American Schools get the Jamie Oliver treatment
Jamie Oliver, one of the most famous UK TV celebrity chefs begins a new series, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, focusing on introducing more healthy school meals to American Schools.
On his website, Oliver states, “I believe that every child in America has the right to fresh, nutritious school meals, and that every family deserves real, honest, wholesome food. Too many people are being affected by what they eat. It’s time for a national revolution. America needs to stand up for better food!”.
Jamie’s first episode is in Huntingdon, West Virginia, which has been named as one of the unhealthiest cities in America with highest diabetes rate in the US. In the first episode, Jamie is berated by a local radio presenter and Jamie struggles to get his message about healthy eating across to a local elementary school that served pizza for breakfast.
Jamie Oliver is not the only one working on improving in school food nutrition and the nutrition of school meals. The School Nutrition Association (SNA) completed a survey of more than 1200 school districts across America in 2009 and found that nearly every school district offers students fresh fruits and vegetables, low-fat diary, whole grains and salads.
The survey found most schools baked items from scratch and school nutrition programs have reformulated children’s favourites to make them more healthy, like pizza made from wholemeal flour with low fat cheese and low salt tomato sauce.
The SNA share a common goal with Jamie Oliver who are both working on increasing the healthy school lunches, and to improve the taste, nutrition, and use fresh ingredients.
The SNA has called for increased funding for school meal programs and has welcomed the increased media coverage and debate arising from Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution TV programme to emphasise the importance of nutritious school meals for more than 31 million children who rely on school meals every week day.
Source: School Nutrition Association, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution website
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