Hey Foodies, did you watch jamie Oliver's food revolution last night?

[miss_thenorth]

Based on a study, Huntington West Virginia was deemed the most obese area in the US. jamie is at a public school trying to change the food program there, and trying to teach the poeple healthier ways of eating. Quite eye opening. he says the USDA food regulations are way wrong. It should be interesting TV viewing. Here is his link. I for one was amazed, in disgusted sort of way, at how the kids in America eat at their schools. Glad we don't have those food programs.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

wow i wanted to watch this! good thing its on hulu... i'll catch up today. and yep its pretty shocking.

i still cant get over the (mostly younger women) who refuse to cook for their families because they think its some kind of demeaning act...

do you follow Ruhlman? i love this article from his blog:

http://blog.ruhlman.com/2010/03/why-i-cook-part-iithe-cooking-imperative.html

(disclaimer: he's a better writer than speaker...)
he set off a firestorm... and i just noticed that he put a new article up there today:

http://blog.ruhlman.com/

anyway - thanks for the reminder that this was on.... i'll catch up tonite.

 

[Wifezilla]

Jamie Oliver got a lot of money to revamp the school food in England a few years back. If I remember correctly, it went over like a lead balloon.

Here is one of the stories that was posted on a low carb forum about it...
"Has Jamie's health drive killed off school meals?

School meals are in danger of being scrapped because children are rejecting healthy Jamie Oliver-style menus, caterers warned.

Instead of buying the new lunches made from fresh ingredients, youngsters are relying on cheap takeaways and snack food to get them through the day.

The Local Authority Caterers Association told a conference in Birmingham: "In 2007, the picture is one of considerable concern over the future viability of the school meals service, particularly in secondary schools."

Oliver's award-winning TV series three years ago, called Jamie's School Dinners, exposed the poor quality of the meals and found as little as 56p (US$1.14) was spent on ingredients.

As a result, the Government announced a 220 million (us$447m) cash injection over three years followed by a further 240 million (US$488m) until 2011 to improve catering facilities and subsidise the cost of meals.

Schools were ordered to cut down on fried food such as chips and burgers made from reconstituted meat and offer more nutritional alternatives.

But since then some schools have seen a 30 per cent reduction in takings from lunches and vending machines, which have been filled with water, juice and milk instead of pop. Twothirds of local authorities in England report that they are making a loss on school lunches, the LACA said.

In primary schools, the average cost of the food for a meal has gone up from 40p (81c) in 2004 to 60p (US$1.12), while in secondary schools it has risen from 56p (US$1.14) to 74p (US$1.50).

The switch from ready meals to cooking from scratch has also put up the bill for training and pay, which has been reflected in the price of meals.

An average school lunch now costs 1.64 (US$3.30), up by almost 20 per cent from 1.37 (US$2.78) in three years.

Sandra Russell, chairman of the association, said pupils had voted with their feet and taken their money elsewhere.

"We cannot expect to reverse an embedded eating culture overnight nor can we convert teenagers to a healthier regime by force," she said.

"We are in danger of the secondary school meal service fragmenting or dying altogether if we are not careful."

Last year, mothers in Rotherham staged a rebellion outside Rawmarsh Comprehensive School against the imposition of healthy meals.

Instead of backing the drive for lowfat dinners, they offered to collect fish and chips, hamburgers and fizzy drinks for children and were taking up to 60 orders a day.

Chris Wainwright, of the School Food Trust which was set up by the Government to help implement changes to school meals, said: "Our view is that the situation is not as doom and gloom as it sounds, but it is a serious issue and we are not underestimating the challenges at all.

"The difficulty with secondary schools in particular is that pupils can leave the premises and it is difficult to convince teenagers of the benefits of a healthy diet.

"We are working hard with parents to ensure they sign their children up to school meals and fully understand the benefits of healthy meals."

A spokesman said Oliver was on holiday and unavailable for comment."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jul/09/failure-school-meals-revolution

"It was at a secondary school in South Yorkshire that mothers of pupils took orders from the local fast food shop for pupils at lunchtime, after children refused to eat the new healthy school meals. They were seen pushing burgers, fish and chips through the school gates.

David Laws, the Liberal Democrat Shadow Schools Secretary, said the figures showed a massive drop in the number of children eating school meals, and had missed its target to increase participation by well over one million children."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article6674605.ece

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/stand...-drive-has-stalled-says-food-czar-rob-rees.do

 

[miss_thenorth]

I can see it flopping in the US, too, although it would be a sad thing. He tried on his second day to give the kids a choice between what the school kitchen staff had regularly planned for the lunch, and what he prepared--oven baked chicken legs, with rice and salad with home made dressing. the pizza ( on the regular menu) was chosen 10-1. and at the end of the lunch period, most of the chicken, rice and salad was trashed. It was sad at how much food was wasted.

i honestly think his heart is in the right place, but I do think the way he is going about it is going to bite him in the backside. Taking on the eating habits of Americans (and Canadians--I see us as the same in that sense) is a tough battle to fight, especially when you hear what the USDA guidlelines are for the american diet.

Food is very personal to us all, and when someone comes along, and a Brit no less, tells you that you are killing your kids by what you are feeding them--people get their danders up. It's not like supernanny coming and telling you how to raise your kids--she is invited into people's homes. He just kinda stormed in there on his own agenda. and he is not being very well recieved. None the less, being aired on Primetime, he is reaching the masses so some good might come out of it. ONe can only hope, I guess.

 

[Dace]

I adore Jamie *Dace swoons*

His heart is in the right place and I think it is no wonder things are not going well with his lunch program.....how many families adopted healthy eating? I will bet close to none. If these healthy eating practices are not being backed up at home, then the kids are still coming to school on a carb/sugar high and like a little junkies, are looking for their fix.


Last year, mothers in Rotherham staged a rebellion outside Rawmarsh Comprehensive School against the imposition of healthy meals. Come on!

It is an uphill battle for sure, but the way we eat has GOT to change.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Dace, I thought of you while I was watching it. he is offering healthy cooking classes to anyone who wants to learn a better way.

 

[Dace]

I know and they do the classes for free! Cool huh?

 

[miss_thenorth]

Free for the ones who want to take it, but he is still getting paid, as in doing the whole tv show thing. But its great.

 

[lupinfarm]

All the high schools I went to served things like wraps and salads, but few of them, the most popular was a large poutine or fries and a pop.

My brothers school this year is changing up the menu at his school. They had a better menu than the school I went to with things like spaghetti, chicken fries, etc. but they're changing it to healthy food for the new year. He's kind of disappointed there won't be anymore pizza or fries lol. But, he'll get over it. He likes healthy food just as much, if not more, than he likes junk food.

Jamie Oliver started doing these food revolutions in the UK at schools there. I remember the show he had on television where he went around to schools changing the lunch menus, etc. and getting the kids to eat healthier and LIKE it.

As an aside, my mum and dad used to frequent the pub his dad owned when he was a kid, he used to collect the dishes and serve food to my parents LOL.

 

[Dace]

There is nothing wrong with pizza, really...just clean it up.

A bigger problem is all the juice, choc milk, chicken nuggets, processed meatballs, tater tots, fruit 'cocktail', battered fried foods like shrimp poppers blech........loads of sugar and mystery ingredients.

It is a mess and there is just no money to properly clean it up. I only let my kids buy lunch ones in a blue moon. Just flat out bad food. Many kids buy every day.