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DCL
I've been thrilled to hear about the impact Jamie Oliver has had on Los Angeles County Schools. It all started with flavored milk. On an episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, he used some serious drama to show LA County parents how much sugar is being pumped into their kids each week in the form of flavored milk by dumping an equal amount of processed white sugar into a school bus. After some harsh words from Oliver and pressure from parents, the school board got the message and banned it from LA schools.
Most recently, LA schools banned chicken nuggets and corn dogs. According to Daily Mail, these fatty fried items will be replaced with protein packed sushi and other healthy choices.
According to the Daily Mail:
The new menu, proposed for this autumn, will also offer vegetarian dishes, such as spinach tortellini in butternut squash sauce and California sushi rolls, along with many ethnic foods.
This is great news when you consider the impact that diet has on a child's ability to learn. What's more, by serving these types of foods at school, we give the impression that they're healthy. Why would we serve our kids foods that weren't in school?
The percentage of overweight children in the United States is growing at an alarming rate--one out of three kids are now considered overweight or obese. And even worse, a study released by the National Cancer Institute and reported on Civil Eats found that nearly 40 percent of calories consumed by children ages 2 to 18 were empty calories, the unhealthiest kind of calories, derived from junk food.
Again, the Daily Mail:
Food services director Dennis Barrett said fried and breaded items are gone for good from the menus, which until last semester consisted of cheese burgers, hot and spicy chicken chunks, beef steak fingers in gravy and peanut butter and jelly pockets.
Though the show has been temporarily cancelled due to poor ratings, its impact is being felt throughout the country.
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