School food, catching them youngFollow

Jamie Oliver is a celebrity Chef in the UK that has taken on the task of steering schools away from junk food, to natural and well cooked and balanced meals.

Here is a link to his website linky

This is a link to a series I have followed on his efforts
linky

I know in the US you are concerned about your children, of obesity and the culture of junk food. Schools are talking of removing fizzy drinks from vending machines and the like.

What has suprised me watching this TV programme with Jamie is how many people are fighting his obvious good common sense. The food we are serving our children, our very future, is sugary and fatty junk. I am shocked at how many children do not even know what vegetables are. Some children thought that chips (fries) were made from apples wth?? One parent did not even think that herbs were eatable "you cannot eat these, they are only leaves right?". It just saddens me.
What is more shocking are the parents reactions to Jamie trying to have children eat REAL food at school. Some would prefer their children to eat re-claimed turkey meat nuggets and potato twislers. And yet these same parents would pay 50 pounds a head to go to a "posh" restaurant to eat the very food that Jamie wishes to serve their children.
Since when did real food become a restaurant only tradition?

I am very interested in food. I was a "latch key kid" one left to fend for herself at home. My parents both worked. learnt to cook and fend for myself, studied cook books and watch many food programmes. It seems so many do not learn the art of cooking or handling food.

Are we losing the art of cooking in a single generation? To TV food platters? Are we making an seriously obese sugar and fat hungry generation?

I find myself not angry, as much as sad and depressed.

As normal, in the typical Jen way .. I ask you all, what do you think of this? Of Jamie Oliver and his campaign? How are attitudes in the US to food (especially in schools).

AND .....

Do you cook at home or eat TV dinners?

Well his motivation appears to be honest and earnest. He married and settled down, has children. He sees what they are expected to eat at school.

He is just a parent, looking out for his and all our children. Nothing more admirable I prefer that to any naked chef.

I go both pre-packaged and cook. Though, even when I cook, it's often processed stuff.

The ladyfriend is a monster in the kitchen and shall be my dietary salvation should we ever tie the knot

As far as the schools go, I support any attempts to make their diets healthier. Unfortunately, and I'm not saying this is the only issue but it is a good part of it, most schools are running on a very tight budget and reconstituted chicken nuggets and fries are a hell of a lot cheaper than fresh chicken breast and vegetable medley.

One of my stints at volunteer work was in a center that teaches poor people how to live better within their limited means. Among other things, that included budgeting. Part of that was the concept of cooking and handling leftovers instead of eating fast food.

It was so frustrating. The resistance was just tremendous; a lot of the people we were working with resented the very idea of being expected to cook for themselves - like they didn't think anyone ELSE did, and they were being singled out. When I told them, pretty sharply, that I cook at home and have very little sympathy for anyone who refuses, it shut them up... temporarily. But they had no concept of how to grocery shop, how to cook vegetables, how to plan a meal, how to time everything to come out at the same time. The center really could have used an old-fashioned home economics course.

My high school sold fries as a side dish to whatever else they were having.

My lunches consisted of fries and Mtn. Dew, or pizza (from the joint across the street) and Mtn. Dew.

The reason this generation doesn't cook as much has to do with time. Back in our parents (and especially before) generation it was fairly common for just the father to work, so the mother was home preparing real meals for the children and husband to eat when they got home from school/work.

Now.. it's fairly common for both parents to work. And by the time both get home, who wants to cook a large meal?

When I get home from work, I have kids homework to help them with, I have other things I have to do, I don't have time to cook. Neither does the wee-wifey.

It's a sign of the times. Because of rising costs in all other areas, it forces both parents to work which then takes away from other aspects of life.

The problem isn't nutrition (BTW, I'm just as healthy as people that ate better then me in high school), it's in costs associated with other things that take away our time to do other and somewhat necessary things.

Cooking has fallen by the wayside. I usually cook about 5 days of the week. The other days will be the "leftover" day where all leftovers in the refrigerator are either eaten or thrown away. If the kids don't like it, they'll make peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches or maybe quesadillas. The other day is the day I take pity on them and it's pizza or TV dinners.

I enjoy cooking (after I've gotten all the chopping done). It's the clean up that I hate.

I've always enjoyd the Naked Chef, he cooks very easy meals very quickly (I also love to watch Rachel Ray). Probably there's resistance to the kids eating differently at school because then they'll be clamoring at home for decent food too. Then what will clueless parents do? Attitudes toward food here are about the same I think. It's easier to fill a cart with frozen trays than to buy whole foods.

I've gone to my kid's school and seen what they eat. It's better than when I went but it ain't great. Most of the problem is the preparation.

We cook at home. Frozen dinners are rarely good but I do use frozen products like biscuits and taquitos. I also prefer frozen veggies to canned. I'm not sure why people think cooking at home is such a trial, I spend a maximum of 30-45 minutes in the kitchen working on meals for 5, three of which are children under age 10. The most time I ever spend is two hours to make something to go in the freezer like tamales, salsa, or mac&cheese.

Yeah, yeah, whatever. My parents worked, and at times my mom worked the evening shift, so my older brother and I learned to cook. Our other brother had no interest in cooking, so he did the dishes.

Daddy was pretty good at barbecuing, and he could make a mean grilled cheese sandwich, but that gets old fast. Learning to cook was a necessity, and it's stood us both in good stead.


Edited, Tue Dec 27 16:37:24 2005 by Samira

Then again teachers get out of work earlier then the rest of us.

When my mom was a teacher, she was home to be able to cook the meals.

But that was back then too, nowadays, even the teachers I know, they don't get home until 6 or so.

It is insanely expensive to eat healthy.

Coincidence? I think not.


Edited, Tue Dec 27 16:47:49 2005 by Nohk

I'd hate to see the coagulate of slack-jaws in which you were the intelligent one.

While Jamie Oilver is a fat-tongued southern shandy-drinking ****, his school meals campaign was awe-inspiring.

I rarely use packaged food, preferring fresh vegetables and low-fat recipes.

Sure, I like doing my fancy-***** stuff for special meals, but when I get in from work, the kids are hungry and so am I. I'm malso usually very tired, but I rarely take more than 20 minutes to prepare a family meal.

Cooking good healthy food is no substitute for a healthy lifestyle (exercise, enough rest etc.) but it doesn't take much effort or time.

I can cook a healthy fresh meal as cheaply as I can feed em pre-packed sh[i][/i]ite, and if I'm not prepared to spend an extra 5 minutes over cooking, then what kind of parent am I?