Thinking a bit about what I posted yesterday, I started reminiscing about my own school lunch experiences. I went to public school K-12, so I was right there, in the same sort of situation that Jamie finds himself in his show. I'd like to think that things were better way back when, but in all honesty, "way back when" for me isn't all that long ago.
In elementary school, I made my lunch to take to school, everyday. School lunch menus were printed up a month in advance, and handed out. I was allowed to buy lunch at school one day a week, as a treat (the thrill of the purchase? or not having to make my own sandwich, I guess). I don't remember much about lunch during middle school, other than the layout, and the treacherous landscape that was difficult to navigate with a growing body and backpack. In high school, I was given more autonomy when it came to lunch. If I had money, and wanted to buy my lunch, I could. Or I could take it. I'm guessing that I took my lunch more than I bought it. But, I still bought the crap. I bought pizza because pizza wasn't something we had at home.
If I went through the regular lunch line, I did usually get at least one fruit or veggie, but do remember that a lot of offerings were breaded and/or fried. That is just what the choices were. Salads were more expensive, and had cheese on them, plus the salad dressing choices were basically Ranch, Ranch, electric colored French, or Ranch.
Have I mentioned here that I don't like Ranch dressing? The spice rub, sure, but for some reason, once they are combined with sour cream or mayonnaise, it makes me a bit nauseous.
And, here is a blog by a teacher who is eating the school lunch every day this calendar year. She supplements with other information posts. It is quite interesting to read. She takes a picture of her lunch daily, and I've been shocked by the amount of plastic and pre-packaging school lunch has now. I remember getting corn dished out from a large, stainless steel container, directly onto my plastic tray. Also, I'm a bit surprised at the lack of utensils. I shouldn't be though. When I started public school, we still had metal utensils. By the time I had graduated, we were down to plastic, and I think that the knife was being phased out as too dangerous.
What about you? What was your school lunch situation? If you saw the program on Sunday night, how does your school lunch experience compare to what the show portrayed?
Showing posts with label Jamie Oliver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jamie Oliver. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Jamie Oliver's Revolution
Did any of you watch the sneak preview of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution last night? I did. You may know Jamie from his series on the Food Network, The Naked Chef.
The premise of the show/series is confronting current eating habits and food trends. He went to Huntington, WV, which was declared the unhealthiest city in America by a recent USDA study (here's an msnbc article about it) to see what, if anything, he could do about it.
A thread in Jamie's cooking and projects is stripping food down to basics. Getting to know the basic, raw ingredients, so that you can make good food, from the foundation up.
The one-hour sneak preview focuses on school lunched (and breakfast). He met varying amounts of resistance from the community, administrators and the lunch ladies themselves. It seemed to me that he was going out of his way to explain himself and not step on the toes of the administration. He encountered tons of red-tape when he was trying to put together a menu. He was misrepresented in the media, which didn't help his credibility at all.
He did spend a bit of time harping on the ingredients in the food being served the elementary school children. As an obsessive label-reader now, I get it. And I'm right there with him. One of the cooks kept pointing out that the first ingredient listed was chicken or beef, or whatever the product claimed to be. (That is cool - but what got me was the fact that half of a side of the box was taken up with the rest of the ingredient list - some very scary, hard-to-pronounce stuff. I remember my mom telling me that if I couldn't pronounce it, I shouldn't eat it. She is a smart lady. I really should have listened more growing up, huh?)
His entire 3+ month long experience in Huntington wasn't shown in the one-hour long program, or else it would not have been a teaser, sneak preview! In good TV form, he's facing a problem, and questioning his ability to conquer it. While I suspect they wouldn't have bothered airing the pilot if it didn't succeed to some extent, I am anxious to see what happens next.
He did this sort of thing in England, already. So, he's not trying to pick on us Americans or anything. (Really, though, if you see the example of what that one family eats in a week, or what the children are actually eating from their lunch, and you don't think that something is at least a bit off, well, then, you and I will just have to agree to disagree, and move on. Also, I suggest you just click through the rest of this blog. I'm trying to combat my own food laziness, cook more, cook better, and eat a greater variety of good-for-me foods. That is sort of what is going on here.)
So, did you see the show? What are your thoughts on it?
The premise of the show/series is confronting current eating habits and food trends. He went to Huntington, WV, which was declared the unhealthiest city in America by a recent USDA study (here's an msnbc article about it) to see what, if anything, he could do about it.
A thread in Jamie's cooking and projects is stripping food down to basics. Getting to know the basic, raw ingredients, so that you can make good food, from the foundation up.
The one-hour sneak preview focuses on school lunched (and breakfast). He met varying amounts of resistance from the community, administrators and the lunch ladies themselves. It seemed to me that he was going out of his way to explain himself and not step on the toes of the administration. He encountered tons of red-tape when he was trying to put together a menu. He was misrepresented in the media, which didn't help his credibility at all.
He did spend a bit of time harping on the ingredients in the food being served the elementary school children. As an obsessive label-reader now, I get it. And I'm right there with him. One of the cooks kept pointing out that the first ingredient listed was chicken or beef, or whatever the product claimed to be. (That is cool - but what got me was the fact that half of a side of the box was taken up with the rest of the ingredient list - some very scary, hard-to-pronounce stuff. I remember my mom telling me that if I couldn't pronounce it, I shouldn't eat it. She is a smart lady. I really should have listened more growing up, huh?)
His entire 3+ month long experience in Huntington wasn't shown in the one-hour long program, or else it would not have been a teaser, sneak preview! In good TV form, he's facing a problem, and questioning his ability to conquer it. While I suspect they wouldn't have bothered airing the pilot if it didn't succeed to some extent, I am anxious to see what happens next.
He did this sort of thing in England, already. So, he's not trying to pick on us Americans or anything. (Really, though, if you see the example of what that one family eats in a week, or what the children are actually eating from their lunch, and you don't think that something is at least a bit off, well, then, you and I will just have to agree to disagree, and move on. Also, I suggest you just click through the rest of this blog. I'm trying to combat my own food laziness, cook more, cook better, and eat a greater variety of good-for-me foods. That is sort of what is going on here.)
So, did you see the show? What are your thoughts on it?
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