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Monday, March 29, 2010

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

Tonight I sat on my bed and watched "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" on Hulu. And I was effected. Completely effected. I want you to be too. Click here to watch it for yourself. You will want to peel an orange, throw away all the candy in the cupboard and eat a salad for breakfast. Chef Oliver's food revolution will really get the wheels in your head turning about your own eating habits and your family's.

What were my thoughts about my eating habits and my family's? I won't be bashful, I will lay it all out.

We need to:
Eat more brown rice
Eat less candy
Eat less ice cream
Eat more yogurt
Eat more green vegetables
Drink less soda
Find better snacks
Eat more fruit
Stop Daddy from bringing home junk food

While there is plenty I can improve on, there is a lot that I need to be realistic about. Like while some families eat lentils, mine just won't. Same with whole grain pasta. So I quit trying with those. But they do like things like broccoli, kale, green beans, eggs, oatmeal and quinoa, so I will focus on our strengths instead of lamenting what I wish we liked and stop trying to shove it down my family's throats.

What is it that you and yours can be better about?

13 comments:

Tricia said...

amen, amen, and amen! I needed a pause button on that show to incorporate my own commentary as I watched! I didn't want to miss a thing....not a sentence, not a point he made....not a lunch lady's reaction. That show is genius, and I honestly hope it gets some parents upset enough to do something.
as for me,
I need to eat less chocolate chips from the bag.
Drink less diet coke (riiiiiiiiight.....).
Learn to like the "good for you" kind of peanut butter.

We do, in my not so humble opinion, a lot of things right, like packing lunches, insisting on fresh fruit as regular snacks. we serve veggies with every dinner....and we hear cheers when I serve edamame, we eat whole wheat bread, we buy real cheese (american cheese slices are just weird....), and we spend good money on smart balance dairy products. we also allow some goodies, because seriously, what kind of weirdos are my kids going to be if they don't eat some sugary crap now & then?

but in the end, there isn't anyone else looking out for our kids & their health.....why on earth would we let a mostly federally subsidized school lunch program feed our kids a beef tacoquito that doubles as car wax?

Vanessa said...

I bought his book last night at the grocery store and need to catch up on hulu as well!!

vanessa from inevergrewup.net

whitneyingram said...

@Tricia - When it comes to soda, I have a thing I do and I think my dad does it too. If I want to drink a can of soda, I tell myself that I have to drink a glass of water first. Once that is gone, fine, have some soda. If I have a fountain cup that I have brought home, I do that too. Like if the ice is melted or the soda is gone, I empty it, fill it with ice and water. I tell myself I have to finish it in the next couple of hours or whatever. Anyways, I am always trying to bridle my passions and limit myself, this is a way I do that with soda.

Melanie said...

I agree - Jamie Oliver is completely inspiring and I hope this stand gets the attention it needs. AS for me and my family, there is a lot we can do better but the goals I've made lately are, we need to eat more brown rice, eliminate cold cereal and eat whole grains for breakfast, completely eliminate the last of the high fructose corn syrup hanging around in miscellaneous foods and generally bump up the whole grains in our diet. Oh, and eat less refined sugar in general. I've learned it is a process, this healthy eating. I can't change me and my family overnight but the decisions we've made in the last two years have significantly helped us to feel and be healthier. Even if others think I am eccentric and crazy, it feels good to eat healthier. I love this topic and love to think about the ways I can improve.

Kalli said...

The hilarious thing is that P. served his mission in that exact part of W. Virginia and he was commiserating with Jamie Oliver about how ridiculous the people are there. Either they're right or you're wrong, pretty much. Go West Virgina (yes, I said Virgina), chicken nuggets for everyone!

I wrote about it a few days ago too and it made me feel even worse for the crap I'd been feeding my kid. Since then I've made some serious changes. He sits down to the table to eat with the rest of us for dinner. I'm making an effort to offer more fruits and veggies for snacks, though fruits win more than veggies at this point. I use brown rice a lot anyway so that part made me feel good. The soda thing? That's been a problem especially since being pregnant and the carbonation tastes SO GOOD! But then I figured out that San Pelegrino Limonatas help fill that void and we are good to go.

I don't want fat kids, I don't want to be a fat mom. I don't want to die young. If that can mostly be helped by the way we eat then I'll do it.

Sarah said...

I LOVE that show. and Support every step he makes towards making our school lunches better.
My MIL is a teacher and at their school they have to use all prepackaged (aka processed) items on their lunches. The lunch ladies can't even give them peanut butter and jelly! They give them those nasty crustless-circle-no fiber-no whole grain "sandwiches" instead.
Sad.

modern myrtle home said...

I spent my Sunday afternoon watching both episodes of this. I am kind of a freak about this kind of thing, admittedly, and I was completely enthralled. I was reminded of a school that was shown during "Supersize Me". It was a school for troubled, delinquent kids who had been kicked out of mainstream schools. They revamped the menu to serve only healthy, fresh food. Within a short amount of time, the behavior problems within the school nearly vanished. What we eat has such a powerful imapact on the way we feel and therefore act.

The one thing that I have changed this week since seeing the show is to pack a lunch for my kinds EVERY DAY without exception. I have gotten tired and lazy in the mornings lately and have slacked on sending lunches. No longer. Living in Tulsa, OK, one of the most obese cities in the country, I am constantly reminded of how blessed my family is to be healthy. I am grateful that my kids love healthy food. I took solace in the fact that my kids TOTALLY would have chosen the roast chicken dinner! What makes me sad are the kids who come from homes where the parents don't have experience with fresh food. It's easy for me to prepare and feed my family healthy meals that taste good, because I know how to cook. Some of these parents just don't know how to do any better than they do, and it is the kids that really suffer.

**also, an interesting side note--my kids' school does not allow pop to be brought in, but then serves the most processed, sad food. Not that I want to send pop in my kids' lunches--the hypocrisy just gets me.

Ashley Thalman said...

Okay. I'm watching right now! Holy hell I am so mad at all of these ridiculously backward and empty headed people! That radio caster baffles me!

Chaney said...

Truthfully the show has made me feel better about what I serve my family. We make 99% of our food from scratch. Processed and prepackaged foods are not only bad for you but tend to be more expensive. I even made my own baby food. Some of my friends have ridiculed me for spending so much time in the kitchen making our meals. But even when we go out my kids ask for apples instead of fries...and that's because it's what we eat at home. I have a hard time keeping fruit in the house because they eat it so fast.
I do like soda, and on occasion sugar although in our house a spoonful of peanut butter is typically the treat.

{natalie} said...

i loved the show and am looking forward to watching the rest of the season. i hope it makes a difference. i know it's made me think a lot more about what we are serving our family.

Unknown said...

Being a lunch lady is my dream job! (seriously) I would LOVE to revamp a school lunch program! But I probably couldn't do it without a diet coke in hand, unfortunately.

Michelle @ Twig said...

We were effected as well. Don't know if I can eat chicken nuggets again! I think our bodies are so good at telling us what we need and most often when we think we are hungry but then drink some water we are fulfilled or when we want something sweet and eat an orange instead of something sugary we are fulfilled, etc. It is all about listening and responding correctly. I love your statement about being realistic because I also have given up on whole grain pasta. I love it but my husband doesn't. So we compromise and add more veggies to the pasta instead. Focusing on the strengths; that will make the process of making wise choices much easier than trying to eat in a way that you don't enjoy at all...because we all know it won't last very long if you don't enjoy it.

beck said...

so excited that i actually get to move to WV, the most obese state in the country. i am sooo packing lunches everyday for my kids. and i cant wait to meet everyone out there and become one!