Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

at 8:22 AM

I am not one to encourage people to watch a specific show on TV but Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution' might just be the one exception. I watched a portion of it on the ABC website. The story in basically about Jamie Oliver the British chef going to an elementary school in a town in W. Virginia and he is on a mission to change the school lunch menu. He realizes that the children are pretty much brain washed into thinking that real food is chicken nuggets and pizza. The school serves pizza for breakfast as well. Some of the kids don't even know a tomato when they see one. He shows them an eggplant and they call it a plum; he shows them a beet and they call it a celery.

He then decides to do an experiment that he believes will forever change their lives or at least perhaps their eating habits. He takes several kids to his kitchen, there is a huge plate of chicken nuggets on the counter and the kids are already salivating over it. His plan is to demonstrate how the nuggets are made. There is a whole chicken on the counter and he starts by saying that the chicken breast is the best part, he cuts the breast; then the wings are really good; cuts those off, then the legs come off and what is left is a carcass of connective tissue, some meat, bones and marrow. None of the kids think that what is left is the good part of the chicken, nor should it be eaten. He puts what is left in the grinder, adds flour, flavoring and other food additives. He then turns this meat thing into little patties and deep fries them. At the end they look exactly like the little chicken nuggets on the plate.

The kids all along had been disgusted at this process but once it was finished, they STILL wanted to eat them.

What is wrong this this nation? We really don't know what real food is all about. We like to watch cooking shows, but do we make any of it at home? The most used appliance in our kitchen is the microwave.

Kids can be pretty stubborn in their habits but let's at least buy and bring home fresh fruits and veggies and show them what they look like so they know the difference between a celery and a beet.

And the last point I want to make is DON'T MAKE DESSERT A REWARD OR TAKE IT AWAY AS A PUNISHMENT. This is how we can start separating our food from our emotions.