my family as an example. This family was a homesteading family, 11 children and 2 cousins taken in because their mom died. When they were growing up the family would get together for potlucks with extended family about once a week. They had no other activities beyond school, church growing their own food and clearing land/working ground/farming. So these potlucks were a BIG deal,a feast and an all day affair. So, the family of 13 are what I call my Greats,they are great aunts and uncles and my Grandparents. They really were Great! They continued the tradition of big get together potlucks when they were adults,with all homemade food, and tons of it. Now, I dont quite know what happened in their children's generation,if it was women working outside the home or lack of the necessity for young women to learn to cook,but none of them are good cooks like the Greats. I have been to potlucks where there were people who brought those bags of chicken wings you warm up in the microwave:ack2: and warmed them up after they got there! There are now a lot of grocery store macaroni or potato salads. Nobody has the time to cook or the know how, I'm guessing. It's sad that we're losing the our farming roots. I can't think of any young farmers that I know who grow their own food like my Greats did. They are eating the same junk as everybody else. We are becoming disconnected from where we get our food, the ground that it springs from, be it meat or veg. It's almost as if we feel we are living above it. Hovering, but never touching. Well, that sort of turned into a rant! :blush: I'll put in a couple of links and get off my vegetable crate.

http://www.slowfoodusa.org/

http://www.rivercottage.net/

 

[Crissy]

I think it is a worthy cause and I am all for it...however, did anyone notice that he was giving the kids white bread and enriched flour tortillas? You gotta start somewhere, but I just noticed that and wondered if anyone else did?

 

I did notice that. I don't know why he chose the tortilla, but if I recall correctly he wanted to skip the bread altogether during his second meal (he was serving rice instead) but he wasn't allowed. He was required to serve two portions of bread.

Edited March 27, 2010 by Crissy

[Snickerdoodle]

I think it is a worthy cause and I am all for it...however, did anyone notice that he was giving the kids white bread and enriched flour tortillas? You gotta start somewhere, but I just noticed that and wondered if anyone else did?

 

I wonder what kind of budget he has to work with?

[Spy Car]

I think it is a worthy cause and I am all for it...however, did anyone notice that he was giving the kids white bread and enriched flour tortillas? You gotta start somewhere, but I just noticed that and wondered if anyone else did?

 

I did. The meals (while some improvement) were not that exceptional. Nor was the meal he taught the boy to cook.

 

And, hate to say it, but Jamie looks like he could use a little physical fitness himself.

 

Bill

[myfunnybunch]

I think we are so caught up in valuing our time, that we don't want to spend it on "boring" things like cooking

 

Yes, yes, yes!

 

It's a self-perpetuating cycle, as well. If cooking is boring and one is in a rush, one relies on convenience foods, which are less tasty, which makes it less motivating to spend time cooking.

 

Finding 10 recipes for simple, quick meals prepared with fresh ingredients is a challenge, especially for folks that didn't grow up seeing or eating that kind of food, but what a difference it can make!

 

Cat

[Mrs Mungo]

I did notice that. I don't know why he chose the tortilla, but if I recall correctly he wanted to skip the bread altogether during his second meal (he was serving rice instead) but he wasn't allowed. He was required to serve to portions of bread.

 

I think the cafeteria workers and principal were confused about the rice thing. They don't usually make the menus and I'm not sure they understood how it works. The pizza counted as two starches because of the amount of bread in the crust. I would imagine that the buns they would up serving with the rice also counted as two starches. If a "serving" of rice is 1/4 a cup and he served 1 cup, then that would have been two starches.

 

I wonder if the tortillas were something the school already had?

 

http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Lunch/

 

http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/resources/NAP1.pdf

Edited March 27, 2010 by Mrs Mungo

[myfunnybunch]

I think it is a worthy cause and I am all for it...however, did anyone notice that he was giving the kids white bread and enriched flour tortillas? You gotta start somewhere, but I just noticed that and wondered if anyone else did?

 

I did.

 

And I think of the radio host who said he didn't want to eat lettuce.

 

Sometimes, particularly when you're trying to win over a group, you've got to meet in the middle. He has a very limited amount of time to get the kids eating differently, and children tend to gravitate toward foods that are familiar. If he starts with a multi-gain bread and whole-wheat tortillas, he runs a pretty big risk of the meals being rejected altogether.

