Mommy Goes Green

Last week I caught Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution for the first time.  I was appalled at the lack of basic vegetable knowledge by first graders amongst other poor eating habits displayed by the elementary school Jamie visited.

This week, Jamie visited the local high school.  Their lunches looked like the lunch I ate in high school – pizza, french fries and chocolate milk (which has more sugar than soda, if you can believe it).  Of course, none of the high school students thought anything was wrong with their lunch (and frankly, I probably didn’t when I was that age either).

One of the issues mentioned in the last 2 episodes is the increased cost and time that is needed to make fresh, healthy lunches as processed food comes prepared and tends to be cheaper.  As the grocery shopper in our household, I agree.  Processed food is generally cheaper.  I do spend more money on groceries that I used to because we buy more organic and fresh foods than we used to.  However, I believe our bodies are healthier and that is a money saver, in many ways.  [ tips for saving on organic groceries ]

The one thing that got me fired up last week was that first graders couldn’t identify a tomato!  A TOMATO!   This week, it was that french fries are counted as a vegetable – well that explains a lot about the American obesity problem.  The same thing happened to me this week when I asked my daughter’s preschool why they serve juice during snack time occasionally.  The response?  “I think it counts as a fruit”.  I’m sorry, but JUICE IS NOT A FRUIT.

I really hope this show shakes up parents, teachers and administrators about the food our children are eating.   Moms – we CAN make a difference.  If you have kids in school – find out what they are eating everyday and start asking why?

For 50 of Jamie’s 20 minute recipes along with other great functionality, you can download Jamie’s iPhone app.

If you missed this week’s episode, there are 3 more to go – tune in on Friday evenings!