Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

[LisaR]

Just finished watching episode 1 and most of 2 on my computer. I don't see the ladies as being as rude as others have written about but they are being defensive and trying to do their jobs according to the rules that they are required to follow. I also feel some of this is staged. If the ladies were all agreeable on day one and did not put up resistance then Jaime would not have show!!

They did seem surprised about "real" chicken more than I thought they would be.
I do agree that he should wear gloves in their kitchen but I also feel they should wear hairnets instead of the visors!!

We rotate our menus.
August,Sept. Oct./// Nov, Dec.,Jan.,Feb/// Mar.,April,May

During our "winter" menu we have "real" chicken which we bake. It does take time to prepare and we have to spend 2 days getting it ready to cook while still having time to cook other items.


We also have roasted red potatoes paired with "real" turkey roast. Those also are easy to cook but to have the time they have to be cut the day before and soaked in water to prevent them from turning dark.

With our vegetables we have a salad/// tomato& lettuce///mini carrots///slaw at least 2 times a week.

Other vegetables we can use canned or frozen. I prefer to use the fresh-frozen because they look much better and are not as mushy.

With fruits I try to have fresh fruit: oranges (or tangerines) and apples at least twice a week. Sometimes this will have to vary towards the end of the school year to use up any canned fruits we have in our stock that we have received from USDA.

There are those of us doing things as right as we can. When I choose my fruit for the day I try to make the plate as colorful as possible. Also I switched to brown rice totally this year. Last year we would mix white and brown to get the kids use to it and this year they have not even realized that white rice is gone.

A couple of years ago we had two versions of cereal...one regular...one less sugar. I made sure I always chose the ones with less sugar and other kitchens kept on ordering the ones with more sugar. I kept telling them that the kids do not miss the extra sugar. I am also the only kitchen in our town thay does NOT allow choc. milk for breakfast. They just do not need it. Also choc is the only flavored milk I have. Last year when we were trying to cut some items from our order guide I was actually able to finally convince the others to stop ordering the higher sugar cereals!! MY own small victory!! LOL!!

Mum4jenn, you are being SOOOO defensive. This thread isn't about YOU or YOUR school. It is great to hear that your school is trying so hard. That is truly fantastic. However, not all schools are putting any effort into nutrition. The school in Huntington has a long way to go. Do you honestly not see the differences between your school and theirs? You are like the teacher that runs a great classroom and therefore defends every classroom in America. The reality is, our school systems are in trouble both academically and nutritionally. A few are doing it right but many more are failing. If this show brings awareness, generates talks and inspires action by a handful of other schools, it will be well worth it.

All of the schools in our district have made changes (salad bar is offered daily and vending machines removed) but they rotate the same five crappy meals every week (corn dogs, hot dogs, nuggets, pizza, burgers & fries). Most kids are going to pick crap if it is available. My DD friend in high school buys Gatorade and chips 5 days a week. Nothing else. She said the other food tastes horrible and even if it was good, there isn't enough time to stand in line and eat. She can grab her quick junk and still have enough time to socialize for a few minutes and eat the rest on the way to class. I would strangle my kids if that is what they had to eat for lunch everyday.

 

[mum4jenn]

The problem is that parents are not wanting to accept ANY of the blame. When there are hundreds or even thousands of more fast food places than 30 years ago that is part of the problem also.
I know its not about me but many here have generalized about all school food being crap and that is just not true. Someone has to speak for the ones making improvements and trying to do things the right way or at least better.
If my child was offered some of the food like is offered at the schools that have the cooked food shipped in covered in cellophane and all they do is heat it up I would want changes also. There are worse kitchens than the one being featured on that show.
I still do not feel like they were being as rude as others feel like they are. When you are forced to not follow the rules it is natural to get defensive because you want or need your job. Maybe no one out there has a job where you HAVE to follow certain government rules or lose your job but that is what those ladies are feeling. Until the government makes the changes those ladies will never want to go along with the changes.
Now I am sure that by the end of Jaimie's experiment they will have a change of heart or something. I feel like as in all reality shows some of this is coached or scripted.