 

In this kind of situation, maybe it's better to find familiar not-so-bad foods for the children to eat, then substitute whole wheat bread (or pizza crust! lol) or a spinach tortilla once they're accustomed to eating the new way and trying new foods. :)

 

Cat

[myfunnybunch]

I think the cafeteria workers and principal were confused about the rice thing...If a "serving" of rice is 1/4 a cup and he served 1 cup, then that would have been two starches.

 

I wonder if they were "confused" rather than truly confused. At one point Alice (I think) said, "two servings of grains or bread" then corrected herself to "two breads."

 

Makes for better television if he's got an opponent or two, becomes the underdog then comes from behind to win it.

 

Look at me, I'm becoming a skeptic in my old age.

 

Cat

[Jumping In Puddles]

I did. The meals (while some improvement) were not that exceptional. Nor was the meal he taught the boy to cook.

 

And, hate to say it, but Jamie looks like he could use a little physical fitness himself.

 

Bill

 

I think Jaime needed to make something the kids would like in order to stay. If he cooked them excellent food, expertly prepared, simple and fresh I would be willing to bet the kids would not have eaten it. He was stuck, IMO, with serving an improvement or nothing at all.

 

It kind of reminds me of when Alice Waters said she was so excited to give the kids at an impoverished school a fresh peach:

nytimes:

It started with a peach. Not just any peach but a Frog Hollow Farm peach, coaxed into its fullness by the rich loam of the Sacramento River Delta. A golden peach suffused with a lover's blush, a hint of erotic give at the cleft, its juice sliding down the chin at the gentlest pressure -- it was a peach that tastes the way peaches once did, the way they should. It was the peach with which Alice Waters, the founder of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, the chef who revolutionized American fine dining, imagined she would transform children's lives.

 

It was Frog Hollow peaches, which can sell for about $5 a pound, that Waters took seven years ago to the first day of summer session at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Berkeley. She was carving an organic garden out of a parking lot next to the playground, planting the seeds for a schoolwide program to promote ecological and gastronomic literacy. One bite of these peaches, she thought, and the scales placed on students' eyes by the false prophets of the junk-food industry would fall away. They would see the folly of their Devil Dog ways and convert to the gospel of lush produce. Like Genesis inverted, the fruit of knowledge would lead them back to the garden of innocence. It didn't quite work out that way. ''They wouldn't touch the peaches,'' Waters recalled. ''They said they were furry.''

:p Edited March 27, 2010 by Jumping In Puddles

[Spy Car]

I must admit I kind of blinked when they were making the "filling" for the tortillas. How was it different that "Sloppy Joes"?

 

Bill

[LauraGB]

I must admit I kind of blinked when they were making the "filling" for the tortillas. How was it different that "Sloppy Joes"?

 

Bill

 

Ground beef is probably the finest beef the school would/could purchase. After that, no matter what seasonings go into it, it still ends up like sloppy joes - but only if hidden in a bun. Hidden in a tortilla, it becomes a different, more exotic mystery. :tongue_smilie:

[Spy Car]

Ground beef is probably the finest beef the school would/could purchase. After that, no matter what seasonings go into it, it still ends up like sloppy joes - but only if hidden in a bun. Hidden in a tortilla, it takes on a mystery of its own. :tongue_smilie:

 

Right. But in another segment he dumped "Sloppy Joes" into a tarp full of "Cr*p" (and I really appreciate the censors at ABC letting that fly so my 5 year old could hear it :glare:).

 

Then he feeds them essentially the same thing, in a different wrapper. No?

 

Bill

[Mrs Mungo]

I must admit I kind of blinked when they were making the "filling" for the tortillas. How was it different that "Sloppy Joes"?

 

Bill

 

It depends. Are their "sloppy joes" out of a can like Manwich? eta: This is a question, I have no idea how their sloppy joes are made.

[Mejane]

Y'know, I grew up eating fried everything, canned vegetables and lots of potatoes, white bread and bologna, and soda at every meal. No one told me it was not healthful. At some point, I just decided I could do better. It's really not that difficult, even for working parents. I've worked full-time; I know time is short. However, if you have 20 minutes to heat up chicken nuggets, you have time to make something good for you. Bagged salad, lean meat (ten minutes on the grill), a whole wheat roll or some brown rice... people really can't do this? :confused:

[Mrs Mungo]

I wonder if they were "confused" rather than truly confused. At one point Alice (I think) said, "two servings of grains or bread" then corrected herself to "two breads."

