Saturday, February 12, 2011

Lunch of Champions

OK - My last few posts have been intense.  Even the people about whom they were written could probably use a break, so here goes something a little lighter.

I've been thinking about our school lunch program.  Jamie Oliver had a great (trashy, mindless, cooking) TV program last summer where he went to the "fattest city in America" and tried to overhaul their school lunch program.  People were resistant to his efforts to add healthy ingredients to the "otherwise filled with preservatives and other kinds of awful crap" lunches served to the kids.  Once he got people to accept the fresh fruits and vegetables, the residents of the town started packing lunches for the kids which were -- wait for it -- filled with all kinds of awful crap.  They tried to spin it with creative editing, but basically things did not end up changing that much.  Poor Jamie.

Eric and I watched the show with great interest and a naive sense of superiority.  Surely our public schools here in Evanston will have great, healthy school lunches.  Our child will happily eat these lunches.  I will not have to think of something to pack every single day for the entire 13 years our daughter will be attending public school.

Can you predict the next paragraph?  You can?!

Our school lunches are awful too!  It is obvious they are trying to make things somewhat healthy.  It is also obvious they know that steamed broccoli they offer on mac and cheese day will likely end up in the trash.

http://www.district65.net/departments/foodservices/Lunch/I00C828DD.0/Elementary%20&%20Rhodes%20Lunch%20Menu%2010-11.pdf

I'm sad but it seems this problem is pretty darn big and not too easy to solve.

And guess who's going to be packing lunches?

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