You Say You Want a Revolution...

I originally posted this in March of '10 when the first season of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution came out. I was so fired up. I didn't have any kids, but it still infuriated me that such poor nutrition was going on across the country and that nobody cared! Well, I finally caught up on Season 2 on my DVR over the weekend and I thought it was a good time to re-share this post, because, of course I'm fired up about it all over again! Except this time, I have 4 kids of my own to think about... so this time I have to get serious about making legitimate changes and not just blogging about them! I have to say, since I'm at a very different point in my life now, than I was a year ago, I understand that not everything I said before is as easy as I thought it was. D and I are both guilty of feeding the kids the things that are quick and easy (including fast food), but I'm committed to changing their eating habits and making us all healthier - and hopefully sharing some of that journey here.

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I've watched less than 5 minutes of Jamie Olivers Food Revolution -- and I'm already fired up. I get so mad, in fact, that I almost want to turn the t.v. off. Child obesity is child abuse and it's a crime. And the one place where we are supposed to be be 'teaching' our kids - it's the worst. Pizza for breakfast. Strawberry milk. French fries count as the vegetable. It's horrifying. I am a huge advocate of everything should start in the home. Parents should be cooking (that's a novel idea) fresh, healthy meals at home. Families should be sitting down around the dinner table every night to eat these healthy meals. If you care about your kiddos, you should be packing them a lunch every day... because what the schools are feeding them is killing them. We are the most obese country in the world. The new statistic is that one in three kids will have diabetes before they graduate high school. This generation of kids has a SHORTER life span than us. Does that not scare anyone else?? We as adults, parents, teachers, mentors, pastors, friends... we should be setting the example. We should care enough about ourselves, to set the lifestyle... to be healthy for ourselves. And let it flow down. When we are so lazy... so ignorant... who else can we blame but ourselves? We are a fast food nation... and it's killing us slowly. I can tell you, from personal experience, it doesn't take more than 30 minutes to whip together something healthy - a nice stir fry or fresh veggies and baked chicken. We teach our kiddos to not do drugs or drink or do things that may be dangerous. Yet, we are shoving unhealthy, fatty, junk to them daily. America -- we are KILLING our kids. And it stops in your kitchen. It stops in our schools lunch rooms. But we have to care enough to do something about it. And it's now or never.

Read more on the Food Revolution here

So, what are your thoughts on nutrition and how we are feeding our kids? If you're a Mom, what do you do at home to provide healthy, balanced meals? Would love some ideas and feedback for taking care of my own brood.

Lots of Love...

~Manda Jane~