Changing The Way America Eats

My kids only buy their lunch at school once a week.  The rest of the days I pack a healthier lunch for them to take from home.  I never really thought their school lunches were all that bad.  And on days like today when I was gone ALL day and was too tired to clean up the dinner dishes much less think about making lunches for tomorrow at school, I could definitely be sweet talked into letting them buy an extra lunch that week.  And all in all, I think our school district is on the right track for at least thinking about what they serve our kids.  A few years ago, they adopted the Go, Slow, Whoa approach to meal options.  And they post nutrition facts for each menu item on their district website.   Both are tools that help students and parents be better informed about the foods that are being served.

But last Sunday, I watched the preview of a Jamie Oliver’s new television program, Food Revolution. In it, Jamie vows to blow the roof off of school lunch programs across the nation and help families realize the poor food choices they are making and how they really affect their health.  Wow.  I had such mixed emotions after watching it.  Without giving too much away, Jamie is not really interested in making friends.  I suppose that’s where my mixed emotions came from.  He’s just interested in helping American’s learn how to eat and live healthier and live longer.  But I haven’t been able let go the thoughts about the nutrition value of our nation’s school lunch offerings.  Obviously there are probably lots of school districts that lead the way in preparing healthy food for their students but sadly, the majority lag behind.  Since the program aired, I haven’t been able to shake the idea that maybe I should look a little closer at the food options in our local schools.  I’ve always wondered why ice cream and chips are sold as “extras” at school.  Because when I have had lunch with my kids I’ve seen many of their fellow students go for the extras and barely touch the food on the main tray.

In the last two years since I started my blog, I’ve learned A LOT more than just how to get organized for meal preparation.  I’ve learned so much more about nutrition and how being organized can help me make healthier food choices for my family.  I hope you’ll try to catch the program’s official season start on Friday, March 26th at 7c/8e p.m. on ABC (and the Oprah Winfrey Show will also have Jamie Oliver on the show the same Friday).   I hope you’ll consider signing the petition Jamie has on his site supporting changes to the national school lunch program.

And together, through my blog, we’ll continue to share ways to feed our families healthy foods and learn how to do it easily and quickly and of course with tools to help get better organized to do it so you can stick with it!  Let me know your thoughts…..