THere are a couple of people on this thread that DO understand what things are like for those ladies and they also understand that there are schools doing things right. How much you want to bet that Mr Oliver will never go to one of those schools that are doing things better? This gives him attention, sells his cookbooks, gets him more camera time.

Real change will never occur until parents feed their own kids better and stay away from the drive-thrus, and stop trying to blame everything that is wrong in America on a school or a teacher or a school meal.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

I think it has less to do with following or not following rules than it has to do with people not wanting to change. Especially if it means more work. These people are ignorant if they think the processed chicken pretend pieces are good for those kids. And they don't like finding out they are ignorant.

This isn't a documetary show on school lunches, it is an entertainment show meant to show a bit of how to fix an extremely sad situation in a town/area where obesity is the norm. I could not care less that some schools get it right. Good for them.

eta: AND we are talking about this junk for 2 out of 3 meals a day.

 

[eliza61]

[/COLOR]
Breakfast products or battered products with whole wheat.
.

So...can fat kids be all the fault of school lunches these days or is it all the fast food, convenience
foods, lack of an active lifestyle, that is to blame?????

Why do we do this? Is it an American thing to view every thing in a vacuum? To Look for that 1 thing to blame a complex problem on.

No school lunches are not the total blame for childhood obesity. It's a complex problem that needs a multi prong approach for a solution but the first thing our school systems, parents, educators and kids themselves need is INFORMATION.
Thats where Jamie Oliver comes in, he brings information to the school on healthy alternatives.

 

[Indiana Rose Lee]

Why do we do this? Is it an American thing to view every thing in a vacuum? To Look for that 1 thing to blame a complex problem on.

No school lunches are not the total blame for childhood obesity. It's a complex problem that needs a multi prong approach for a solution but the first thing our school systems, parents, educators and kids themselves need is INFORMATION.
Thats where Jamie Oliver comes in, he brings information to the school on healthy alternatives.

What he is saying is all good, really. How could anyone not see the necessity of feeding the next generation decent food? This generation is not expected to outlive thier parents. How incredibly sad.

 

[Motherofboys]

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A survey shows kids at the West Virginia school featured in "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" liked their standard pizza and chicken nuggets more than the celebrity chef's fresh, healthy menu items.

And when denied the food they were used to, many stopped buying the school lunch.

The survey at Central City Elementary in Huntington also found children drank less milk after Oliver removed the sugary chocolate and strawberry bottles.

But there is a bright spot in the data from the West Virginia University Health Research Center: More than six in 10 kids said they'd learned to try new foods.

ABC chose to have the show in Huntington after a 2008 Associated Press story dubbed the five-county metropolitan area the nation's unhealthiest.

Newsflash, my kids would probably go for cereal 3 meals a day and only chocolate milk too, if I let them! HELLO!!


I fully agree that schools need to be providing nutritionally balanced meals that are cooked, not dump and reheat. They also need more funding and value to be placed on the food service worker's time and effort! Don't expect 1 lunch lady to be able to do the work of 2 while paying her 1/2 of what she should be making! Don't outsource our lunch rooms to corporations looking to have the best bottom line, hire local people who care about the community and the kids! Pay them a fair wage and treat them with respect!

No matter what, parents still bear the majority of the responsibility for how their kids eat and the ideas about food that they teach/display.

How many people have heard the old "My child only eats chicken nuggets and hotdogs, it's ALL he/she will eat"..........why do you think that is? Typically paired with "We are having salmon and asparagus for dinner, Jr is having hotdogs and mac and cheese, b/c that's what he likes".

If you teach your child that pizza rolls are an acceptable dinner, it's too much work to plan meals so get take out, and that veggies are something that need to be disguised to eat.......who is to blame for their poor eating habits?

