School Lunch Project

I thought I'd pass along an interesting blog that I'm following, Fed Up With School Lunch where one school employee dines & photographs what she is eating in the school cafeteria. Its very interesting to see. Frankly, I don't remember school lunches being that good to begin with, but it appears they've gotten worse and many schools are feeding our kids items that are packaged in plastic wrap. Thats a lot of waste, folks!

At some point in high school, the school I attended had a salad bar. As a vegetarian, that was a welcome option to having to pack a lunch every day. By the time my Sister entered the same high school, the salad bar had disappeared and a malt machine was in its place. Does anyone else see a problem with that? Its my understanding that the malt machine is now gone, but still leaves me with the question "What are we feeding our kids?"

I admit, I am not perfect when it comes to food. I eat too much and enjoy cheese & chocolate way too much. I like to think that despite my downfalls, that I'm ahead of the game, as the foods I am generally eating are real food. Meaning, I know whats in my food, very little is processed (besides tortilla chips, another downfall), generally homemade, and fresh whenever possible. We avoid HFCS whenever we can. Yes we do have the occasional soda, usually when we are sick, mixing a drink, or dining on Mexican food in a restaurant (for some reason cherry cola tastes good with refried beans), but for the most part aim for healthy options.

While there is an upswing in people interested in whole foods, I think we will continue to rely on quick cheap crap as long as we are not connecting the dots to where food comes from. I'll admit, until last year, I had never seen how big a cauliflower and broccoli plant actually gets! Although I already had an appreciation for those foods, it has grown immensely be seeing them grow. More education, more time outdoors, and simple cooking lessons are all great ways to start eating healthier.