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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

School lunches and the future of our children

Sunday after i got back from my trip to Kansas i caught up on a couple of shows the kids had recorded for me. One of them was Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. That one really struck a nerve.
Back in the day i usually took my lunch to school and don't really remember eating much at the school cafeteria. I was lucky enough that mom got off work by 2 (she was a lunch lady) and made dinner every night.
Because most homes now have both parents working meals tend to be the most convenient vs. the most nutritious/fresh option. And these include school lunches. Especially now in today's economy all businesses are looking to see where they can cut back and save so of course fresh is going to cost more than bulk, processed items. And these items are not good for our kids! All this preservative laden stuff is poison to our kids. Kids get much more nutritional value from a sandwich brought from home but of course we can't make them eat it once they get to school and especially once they are teens. my kids wouldn't be caught dead taking their lunches when they were in high school. I've been trying real hard to cook more at home - one, because its better for you and two, to save money. But being a working mom sometimes it just doesn't happen and we eat whatever. The point is though to try to eat more times fresh vs. processed. this way i can control salt intake, and know what is going in my food.
 Jamie's show is a big wake-up call and i think he needs all the support from parents he can get to improve lunch meals in the school system and to get kids to learn to like fresh meals and even help prepare. We can give our kids a good breakfast and a good dinner but that need a good lunch too in order to keep going through the afternoon and be able to concentrate in school and keep up that energy.
If this interests you at all, please sign the petition at Jamie's site. www.jamiesfoodrevolution.com/petition


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