Since my last entry I have come across a few of my peers that have come somewhat informed of our food industry and still continue to make these selfish, self-destructive choices and then there are the ones who simply don't want to know because they think they know and the ones who say they know but just don't care.
During this last month I've done tons of research on our supermarkets and distribution centers but nothing else has brought me more concern (amongst other emotions) than our school system. Through an old friend I came across this blog about an undercover school teacher. She has eaten the school lunch every day this year thus taken pictures of these ever-so-appealing meals. She's even made an anonymous appearance on Good Morning America I believe. Through her I came across the Jamie Oliver show and website. Being a foodie for years now, Jamie's work was familiar to me. I wasn't aware of his latest achievements in England though. I read and read and read on how he single-handed changed the school food system in England. Jamie Oliver goes back to the "Naked Chef" on the food network and more recently his campaigns one being his "Fifteen" project which educates teenagers in the kitchen and show them a whole new realm.
So I watch "Food Revolution" on ABC. ( I give it to him for getting this type of show on such a network) I begin to tell my children to take pictures of what they're being served at school. I become disgusted. And just as it happens my children are being fed the same poor excuse for nutrition that was being fed in this school in West Virginia.
I suddenly became angry once again. I felt like a real puppet. Like this government doesn't even care about its children and what they eat. Not only is the education system all fucked up, but hey, why not feed them shit too, right???
Which brings me to this entry. I have since been sending them off with homemade, organic lunches but having them know what it is they're putting into their bodies. I constantly encourage them to ask and know, really know what it is that is going into their bodies. I encourage them to share certain lunch goodies with their friends and spark some kind of curiosity within them. Whether it's an organic, grass fed, humanely treated, ham & cheese sandwich to a chai cupcake. And it's worked. My son Ethan comes home with rave reviews about a friend trying a sandwich to his geography teacher pausing class to savor and inquire about his chai cupcakes.
I have also come across the mothers who simply have become a statistic of this community of drones that this government has created. Believing that Mcdonald's, KFC, Taco Bell, etc, just "aren't that bad". Believing it's ok to go the local store and buy whatever animal is the cheapest and feeding it to our kids because we see all these commercials and advertisements saying this is good food to eat. When it's really one big lie. And the best part is that this is all legal. It's legal to brutally lie to our citizens about what they're living from. It's become this focus on price and not true, real food. We have lost sight of one of most important things we can do for ourselves and that's what we eat, our health. Child obesity and diabetes are on an all time high. If we eat crap, we will be crap and we will be a crappy example for our kids.
Are you ok with being crappy too??
How do you see this matter. let me know. We CAN make a difference.
