After watching Jamie Oliver’s show, I could no help but think how ignorant or at least completely oblivious the people in charge of USDA or any other “health program” can be. Those who are in charge of public school food actually believe that pizza is a breakfast item or that the super thin crust on that pizza is actually TWO bread servings. I feel like these programs are run by people who have no experience in nutrition or anything really because when Jamie sat down with Rhonda, the head of the school’s nutritional plan, she told him about all the loop holes he would have to jump through just to change a food program which is obviously for the better. How can you not realize all those fatty foods being served in elementary schools day in and day out? Even when Jamie tried to abide by the “health charts” set up by the USDA, he still could not avoid serving the kids partly unhealthy meals because brown rice is not considered two bread servings yet one pizza crust is two. He is exactly right too when he talks about how both countries, England and America, have become so caught up in who’s smarter or who’s more powerful or more “right” because from the radio talk host to the lunch ladies and the principal, whenever they were threatened or felt they were being bashed, they were the first to stand up and defend themselves without giving Jamie a chance to explain. When that newspaper article went out, from the start, none of the lunch ladies or the principal would listen to a word Jamie had to say because people have become so caught up in their own pride to see their faults. The greed and power shown from the fast food industry has reflected on to the school lunches in America not by what should be nutritional choices, but by greed and money. Yet, math and science programs continue to be cut around the nation and english and social science departments are slowly becoming a lower importance everyday. By giving into each little chance of money gain or profit earned, the children in America’s schools are not only losing their nutritional needs in the lunches, but also the education they deserve. word count: 380 1. ha. i'm so frustrated i can't even think of a question. Why has a nation's view of the rest of the world gone to condemn and question the integrity of anything not of its own? 2. WHERE IS ALL OF THE MONEY? Its ridiculous to see how public schools can only "afford" to feed kids.. what was it "potato pearls?" ugh
How can we learn from what Jamie Oliver is trying to teach us without being defensive or negative?
Is what he trying to do feasible in America—at least is it possible with all the governmental red tape in the school system (the federal lunch program, I believe it’s called)?
Wow. I applaud him. I really appreciate what he is trying to do for Americans and the sacrifices he has had to make to take the time, effort, money, and risk to care about some town in another country deemed the most unhealthy. I think that is the side people don’t see—they only see some know-it-all British guy barging in their system without any prior knowledge of the systems already in place and saying, “no, that’s wrong, let me correct you”. I think that is why the lunch ladies, I mean cooks, get so defensive about it. I have to agree with him in that they have the potential to live up the title they want to be called—cooks—but what they are doing right now requires the title of “warmer-upper” or “mixer” or server. I have always wondered about those mashed potatoes! “Don’t mix it too long or you won’t be able to get it out,” to which Oliver responds, “Am I mixing cement?!” Potato Pearls? Huh?? It seems Oliver is discovering the many problems with our American school system food program. Yeah sure, we allocate for vegetable and fruit servings but that does not guarantee that the kids will eat those servings! Therein lies the problem, in addition to the proportions being slightly askew. Pizza does not count for two bread servings, which is too much bread anyway unless perhaps it is all-natural, whole-grain, highly nutritious bread—which is NOT the pizza bread! Kids need variation in their diet (greasy pizza and processed chicken should not be a common item in a kid’s daily diet), and they rely solely on adults to provide that for them. Well, how are we doing? We are feeding them stuff with a whole chemistry lab report’s worth of chemicals that we don’t even know what it is! And how do we respond? “The first ingredient is ground beef” or “the first ingredient is chicken breast” out of a list of maybe 50 ingredients—we know one ingredient. That’s not even mentioning the numerous problems with the beef and chicken that Schlosser discusses in Fast Food Nation, which includes mass consumption of even more chemicals and mass distribution of (sometimes deadly) bacteria. America: FIGURE IT OUT!
After watching Jamie Oliver’s show, I could no help but think how ignorant or at least completely oblivious the people in charge of USDA or any other “health program” can be. Those who are in charge of public school food actually believe that pizza is a breakfast item or that the super thin crust on that pizza is actually TWO bread servings. I feel like these programs are run by people who have no experience in nutrition or anything really because when Jamie sat down with Rhonda, the head of the school’s nutritional plan, she told him about all the loop holes he would have to jump through just to change a food program which is obviously for the better. How can you not realize all those fatty foods being served in elementary schools day in and day out? Even when Jamie tried to abide by the “health charts” set up by the USDA, he still could not avoid serving the kids partly unhealthy meals because brown rice is not considered two bread servings yet one pizza crust is two. He is exactly right too when he talks about how both countries, England and America, have become so caught up in who’s smarter or who’s more powerful or more “right” because from the radio talk host to the lunch ladies and the principal, whenever they were threatened or felt they were being bashed, they were the first to stand up and defend themselves without giving Jamie a chance to explain. When that newspaper article went out, from the start, none of the lunch ladies or the principal would listen to a word Jamie had to say because people have become so caught up in their own pride to see their faults. The greed and power shown from the fast food industry has reflected on to the school lunches in America not by what should be nutritional choices, but by greed and money. Yet, math and science programs continue to be cut around the nation and english and social science departments are slowly becoming a lower importance everyday. By giving into each little chance of money gain or profit earned, the children in America’s schools are not only losing their nutritional needs in the lunches, but also the education they deserve. word count: 380
ReplyDelete1. ha. i'm so frustrated i can't even think of a question. Why has a nation's view of the rest of the world gone to condemn and question the integrity of anything not of its own?
2. WHERE IS ALL OF THE MONEY? Its ridiculous to see how public schools can only "afford" to feed kids.. what was it "potato pearls?" ugh
How can we learn from what Jamie Oliver is trying to teach us without being defensive or negative?
ReplyDeleteIs what he trying to do feasible in America—at least is it possible with all the governmental red tape in the school system (the federal lunch program, I believe it’s called)?
Wow. I applaud him. I really appreciate what he is trying to do for Americans and the sacrifices he has had to make to take the time, effort, money, and risk to care about some town in another country deemed the most unhealthy. I think that is the side people don’t see—they only see some know-it-all British guy barging in their system without any prior knowledge of the systems already in place and saying, “no, that’s wrong, let me correct you”. I think that is why the lunch ladies, I mean cooks, get so defensive about it. I have to agree with him in that they have the potential to live up the title they want to be called—cooks—but what they are doing right now requires the title of “warmer-upper” or “mixer” or server. I have always wondered about those mashed potatoes! “Don’t mix it too long or you won’t be able to get it out,” to which Oliver responds, “Am I mixing cement?!” Potato Pearls? Huh??
It seems Oliver is discovering the many problems with our American school system food program. Yeah sure, we allocate for vegetable and fruit servings but that does not guarantee that the kids will eat those servings! Therein lies the problem, in addition to the proportions being slightly askew. Pizza does not count for two bread servings, which is too much bread anyway unless perhaps it is all-natural, whole-grain, highly nutritious bread—which is NOT the pizza bread! Kids need variation in their diet (greasy pizza and processed chicken should not be a common item in a kid’s daily diet), and they rely solely on adults to provide that for them. Well, how are we doing? We are feeding them stuff with a whole chemistry lab report’s worth of chemicals that we don’t even know what it is! And how do we respond? “The first ingredient is ground beef” or “the first ingredient is chicken breast” out of a list of maybe 50 ingredients—we know one ingredient. That’s not even mentioning the numerous problems with the beef and chicken that Schlosser discusses in Fast Food Nation, which includes mass consumption of even more chemicals and mass distribution of (sometimes deadly) bacteria. America: FIGURE IT OUT!
Word Count: 375