revolution!

At a meeting on Monday, some friends were talking about a new show... Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution... that was on last week....about how bad school lunches are for kids and junk we eat in general. I went home and immediately watched it with Juan Pablo on the computer...and was shocked. (Gasp!) That very same day, I had sent the kids with $2 dollars to buy their lunch!!
It also impressed me that someone is actually trying to change something we've taken for granted for years.
I mean, we all known school lunches are disgusting. We ate them. And now we're letting our kids do it. There is rarely anything fresh in it, and if there is, it's not eaten. The food is taken out of freezers, been processed and full of who knows what, and is basically not nutritious. I can't believe we've accepted this for so long. Is it really that hard to serve yummy nutritious food?

So, when the show was over, I jumped out of my seat and started throwing food away...the not- good- for- you, but- tastes- good- stuff...well not all of it, but a couple of things. And I prepared myself to start making hot lunches for my kids to take with them to school in their quite expensive new thermoses we had recently bought.

The next morning, I woke up and started cooking. Cooking lunch at breakfast. I told them all about the show and about all that yucky food and that they wouldn't be eating it anymore....Isabela started crying and Joaquin began his protests. Then I told them about how some ingredients in that food are almost like eating plastic. Joaquin said it didn't taste like plastic. And I responded, "That's because it's melted." This seemed to make more sense to them. I sent them off to school that day pleased with their healthy lunch and wondering if they'd be starving when they got home.
Later that afternoon, I had to cook dinner. Cooking again! But really, what else did I have to do that day? Cruise the aisles at Target? Check Goodwill for any deals?

Did they eat the food? Yes...except for the cooked broccoli I had put in a baggie. Now doesn't that just sound gross? They actually love broccoli at home, but not after it's sat in a bag getting cold and mushy for a few hours.

Flash forward to tonight, Isabela had soccer practice. Their coach had thoughtfully provided a snack for everyone...it was a rice krispie treat. I was secretly happy they had something to eat on the ride home, since they had run around for an hour...and luckily, I had already shoveled the healthy stuff in before we left for practice.



Joaquin had taken two bites, then said, "Mom, I'm not going to eat the rest of it because it has plastic in it."
"Good for you," I said.
"Well, maybe I will.. just this one time," he says, staring at his treat.

But I think it's a good start. He knew it wasn't good to eat. We're going to keep making changes.

We're joining the revolution.