Pretty sure I am late to the game on this one, but I just watched Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution tonight. It was devastating. Izzy is going to be in Kindergarten next year, and I am now scared to death to see what the school might offer our children for lunch.
My kids eat fairly healthy. I don't fight with them to eat foods they don't like, because I too was/is a picky eater, and there is nothing worse than people forcing you to sit in your seat until the food you detest is all gone. I try not to make food a battle ground at my house. (That opinion was also backed by my Pediatrician) I think the best thing that ever happened for us as a family was when we went on South Beach. Lean meats, fresh produce and whole grain EVERYTHING. My kids only drink water and milk with the occasional Crystal Light drink. Well scratch that, Izzy had never had juice until he started preschool. Hrmph.
This reminds me of a quick story from this weekend. Friday night we took the kids to the first Royals Vs. Red Sox game of the season. We are HUGE Red Sox fans. We like the Royals too, but if they play against each other, we cheer for the Sox. It was Ashers first game and a very fun and exciting night. A bottle of water at the game is like $5.00. Ridiculous. Hubby went to get the two of us a soda for the game. Asher had a sippy of water and I quickly realized, I hadn't thought enough ahead for Izzy. Hubby offers to share his soda with Izzy. At first he was in love. He has never been allowed to have soda except for a very rare root beer as a reward. The love didn't last long, because as I was trading Asher from my lap to Hubby's Ashers foot kicked over their drink. No more soda. Izzy was so sad. A little time passes and he starts to cry and he tells me that his tummy hurt and that he never wants to drink a soda again and from now on will only have water and milk like every other day. Then the angels sang. :)
Do my kids love chicken nuggets? Like they were eating flipping nuggets of gold! After watching episode two of Food Revolution, I almost vomited when I saw what "rib meat" really meant. O.M.G. How can I get Izzy to have an epiphany about nuggets like he did about soda? How can I ensure that when I pack a healthy lunch, he isn't going to trade for a plate of fries?
Reminiscing....I remember back in High School, my lunches on a daily basis consisted of a giant plate of salad with mounds of their delicious dressing and a separate giant plate of crunchy golden french fries and I washed it down with a soda, every single day. Why did I eat that? Well, one those were the two things that didn't make me want to throw up in my mouth on a daily basis. The smell from the other choices were awful and unappetizing. Those two were also the options you were able to serve yourself and nothing made my stomach turn like watching someone slop your lunch onto a tray and hear your food go "splat". Yuck.
I say all of that to say this. I was one of those kids he was talking about on his show. The food choices in my school were unhealthy and unappetizing. This show gave me a wake up call. I have very little time with my boys to show them healthy meals and show them how to make good choices so that when I am not around, they aren't following my bad habits of sitting around with a plate of french fries.
My kids don't drink juice or soda or get candy or sweets unless as a reward, but that just isn't good enough. Jaime Oliver threw down a challenge and this family accepts.
most days i try not to think about stuff like that, although i do try to keep the at-home meals healthy. sometimes around here it's a choice between eating healthy or just plain eating. this kid raising stuff is hard work. luckily for me, K hates soda with a passion, and anything remotely fizzy. E won't drink anything other than water, and that makes me happy. :) now if i could just get them to eat salads. or anything with color, in E's case...
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