My favorite part:
I love how shocked Jamie Oliver was that the school does not offer knives. I thought of Mrs. Q. and her sporks. Then I thought about Mr. Ferguson and his students' full place settings! I currently give Baby A a spoon and sometimes a fork. I cut her food on her tray, with a real knife. I am, of course, extremely careful and have taught her, "hands up" while cutting.
Lunchtime at school should be a time of learning, but guess what? It's so not. Teachers often take their lunch break and children are supervised by (wonderful volunteers) lunch aides. Why not give them something to do besides watching the children with an eagle-eye? I go to schools where children get all their food opened by teachers, cut up by teachers, heated up by teachers. When I taught in a montessori classroom, the children heated up their own food, opened their own baggies/juices/waters. They knew to get up, get a pair of scissors, and cut open their bag of pretzels if they could not open it themselves. Why are we treating 5-year-olds like babies? Eesh.
I was surprised by:
...the young children who didn't know what ANY of the fruit/veggies were. Do you think it was edited to look that way? Seriously, not even a pea? The tomato/potato thing, I can forgive, at that age, they sound the same and can easily be confused, but ugh. I was slightly horrified.
What about play food? Lessons about food? As an itinerant teacher, I am in many different classrooms each week and I can't think of one that does not have a kitchen set as well as all kinds of fake food. Often times, there are posters with pictures of fruits and veggies posted, and in most of the school, whole weeks/months are devoted to learning about fruits and veggies and "sometimes" foods.
I can't say I blame them:
I get why they resisted on a few levels. During Oprah's interview, the radio DJ stated that he was scared Jamie Oliver was just coming in to exploit and make money off his town. Point taken.
Do I think (hope) Jamie Oliver is genuine? He certainly seems that way.
My husband made a comment about the family who was being followed--aren't the parents ashamed of themselves? Yes. I truly believe they are, but I bet until now they knew no other way. They are probably repeating the cycle set by their parents. Let's get the cheap/processed/junky food over spending more money and taking the time to produce healthy, wholesome meals. Parents are busy and stressed and sometimes that's what we do. Most of us just do it in moderation though.
Looking forward:
I cannot wait to see the reaction he gets in the high school. I hope to see less food waste. I hope to see some real and inspiring change in that town, that radiates all the way up here to the Philly 'burbs.
Tell me your thoughts, I'd love to hear them!
2 comments:
I totally agree, I was horrified that the first graders couldn't identify those basic vegetables. It's really sad because introducing them later in life is hard. When you've had only hamburgers and pizza for 6-7 years, it's going to be hard to convince them that tomatoes or salad taste good, too!
Tiffany- I agree completely with you. If hamburgers and fries are all the know, and all they see mom & dad eat, why would they ever believe they're not good for you? My husband has a hard enough time believing it and he was brought up with a varied diet:)
I try so hard with Baby A to make sure she's exposed to so many wonderful types of food, but I still fear that she'll turn into a picky eater eventually...
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