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Our elementary school gives 1/2 hour for lunch. The classes are staggered pretty well, so it usually only take a few minutes to get lunch and pay. In order to get the kids to concentrate on eating, they have classical music playing, and during that time the kids are to be totally quiet and eat. Then after a few minutes, the music stops and the kids can talk. Then the music comes back on and they have to be quiet and eat again. This back and forth goes on for the entire lunch period; it's kind of cool to be in there and hear the rise and fall of voices timed with the music.

 

[MzDiz]

How many people have heard the old "My child only eats chicken nuggets and hotdogs, it's ALL he/she will eat"..........why do you think that is? Typically paired with "We are having salmon and asparagus for dinner, Jr is having hotdogs and mac and cheese, b/c that's what he likes".

This always shocks me. I have a sign in my kitchen that says "Today's menu: Two choices - take it or leave it"

 

[bettymae1121]

But this is exactly the point of the show. He's showing us the crud that is being served, showing the USDA and funding restrictions the schools are under, and getting us to talk about it and (hopefully) take needed action about it. He helped get Brittan to pump $5 Billion dollars into overhauling their lunch system over there by showing people what was wrong with their system.

Yes, healthier foods can be more expensive to prepare.

Yes it may mean new equipment and re-training food service staff.

It's almost certainly going to cost us more money, in one way or another.

No, it's NOT going to be easy.

But aren't our children worth the effort?

 

[sallybrealey]

Looking forward to the next episode.

Can I ask what the kids use to eat in high school? The whole lack of knife and forks is what seems to have shocked me the most.

Just like Jamie said we certainly arent perfect over here and at the high school age I think little has changed because by the time the kids are 14/15 its pretty much too late but we have made massive strides in the younger kids and hopefully by the time these kids get to high school age they will continue with a more healthy eating plan or at least have these skills so that when they get past teenage years and start to cook for themselves they are excited about healthy food (I lived on a diet of fries and gravy at high school but eat better now )

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Looking forward to the next episode.

Can I ask what the kids use to eat in high school? The whole lack of knife and forks is what seems to have shocked me the most.

Just like Jamie said we certainly arent perfect over here and at the high school age I think little has changed because by the time the kids are 14/15 its pretty much too late but we have made massive strides in the younger kids and hopefully by the time these kids get to high school age they will continue with a more healthy eating plan or at least have these skills so that when they get past teenage years and start to cook for themselves they are excited about healthy food (I lived on a diet of fries and gravy at high school but eat better now )

Hi everyone I've been lurking but just wanted to say I too was shocked at the lack of cutlery!! Some changes were made here after the uk version of show -no vending machines except those selling bottled water and fruit and fries only once a week plus healthier options on offer every day.
Are you able to watch the new show in uk? Icant find it on tv but would love to see it. I've just been reading about it all on-line.

 

[1stluvispooh]

You can watch on line here http://abc.go.com/shows/jamie-olivers-food-revolution

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

You can watch on line here http://abc.go.com/shows/jamie-olivers-food-revolution[/QUOTE
I tried this site but it doesn't alllow viewers outside the US to watch. Thanks anyway

 

[NotUrsula]

Can I ask what the kids use to eat in high school? The whole lack of knife and forks is what seems to have shocked me the most.

Most places do not withhold forks; that WAS odd about this school. It's only metal knives that US schools tend to be leery of.

As to what we ate, see the post above from the food service manager. 30 years ago it still tended to be quite fatty and starchy, because that is cheap and filling, but it was mostly made on premises. They just chopped the veggies bite-sized so that we didn't need a knife. Meats were usually cooked soft enough that you could cut them with the side of your fork.

 

[Nette]

You can watch on line here http://abc.go.com/shows/jamie-olivers-food-revolution

They're also available on hulu.com

 

[eliza61]

[Newsflash, my kids would probably go for cereal 3 meals a day and only chocolate milk too, if I let them! HELLO!!


If you teach your child that pizza rolls are an acceptable dinner, it's too much work to plan meals so get take out, and that veggies are something that need to be disguised to eat.......who is to blame for their poor eating habits?

This always shocks me. I have a sign in my kitchen that says "Today's menu: Two choices - take it or leave it"

My house also and the house I was raised in. Not one death from starvation yet.

