Schooled in Food
Thursday’s Working for Change: When I was a kid, the only thing the culture at-large taught most of us about food was:
1) Fast food restaurants, microwaves and TV dinners will make our lives easier.
2) Buying soda was somehow going to help the world “sing in perfect harmony.”
3) As long as breakfast cereals had cute, funny-named characters on the packaging and a prize in the box, they must be good.
I was fortunate that my mom went far beyond those social messages to include yummy, real-life lessons from our garden and home-cooked meals about healthy eating. But it was difficult for parents to go it alone when ads all over TV, billboards, newspapers and magazines were screaming other, often more compelling messages.
The good news is today parents are starting to get some support from big-name sources. Sugary food ads geared toward children are in the process of being regulated. More schools are eliminating sodas and other sugary drinks from their vending machines. In an “if you can beat ‘em, join ‘em” attitude, companies that distribute fruits and veggies are starting to use kid-friendly packages with cartoon characters to encourage kids to eat their carrots and salad.
Michael Pollan, author of the bestseller The Omnivore’s Dilemma has published a graphics-heavy, easy to read version of that book for kids, The Omnivore’s Dilemma for Kids: The Secrets Behind What You Eat.
And secrets they are. Prior to this new crop of kids, young people were never encouraged or expected to ask questions about their food — where it came from, how it was produced, how it will affect their health. The fact that we are beginning to empower them to learn about and take ownership of what goes into their bodies is a seed that’s being planted today that will grow into a plentiful crop of healthy, discriminating adult eaters tomorrow.
