This past Friday night I watched Jamie Oliver (formerly the Naked Chef) in the two-hour premier of his new prime-time TV show, called Food Revolution. It was a shocking show to watch -- and a good look into the problems we face as a country, or better yet, as humanity.
The show is based around the fattest town in the world, Henderson, West Virginia, and Jamie's attempt to help the townspeople learn how to eat right, one school at a time. What's shocking isn't just the awfulness of the food that people eat, and serve to children, but their smugness that they don't need to change (and that there's nothing wrong with what they are doing), as well as the crazy USDA bureaucracy that makes it hard for people to change their diets.
Our whole family watched the show together. One daughter wondered why Jamie wasn't starting with simply better, organic versions of the food that people love. Another felt lucky that her private school's food was much better (but we pay for it). My future son-in-law, who is British, confirmed that the school food and the smug, belligerent attitudes, are the same in the UK (although, according to him, the Brits are still superior in every way). I kept thinking about the well-endowed public school kitchens that aren't used for cooking, but just for heating up crappy foods, full of chemicals, for our kids.
Jamie Oliver didn't mention organic at all, which is fine, since he's got a bigger barrier to get through -- just getting these people to eat "real" food in the first place. But I think the two things are connected: Somehow, out of laziness and the desire for convenience, we've allowed all the real food to be substituted with fake food made from cheap, factory-grown by-products. And yet, we have been conditioned to want, want, want that deep-fried, coated, crispy, salty, crunchy, fatty whatever that only feeds a primordial desire implanted in our brains, but in fact destroys our bodies and, obviously, our ability to think clearly.
It will be interesting to see what happens as the show progresses. I know my family will keep watching it. I hope it works. Because what we really, really need most of all is an Organic Food Revolution -- not just for our bodies, not just for our planet, but for our minds and souls, too.
Jamie, we are rooting for you!
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The next thing a school kitchen might do, is make sure a stock pot is running at all times. Replenish with cuttings from vegetables, bones, freeze in containers, and offer community members opportunity to can and take home fresh stock. It just makes sense.
We aren't allowed to complain because we have it better than so many other schools in California, but truth be told, the food situation is PATHETIC. Perhaps Mr. Oliver could have found a way around the lack of a cafeteria or lunch staff for our school, but parents in our district would have hugged him every day for trying to help!! (And you'd be most welcome to bring good organic food to our district, too, Ms. Rodale!!!!)
First of all, I never realized that part of West Virginia was so beautiful. (I just posted this same comment somewhere else and said KENTUCKY off the top of my head -- but Ms. Rodale, we both got it wrong -- it's HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA! It's a gorgeous place, I had no idea! Anyway...)
It's making me wonder, if he's so sincere about helping, why he didn't come somewhere where he'd have a challenge but be welcomed with open arms?!!
Our local elementary school kids eat things like bread sticks with cheese and marinara sauce (cold). All packaged in stuff that gets thrown away! The only hot meal they get is PIZZA once a week. Our parents hate this. Even though this is a flagship district in Northern California! there is little we can do -- none of our elementary schools have cafeterias! Let me repeat that -- our elementary AND middle schools do not have cafeterias!
And even if a genie popped out of the sky and gave us cafeterias, we couldn't afford to staff them. Those people in Kentucky have no idea how good they have things, what an opportunity they have in the resources they have available and the additional resources offered by Mr. Oliver.
We have two main problems with diet and exercise. First, we don't exercise enough for the calories we eat. Second, we have overloaded our diets with carbohydrates. Low carb diets, eating more vegetables, and eating three times a day with uniform amounts of carbs, would solve most of the weight issues.
The largest problem of chemicals are golf courses and yards.
Intensive agriculture means more production on less acres of land thus benefiting the environment more than organic.
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