It's almost certainly going to cost us more money, in one way or another.

No, it's NOT going to be easy.

But aren't our children worth the effort?

They most certainly are. It's funny dh and I decided to cut back on soda consumption in our house. Sure my kids went ballastic at first (I probably had a harder time then them getting use to water) to which my dh and I promptly invited them to finish high school, get a job and get their own house = buy whatever you want.
I happy to report none of my kids have passed out from not having a soda.

Why do we short change our kids. Our kids will reach the expectations we set for them. If we assume that they cannot handle a plastic knife, that's the level that they will sink to. If we demand proper behaviour at meal time you'd be surprised at what they can do.

 

[cheermom1]

This always shocks me. I have a sign in my kitchen that says "Today's menu: Two choices - take it or leave it"

Right if you don;t expose your kids to all kinds of foods how do they know they even like it???? geez lets be parents people!

My dh's ex does this she will make each kids their own meal and then when they come here they expect the same and dh and I fight over this b/c he thinks they shouldn't be forced to eat something they don't like. I am not forcing them to eat anything they can eat or not their choice! Dh will usually make them something else makes so mad!!

 

[JVL1018]

Looking forward to the next episode.

Can I ask what the kids use to eat in high school? The whole lack of knife and forks is what seems to have shocked me the most.

Here in NJ at my kids elementary school, they have plastic knives and forks and spoons available with lunch. I've never heard of a school not allowing utensils-that was weird.

 

[jamimb]

Here in NJ at my kids elementary school, they have plastic knives and forks and spoons available with lunch. I've never heard of a school not allowing utensils-that was weird.[/

It's WV nothing is weird ! I can only say this because I was born and raised there.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

The ingredients read
Potatoes, maltodextrin, shortening powder (partially hydrogenated soybean oil, lactose, sodium caseinate, dipotassium phosphate), partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (cottonseed, soybean), mono and diglycerides, artificial flavor, artificial color, vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Freshness preserved with sodium bisulfite & BHT

All you have to add is boiling water. Bleh!

If you can't pronounce it, you shouldn't eat it. The one thing from the Breyers ice cream commercials I take to heart.
They sound disgusting!

So how did Jamie manage it in the UK then? We have schools with 1500 kids too but our schools have managed to make some changes. They arent perfect but they are making changes, they have took away snack machines etc and are just trying to cook wholesome food. He also wants kids to understand what they are eating, make it interesting and get them to try new things.

Questions for the UK group. How are your schools and their lunch programs funded? Our schools are funded through tax dollars and the lunch program at our school is self sufficient , what we pay for is the food and the lunch ladies. The crisps, ice cream and and other snacks fill in the financial gaps.

Side note: We don't have enough kids on free and reduced lunch to help fill in the gap. 1 family moved out of town and we lost $3000 US dollars in federal/state funding because our percentage of free kids dropped.

Forget about health care reform, preventing 1000's of kids from having heart attacks by age 40 would go along way in health care.

AMEN!!! Let's take some of our monies from health care reform and give it to schools to fund healthy living action plans. Then we wouldn't need the health care reform because people would be healthy!

I do agree that he should wear gloves in their kitchen but I also feel they should wear hairnets instead of the visors!!

But Jamie had a valid point, dirty gloves are just as bad as dirty hands. Washing hands frequently is perfectly acceptable.
I do agree that visors are not good. Our lunch ladies wear them to and I can't stand it! Hair is hair and it falls out visor or no visor.

And when denied the food they were used to, many stopped buying the school lunch.

The survey at Central City Elementary in Huntington also found children drank less milk after Oliver removed the sugary chocolate and strawberry bottles.

But there is a bright spot in the data from the West Virginia University Health Research Center: More than six in 10 kids said they'd learned to try new foods.

Sure they will stop buying it. I wonder what the parents are packing?

I'd still rather my kids drink less milk then the sugary stuff.

That's all that matters, at least they are trying. Knowledge is power.