Healthy standard issue school lunches you say!? “Hooray!” “It’s about time!” Well, don’t celebrate quite yet the push has gotten a major sponsor, the British chef Jamie Oliver. Who has made a name for himself in the U.S. while taking on the established cheap, easy to heat school lunch programs at your little one’s place of education. The staggering statistics underscore the merits of his “Food Revolution.” For instance, did you know that “the US has the highest rate of obesity in the world (1)?” And that “nearly one in three (32%, 23 million) American children are obese of overweight (2)?” Yet, our public school system doesn’t regularly offer healthy, nutritious, whole foods. Rather, they opt for cheap, low quality, high fat processed foods which have a myriad of effects on our children and nation’s future. The immediate effect is inadequate nutrition. Over time, the risks for weight gain, high cholesterol and diabetes are very high. And these are children we are talking about. Active, generally healthy children that ought be guided in the healthful direction with nutrition education and exposure to ‘real’ foods like apples and pasta. Not derivates of products, which are often sliced and diced to form a kid friendly finger food. Sorry chicken nugget, but your days might be numbered.
If you haven’t seen Oliver’s program on television yet, tune in, you may just find yourself signing his petition for a healthier America. Whether or not you find Oliver “annoying” as the critics call him, one thing we can agree on - his mission is just. As a celebrated celebrity chef personality, the last thing he needs to be doing is service for America’s youth/future. But he is and with an inordinate amount of passion.
Watch Oliver win the coveted TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design non-profit) prize in which he is now an alum with the likes of Bono and Bill Clinton
To learn more about the good-doers prompting the “Food Revolution,” look no further: http://www.jamieoliver.com/us/foundation/jamies-food-revolution/home