 

I think they honestly did not really understand. Because even they then seemed a little confused that the pizza counted as two starches. Does it have to be "grain or bread" or is it starches? Are they counting potatoes as a starch or vegetable? I guess it must be a vegetable is they are counting french fries as a vegetable.

 

Makes for better television if he's got an opponent or two, becomes the underdog then comes from behind to win it.

 

I agree from a tv producer standpoint. But I think the ladies and the principal honestly aren't/weren't sure how it works.

[Spy Car]

I think Jaime needed to make something the kids would like in order to stay. If he cooked them excellent food, expertly prepared, simple and fresh I would be willing to bet the kids would not have eaten it. He was stuck, IMO, with serving an improvement or nothing at all.

 

I understand the rationalization, but I'm not sure I accept the premise. I think you can have food that is not a "compromise" nutritionally, and have it be delicious.

 

It kind of reminds me of when Alice Waters said she was so excited to give the kids at an impoverished school a fresh peach:

nytimes:

:p

 

And I'm sure Alice Waters, in her school food program, never went "half-way" between good food and "junk" to appease children.

 

Bill

[stormy weather]

I know time is short. However, if you have 20 minutes to heat up chicken nuggets, you have time to make something good for you. Bagged salad, lean meat (ten minutes on the grill), a whole wheat roll or some brown rice... people really can't do this? :confused:

Is it because we are told we have no time or that we can't do it well enough, by advertisers, that we really come to believe it? I am always amazed at the things people really believe they can't cook. Like cheesecake, or pie crust or homebaked bread or... the list could go on forever. They really seem to believe it is more than they are capable of doing.

[Mejane]

Are they counting potatoes as a starch or vegetable? I guess it must be a vegetable is they are counting french fries as a vegetable.

 

 

Don't forget ketchup is a vegetable, too. So french fries with ketchup on them counts as two veggies. :D

[Spy Car]

Don't forget ketchup is a vegetable, too. So french fries with ketchup on them counts as two veggies. :D

 

Don't go all Ronald Reagan on us :D

 

Bill

[abbeyej]

Don't forget ketchup is a vegetable, too. So french fries with ketchup on them counts as two veggies. :D

 

This reminds me of a *really* wacky thing thing I read the other day... A mom wanted her preschoolers to eat better, so she decided to introduce them to "green" food by *dying* all of their food different colors (especially green) for a week. ?!?!? And then she was surprised that while the kids were perfectly happy to eat things like green-dyed boxed mac-and-cheese, they rejected spinach?

 

Hm, maybe my segue there was unclear. ;) Junky ketchup as vegetables. Reminded me of that brief stint where Heinz tried to market "colored" ketchup in green and purple... (It didn't go over.) And that reminded me of this woman thinking that if she used food-coloring on her kids junky food for a week, they would suddenly be open to eating vegetables she'd never really tried to feed them before. Sigh.

 

The article did end on a positive. She discovered vegetarian cookbooks, and while not a vegetarian herself, learned that vegetables could be prepared in a variety of interesting, appetizing ways.

[momto2Cs]

I'm watching right now. (I keep having to pause it to get my blood pressure back down....)

 

Y'know, this all may be totally staged for effect, but the sad fact is that I've heard those same disgusting attitudes right here in Central Indiana.

 

I've had my vegetables mocked.

 

Mothers have handed their children balogna and oreos while sneering at my child's roast chicken and green beans. "He'll never eat that!" (Hello. He is eating it, and asking for more.)

 

Until this stupid, self-absorbed, death-wishing attitude goes away, nothing will improve. What is this way of thinking that says, "I'd rather my child have diabetes from the cr*p I feed him than to listen to you tell me about nutrition and cooking, because I'm a free American."

 

I know they don't want Jamie to tell them, because they don't even want me to silently show them through example only. I've never preached about nutrition. I just do what I do and feed my own kids, and it seems to royally tick people off sometimes. Not everyone, of course, but just try to go to a church potluck in Indiana with a paella instead of KFC and see what happens to you. Although that experience wasn't as bad as the time I took hummus bi tahini in whole wheat pitas to a church potluck in KY.

