Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

On a Friday night about three weeks ago I was flipping through the tv channels trying to find something to watch. I stopped on a show where a man was talking to cooks in a school cafeteria. The first words I heard were not pleasant. The cook told the man that they didn't have the time to serve healthier options to the kids. I was instantly hooked.

A few minutes later I realized the man was Jamie Oliver and the show was called Food Revolution. Jamie was in Huntington WV, one of the unhealthiest places in the entire US, and he was trying to change the way that the children ate at school.

When Jamie held up different vegetables and none of those children could identify them, I was shocked, disgusted and saddened all at the same time. What are we teaching and feeding these children if they have absolutely NO IDEA that ketchup comes from tomatoes and french fries from potatoes? How is that even possible?

I remember being a kid and constantly asking what was on my plate and where it came from. Hell, I remember the first time my dad ordered Beef Chow Mein from the local Chinese place and asked me if I wanted some. I made him tell me what each individual piece in the dish was before I would taste it. Isn't this just common curiosity? Since when did children stop being curious?

Listening to the "cook" at the elementary school infuriated me. Never have I wanted to climb through a television screen and smack that attitude right off her face. When that woman said that she did her job just for the money and that they basically didn't care what they were feeding those kids, I almost had to change the channel. Sure lady, lets just kill the youth of America because you are too lazy and stupid to give a shit!

Since that first episode I've become addicted to this show. Earlier today, while blog hopping around I saw that someone had a Food Revolution badge in their blog. I immediately clicked on it and added it to my blog. I also signed the petition. And now I want you to as well.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution/petition

Consider it your good deed for the day/week/whatever. The numbers on that map need to go up. Especially you people out there in Wyoming. We need to care about what kids are eating in schools. How can America have a future if we're setting all of these children up for diabetes, obesity and other health problems? Think about it in basic terms - the food these kids eat is killing them. Slowly, but it is killing them. Do you really want to let that happen?