During the last 11 months, classmates have seen or heard just as many references to the My Pryramid via my required projects. I recently received an email informing me that Jamie Oliver, a famous chef in England, was awarded the TED award for his work in public schools. He is currently working with schools in Huntington, WV (fattest city in America) in trying to completely overhaul the current breakfast and lunch program. The main complaint being supplied by the schools is time preparation, finances and cooking food the children will eat. Not to mention the negative attitudes of the cafeteria workers!
Jamie goes out of his way to show the amount of sugar and fat that these children are consuming in a short period of time. While the kids could recognize pizza, chicken nuggets, etc... they had no idea of a tomato, potato or any other vegetable. Jamie goes as far as to show a select number of students what they are eating in process foods. He has a whole chicken that he cuts up, making a pile of the good meat and one of all the left overs; including skin, muscle, fat and bones. He puts them through a blender to make a paste and asks the kids which is the good meat and which is not good. They answer correctly, but the moment he puts paste into patties and covers them with cornmeal, as they watch him prepare it, he asks who would eat that stuff. Every single student raises his/her hand because it is now in a familiar shape. The work that Jamie is trying to do here in the US is to be applauded. It also adds validation to the work I will be doing as I introduce nutrition for the first time to the first graders in my district. Quite a bit to think about!
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