Any of you been keeping up with Jamie Oliver and his food revolution?!?
For those of you who have been living under a rock, or at least not that into food policy, the quick and dirty was that Jamie Oliver (JO) went into Huntington, WV to see if he could redesign school lunches and educate the town about healthy eating. JO and the shows producers stated that this town was chosen because the CDC had stated that Huntington had some of the highest overweight and obesity rates, along with chronic diseases, in the United States.
Just like in his most recent season in LA, he came up against a great deal of push back from not only the community, but also from the school district; one of the biggest skeptics was Alice Gue, one of the lunchroom cooks. But I can see if from the town’s perspective. Here comes in this man, from another country, and he is telling us that we are doing everything wrong. While the good intention was there, I am not sure if they went about it in the right way (VERY un-COPC).
A few weeks ago a journalist went to Huntington to see what, if any long term, changes had been made by the community, especially with school lunches. It turns out that with some creative thinking and a lot of support from the community, the school has been able to implement a program that cooks all of its school lunches from scratch. The training for school cooks has also begun to change as they are not just defrosting and reheating ‘food’.
This is just the beginning of the changes made. Not only are the ingredients fresh, all of the meals meet the federal nutritional and caloric standards (this was one of the biggest challenges that some chefs have come up agains - for example potatoes were seen as a vegetable and not a starch when they were filming the show). Also plans are in the works to get real milk back in schools, not the flavored chocolate and strawberry milk that are packed with sugar.
The revolution has started to take off. Eight surrounding counties have decided to follow suit, and they will be providing the same kinds of students. The great part is that all students will be provided breakfast and lunch free of charge. Usually the free breakfast and lunch program is made available for families who make a certain amount of money. Not here folks; ALL students will be able to access these meals for free (the article made it unclear if those with the ability would have to pay - I will get back to you on that).
It looks like things are starting to head in the direction, with Huntington leading the way. Hopefully with its success and a good PR team, other school districts can see that providing healthy, fresh foods to students is something that can be done. Nutrition has also been linked with better performance in the classroom; you would think that parents would be banging down the doors demanding better foods for their children. The problem is that these kinds of programs, ones that integrate organic, local and sustainable foods into breakfast and lunch programs, do cost a bit more money. Chefs and food policy advocates are starting to ask that the federal government spend $5 per student.
Now you are probably thinking, Emily I don’t have any kids (maybe you do, but they are out of grade school)? Why should this matter to me? As a concerned citizen you should be OUTRAGED by what kids have to eat these days. Chicken nuggets that are not really chicken nuggets, no real fresh fruits and vegetables, pizza for breakfast. Is this the kind of fuel we should be giving our kids before sending them off to school? I am a strong believer that we can and MUST do better. I encourage you to get involved in the area of food policy, especially the debate on school breakfasts/lunches.
To get more involved check out these links:
* This article has been paraphrased for your viewing pleasure. To check out the entire article, click here*
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