You can lead kids to a healthy lunch, but you can't make them eat it

http://www.alternet.org/story/146354/how_tv_superchef_jamie_oliver%27s_%27food_revolution%27_flunked_out

The reality behind "Food Revolution" is that after the first two months of the new meals, children were overwhelmingly unhappy with the food, milk consumption plummeted and many students dropped out of the school lunch program, which one school official called "staggering." On top of that food costs were way over budget, the school district was saddled with other unmanageable expenses, and Jamie's failure to meet nutritional guidelines had school officials worried they would lose federal funding and the state department of education would intervene.

In short, the "Food Revolution" has flunked out. At Central City Elementary, where Jamie burst in with loads of fanfare, expense and energy, the school has reintroduced the regular school menu and flavored milk because the "Food Revolution" meals were so unpopular. In what looks like a face-saving gesture, Jamie's menu remains as a lunchtime option, but given the negative student response, don't be surprised if it's quietly phased out by next school year. (You can see both menus here.)

that seems to be the primary problem.

So they toss nutrition overboard, rather than trying to make the same menu with better ingredients. :eyes:

I can make healthy chicken nuggets and pizza and even french fries. I've made them for my kids when they were growing up. I can make healthy cookies and snacks too.

and most adults don't choose vegetables over other choice

Using organic chicken, real cocoa, and milk that's free of BGH, etc.

Not everyone is going to want to be a vegetarian or vegan. However people will be healthier by just eating food that doesn't contain garbage like HFCS, MSG, etc. That is: Real Food.

I like Jamie Oliver and think he had a great idea. The episode where the troubled teens cooked for the adults was particularly moving. But the problems we Americans have with food are far too great for one talented chef to solve.

I watched 2 episodes of "Food Revolution", and felt so bad for Jamie. Not surprised by the outcome, though. The kids were eating processed junk 24/7; that was the norm in their families and communities. No wonder they balked at strange food that just didn't taste as good as the greasy, salty crap. 99% of the children I know eat exactly the same way, as do their parents. When that little boy couldn't identify a tomato, I wanted to cry.

Just as kids will likely not succeed academically if their parents don't emphasize education, make sure homework's done, provide books, museum trips, etc., they won't succeed physically if their home lives don't provide healthy food and exercise. I know DUers will protest that many people don't have time, money, ad nauseum, but the people I personally know have both time AND money, and still feed their kids pizza, McDonald's, etc., because that's the stuff the parents also want.

Fair disclosure: I am a vegan who lost 50 lbs 5 years ago, and have kept it off after struggling with weight all my life. My diet is primarily whole foods, prepared at home. I try to keep junky stuff to a minimum, though I really really love Chex Mix and often indulge. My food bill is low, and I cook in bulk so I and my elderly mother can eat for several days at a time without cooking. (She is not a vegan, but does eat mostly whole foods, lots of veggies, etc.) My family finds my diet amusing at best, appalling at worst. My co-workers walk by and wave Bojangles bags at me, taunting, "You know you want it".

Just as being "smart" is derided in some communities, so, too, is being healthy.

Poor Jamie. He meant well, but he was facing a tsunami of ignorance and apathy head-on.

they sure won't have a taste for real food at school.

than junk? I know when I eat in Italy and Spain the food is a lot healthier and boy, is it wonderful! I never eat so consistently well here as I have in Europe. It's amazing...

Much as I admire this guy I have to wonder if he couldn't have borrowed some seasoning practices from places like Italy and Spain to wake up the kids' taste buds...

Our boy will eat almost anything we serve, but I'm not about to say it's all because of us. Yes, he has been served fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grain breads and pastas, and a wide variety of food types since he started eating. Some foods he would eat a couple bites the first time, then have a bit more the next time, and then he'd plenty from then on out. The problem: We can't order from most children's menus. He does not like white bread and American cheese. Medium cheddar is the most tasteless thing in the house.

Anyway, I do think it helped to introduce things the way we did. But I don't think it would be that successful with every kid. I think we also hit the jackpot genetically.

Many parents will tell you that their kids started off this way, and then suddenly stopped liking things.

I have a theory, and it's only a theory based on my personal anecdote. When our boy started to say he didn't like such and such, I realized that he was actually trying to say he liked something else better. It didn't mean that he actually didn't like that particular food. Once we helped him learn the language needed, such statements stopped.

Blah. Blah. Blah.

And let's face it, fat, salt, and sugar do have immediately likable tastes by human beings. Our Paleolithic ancestors knew to chow down heartily when they got something with a lot of protein or a lot of carbs, because it wasn't going to be in season for very long. Certainly, those who did not like the taste of those items would be genetically selected against.

I went on one of those liquid diets back in the early 1990's, called MediFast (or something like that), and was only allowed three packaged 'shakes' a day, mixed with water. After a dozen or so weeks of that, vegetables started to taste good to me for the first time. Wouldn't touch asparagus with a ten-foot pole before that, now it's one of my very favorite foods, just had some tonight as a matter of fact.

is that Jamie isn't addressing the roots of these problems. If you just watch the show, you might think that all these people are ignorant, foolish or stubborn.

But nowhere will you hear anything about the nutritional guidelines schools must follow, or the pathetic amount of money they are given to do it with. Not a peep about the fast and prepared food industries that work to slant children's tastes. Nothing about the biggest factor that defines the quality of a family's food--income. Silence on agribusiness monsters (Monsanto, ConAgra, ADM) that have worked (with the government's help) to make high fructose corn syrup one of the cheapest, most prevelant and nutrition poor ingredients in modern food. Nothing on the agricultural policies that have led farmers away from producing veggies to growing corn that is almost inedible in its natural form. And nada on foods that have been designed to be addictive.

I guess that wouldn't make good TV. And it might cause some of Jamie's advertisers to run. Too bad. He could have made a real difference.

If we didn't like it, they couldn't sell it. People love the taste of sweet. They love the taste of fat. Those are two deep-seated taste preferences we evolved to have a better chance of surviving. When a food producer makes something that satisfies those cravings, lots of people buy it. There is no evil conspiracy here - we have only ourselves to blame.

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and solve the problem for good?