The Good Stuff 411

http://www.jamieoliver.com/jfr-beta/petition.php#petForm

If you have kids this MATTERS to you!

If you haven’t heard about this yet, the campaign is to get healthy foods into the school systems around the USA. Jamie Oliver (an English chef) led the campaign in England and was able to change the system!

It was a real eye opener to see the foods that kids are currently getting in schools. Chocolate and strawberry milk with their cereal (more sugar than in a Coke!), pizza for breakfast, french fries every day (this counts as a vegetable serving), just to name a few. Processed foods, served with more processed foods, and you all know how I feel about processed foods…BOOOOOO!!!!

There is one school district in the US that has been used as a case study for the healthier foods. It was great to see the parents and kids getting behind it in last week’s episode.

They hope to roll it out across the country, but they need everyone’s help and MANY more signatures on the petition to take to the President! I hope you will take a few minutes to look into this and sign the petition. Then pass it along to other people you know.

Jamie’s Food Philosophy
My philosophy to food and healthy eating has always been about enjoying everything in a balanced, and sane way. Food is one of life’s greatest joys yet we’ve reached this really sad point where we’re turning food into the enemy, and something to be afraid of. I believe that when you use good ingredients to make pasta dishes, salads, stews, burgers, grilled vegetables, fruit salads, and even outrageous cakes, they all have a place in our diets. We just need to rediscover our common sense: if you want to curl up and eat macaroni and cheese every once in a while – that’s alright! Just have a sensible portion next to a fresh salad, and don’t eat a big old helping of chocolate cake afterwards. 

Knowing how to cook means you’ll be able to turn all sorts of fresh ingredients into meals when they’re in season, at their best, and cheapest! Cooking this way will always be cheaper than buying processed food, not to mention better for you. And because you’ll be cooking a variety of lovely things, you’ll naturally start to find a sensible balance. Some days you’ll feel like making something light, and fresh, other days you’ll want something warming and hearty. If you’ve got to snack between meals, try to go for something healthy rather than loading up on chocolate or potato crisps. Basically, as long as we all recognize that treats should be treats, not a daily occurrence, we’ll be in a good place. So when I talk about having a ‘healthy’ approach to food, and eating better I’m talking about achieving that sense of balance: lots of the good stuff, loads of variety, and the odd indulgence every now and then.