 

WTH kind of country is this. How did we lose the skill of cooking for our families. I know there are many reasons, but I don't understand why people don't want to turn it around now.

 

 

I'm in California, and I still see this kind of atitude. I work part-time in a grocery store, and once (I promise this is true, word for word, because it was too horrifying to forget) a mom saying to her small daughter (maybe 5-7 age range), "No, I will not buy you the apples. I'm already getting you cookies!"

 

I love Jamie Oliver and I think what he is trying to do is tremendously important. I hope more than anything that he succeeds in at least some small way.

[kmacnchs]

He doubled their budget...believe me, I know it costs more to get fresh food rather than the processed stuff. But you (or parents of those students) have to decide - is it worth it?

 

Also, it sure seemed like they had A LOT of STUFF on their plates. Even when it was processed, did any of the kids eat it all? Too much!

 

How easy and HEALTHY is oatmeal & eggs in the morning w/ milk? Or muffins (whole wheat, w/o sugar)? boiled eggs? granola (easy to make!) VERY cheap! Breakfast is easy to make for a lot of people, cheap, and healthy! No excuses!

 

As for lunch, a little trickier and I agree w/PPs that the govt standards need to be looked at again - they are part of the problem. But if they could start off w/ non-processed 1/2 of the week to kinda wean the kids off of their sugar-filled lives...hmmm

 

oh, and his experiment w/the chicken nuggets - how sad!!!

[myfatherslily]

I'm gonna stick my neck out here and admit that I'm not sure I've ever, in 9 years of being married and out of my parents' house, bought an onion. Maybe once. I hate onions. A few times a year I sprinkle a miniscule amount of onion flakes into something.

 

I'd be very surprised to find out that my kids could identify an eggplant, radish, or cauliflower. They know what tomatoes are because Grammy grows them. Once in a blue moon, I make instant potatoes. They might be able to identify a real potato, but it's questionable.

 

A typical day for us is toast or cheerios for breakfast, PBJ for lunch, and chicken nuggets for supper.

 

I know we should eat better. It's not that I'm against it or hostile to the idea. My hurdles are my distaste both for cooking and for food. And the fact that I can rarely find my island underneath the mountain of junk that lives (and dies) there. I just hate baking or cooking. And most food is gross. Seriously. Most of it. I can look through a whole cookbook and find almost nothing that I would like to eat. This includes packaged food at the store, too.

 

But I'm slightly inspired. Maybe... just maybe.... I'll go wash my dishes so that maybe we'll have a clean dish in which to heat some green beans from the freezer :blushing:

Edited March 27, 2010 by myfatherslily

[Mejane]

A bit off-topic, but was anyone else bothered by all the plastic that went into the trash? All those milk jugs and pudding cups (or whatever they were) headed to the landfill - yikes.

[abbeyej]

...I know we should eat better. It's not that I'm against it or hostile to the idea.

 

... And most food is gross. Seriously. Most of it. I can look through a whole cookbook and find almost nothing that I would like to eat. This includes packaged food at the store, too.

 

But I'm slightly inspired. Maybe... just maybe.... I'll go wash my dishes so that maybe we'll have a clean dish in which to heat some green beans from the freezer :blushing:

 

Sarah, what *do* you like? Really, I mean it. What food *isn't* gross to you? And what would you never, ever, ever eat?

 

Can you think of any meals you've eaten that surprised you by being tasty?

 

Maybe some of us could help you brainstorm for some *very* *simple* ways to start incorporating some more fresh, healthy food into your diet -- without grossing you out or causing you a tremendous amount of work you hate?

 

For instance, some people who "hate veggies" don't mind (some of them) as much raw. Would you eat carrots or celery or cucumbers or bell peppers (the red ones are sweeter and are sometimes liked by people who don't care for the green ones)? Is there a salad dressing or dip you wouldn't hate and that might make them more appealing? What about how you cut the veggies. Sometimes just the *way* a raw veggie is cut can make it more or less appealing. What if you cut your veggies matchstick thin? Maybe there's *one* raw veggie you'd be willing to cut up and set out for yourself and your kids a few times this week?

[Crissy]

A bit off-topic, but was anyone else bothered by all the plastic that went into the trash? All those milk jugs and pudding cups (or whatever they were) headed to the landfill - yikes.

 

 

YES!

The fact that everything (trash, recycle and food waste) went into one bin bothered me.