Comments on: Spoil alert: Jamie Oliver evaluated

By: Beer and Butter Tarts — A Canadian Food & Drink Blog Aggregator » Food For Thought – Wednesday, March 31st

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 21:08:42 +0000

[...] speaking of what kids like, even though the show is not yet over, an evaluation has been done on the success of the school food in Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution series. It doesn’t appear to have been a success. At [...]

By: Marion Nestle [hearts] Jamie Oliver « Later On

Marion Nestle [hearts] Jamie Oliver « Later On — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 17:53:44 +0000

[...] I said in one of my blog posts on these programs, I want to know what happens in schools and in the community after the TV crews are gone. If the [...]

By: Cathy Richards

Cathy Richards — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 21:14:48 +0000

Ooops, last sentence should say “unhealthy food”, not just “food”.

By: Cathy Richards

Cathy Richards — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 21:12:57 +0000

This is not an indictment of Jamie Oliver, it is an indictment of the flawed system and of the people that perpetuate it — actively or passively.

As adults, we are responsible for protecting children’s rights. Here’s some notes on applied ethics from presentations I make on school food issues, based on the UNICEF Convention on the Rights of the Child. I heard Eric Porcellato speak on how these rights apply to childhood obesity and adults’ moral/ethical responsibilities and adapted from him:

-Children lack the critical cognitive capacities to rationalize and practice their rights
-Adults therefore need to protect children’s rights
-2 of children’s basic rights
-The right to be Protected from Harm (unhealthy food causes them harm)
-The right to an Open Future (obesity jeopardizes their future education, income, types of jobs [eg. fire fighter], quality of life, marriage, and of course health issues)
-Adults protect children’s rights by:
-Causing the right to be protected (not protecting the hindrances to children’s rights)
-Allowing others to protect the right (not allowing others to hinder the right)
-Adults include federal/provincial decision makers, food companies, city planners, advertisers, cooks, salespeople, tv executives, computer programmers, school staff, parents, etc.

Our “right” to eat as we chose is fine — that is an autonomous decision that most adults are capable of making (although research is proving that the environment makes many autonomous decisions more difficult). But that does not give us the right to serve food to children — ‘because they like it’, ‘because it’s affordable’.

By: Challanges in food – part 2 « Travels with Shiloh

Challanges in food – part 2 « Travels with Shiloh — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:46:58 +0000

[...] to sound heartless but who cares? As Marion Nestle writes: Since when do kids get to decide what’s best for them to eat? Isn’t that an adult [...]

By: Lisa

Lisa — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 18:19:04 +0000

I agree. Children should not be given the choice of junk food and healthy food. Adults should be making the proper choices for them. If you want to see someone who is really making a difference in school lunch programs, check out Chef Ann Cooper (a.k.a. The Renegade Lunch Lady). http://www.chefann.com. The taste buds only have a memory of about two weeks. If you change what they eat, they will start to like and crave healthy food.

And, yes, modeling is the best way to influence the family if they are not eating healthy from the beginning. I started my child from the beginning with making my own baby food. But my husband was a different story. However, as I cooked food that he thought he wouldn’t like, he would be surprised at the fact that he did like it. I never forced food on him. In fact, sometimes I would even tell him he probably won’t want any of what I was cooking (I little reverse psychology). After eating healthier, gradually changing his eating habits, he noticeably feels better. What he notices even more is how poor he feels after eating junk food now. Which, I admit, makes me feel great.

Again, for kids, they key is offering healthy tasty choices, and not let junk even be an option. They’ll come around. They have no choice!

By: Sheila

Sheila — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 16:53:11 +0000

Of course the kids didn’t eat it…they have been raised on JUNK food, both at home and at school. They have no idea what real food tastes like, even no idea how to eat it (i.e. can’t use a fork??!!!) Both the parents and the school have completely failed them, and Jamie cannot turn that around in short order.
Yes, real food might cost a bit more, but the health care costs for people who eat well long-term are dramatically lower than the health care costs for people who routinely eat junk. I think we should tax junk food hugely to make up for the revenue needed to pay for the increased health care costs.
Parents in this country need to wake up and decide they will quit pretending it is somebody else’s responsibility to raise their kids. Parents should be educating their kids about fresh real food, and should be role models for eating choices and exercise choices. When I see a town and school full of obese sedentary adults, I know exactly why the kids don’t like Jamie’s changes.

By: Amy

Amy — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:39:45 +0000

I tried to institute a major shift in the food my family eats last fall. Essentially, I pulled a Jamie Oliver on them. I completely changed what I offered them all at once. I had two very unhappy preschoolers who went without dinner quite often because they wouldn’t eat the new healthy meal. I finally gave up and stopped forcing the new healthy food on my kids. Instead I kept eating healthy food and made food that my family would eat. But every time I serve my kids anything, I tell them whether what they are eating is healthy or unhealthy. It has taken months, but now they are coming around. Especially my 5 year old. She often will now ask me which is the healthy food (if she doesn’t know) and then chooses it. My happiest moment was just this past weekend. For dinner they had a choice between pizza (which my husband was eating) or salad (which I was eating). They both turned down pizza in favor of a big salad.

The point is, as they are finding out in WV, it is difficult to force kids to eat something. I have found that it took educating them and modeling for them and now they are more likely to eat the healthy foods I have for them.

I think modeling healthy eating is the biggest key though. Think about it… you don’t often see thin parents with overweight children.

By: Christina @ Spoonfed

Christina @ Spoonfed — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 23:53:25 +0000

We need to stop saying things like “kids will only eat (fill in the blank).” I will repeat: The only reason kids eat the way they do is because the adults in their lives are under the misguided and lazy notion that there are “kid foods” and “adult foods.” The food marketers love it that way, but it’s patently untrue.

Kids who grow up eating real food will eat real food. Even when they’re older, kids will shift to real food if the adults in their lives are consistent about it.

This is not about catering to kids’ tastes — it’s about getting adults to stop thinking kids will eat only certain (usually unhealthy) things.

By: Charlotte

Charlotte — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:28:10 +0000

After watching the show, I received an email from my son’s elementary school. They are starting to serve breakfast. Guess what was on the menu – breakfast pizza, and donuts! I was so upset I called the school food supervisor and expressed my concern and asked how a donut could be considered a healthy way to start the day? Their response – it meets the grain requirements. My next question – How many grams of sugar are in the donuts? She didn’t know, so we made an appointment next week so I can look through their “book” and find the data I want. Should be interesting. I still can’t believe that “the system” thinks this type of food is in the best interest of our children, because it isn’t. Nothing like getting our kids on a sugar high then sending them straight into the classroom. The real question here is what can I do to change it?