mom-advocate

Social change happens slowly. Sometimes it's difficult because the organizational mountain that is entrenched does not want to be moved.  With the second season of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution well underway we are once again seeing the challenges that many parents face trying to get better choices for their children at school.  As this video from the last meeting for the National School Lunch Program shows, manufacturers and lobbyists are extremely prevalent (although not always very visible) in making school food decisions.  These standards are only revised once every five years; with this highly politicized structure, our children are the ones who suffer the consequences.

A friend of mine, P.W., shared her recent frustrations with her school district, the mixed messages kids are getting, and the challenges of helping adolescents to better understand nutrition and health so that they can make better choices.

In order to protect privacy names and identifying information have been removed. These letters were edited for clarity. 

P.W. wrote to her school district:

Our daughter saw "Super Size Me"  today in health class at school and it really made an impression on her. Talk about NOT practicing what you teach! Good nutrition is so highly tied to academic success and yet my daughter's options for a school lunch are absolutely dreadful. Our daughter has access to multiple fried foods with a Gatorade every day. Your lunch program conditions them to a high fat, high calorie junk food diet. The lack of nutrition causes them to crave more, as well as affecting their overall development. I do not understand why the schools are able to teach the 
horrors of a junk food diet and then NOT offer them a sensible lunch that will provide the nourishment they need. It grieves me to think that this may be the only decent meal some of these kids have each day and it is junk!




This is something that has bothered my husband and I since our children were in grade

school. To see this hypocrisy is more than I can take.




I am certain that you must know what a good nutritional diet really looks like. I can only assume that there are other factors that are causing the schools to fail our children this way. What do I need to do to help you fix this problem?

[In order to protect the words and privacy of the Health Teacher I am summarizing their responses]

The teacher wrote to my friend explaining that there has not been a fryer in the school kitchen for 10 years, that all hot food is either steamed or baked. The school does have a conveyor oven that gives a crisp texture without frying.




The school is not allowed to serve any product over 23 grams of fat and follow strict portion sizes.

The nutritional plan has changed to allow for higher fiber, lower sugar, lower fat foods.

Cucumber slices and green bell peppers are offered during the week, fresh fruit is available on each school line every day and beverage choices available daily are water, 100% fruit juice and low fat milk.

The teacher remarks that there is a challenge in providing healthy menu choices that the kids will want to eat within their budget.

P.W. was invited to research the nutritional information of the food online at the school's website. The Health Teacher also suggested that the child should be educated at home about portion sizes and healthier choices.

P.W. responded:

It is encouraging that our daughter is learning about better nutrition,
 recognizes the value of fresh produce and is making an effort to make better
 choices. I appreciate her having access to fresh fruits and vegetables 
at school. It is also somewhat comforting that you are limiting the amount 
of fat and using a cooking process that avoids frying. However when I researched 
the menus and nutritional information on the Parent Access site, the hot
meals are all basically junk food and do not have much variety.

I sympathize 
with your challenge of balancing a budget with high product and labor costs,
 but I believe that we should offer a better and more varied menu and it can
 be done without breaking the budget. My concern is that the junk food
 offered daily, even though it is a "healthier" variety of junk food, clearly
 needs to be a small percentage of our diet and yet it is the majority of 
what is offered. Although you are making an effort to serve lower
 fat/higher fiber items, they still have the appearance, taste and texture of
 high fat. I don't see that they have much access to a home-style hot meal 
that isn't highly processed or available on a daily basis.

From the menu, it
 doesn't appear that much is made from scratch, much less from local products 
and it largely looks to be heat and eat. Preservatives and chemicals are just
 as much an issue as the empty calories of fast food.  From what I hear,
 much of the fruit offered is not fresh either, which translates into a much 
lower nutritional product. I also don't understand why our kids are only 
offered 1% and skim milk, when whole milk would be a better choice for most. 
Adding a full fat live yogurt to the menu would be a great addition, as well 
as seasonal melons, berries, grapes, and citrus. 



The other issue I have is that my daughter is on 4th lunch. This means that by
 the time she gets to have lunch, the cafeteria is out of certain things, 
others are over cooked or burned, or the lines are so long that time 
prohibits her from even eating some days. This cannot be considered acceptable.



In this age group, peer pressure and the school 
experience trumps whatever is being taught at home. It is a huge challenge 
for us to feed our kids well at home when their taste buds become conditioned to a fast food diet when attending school. Years ago, I had the
 privilege of being in a school kitchen that prepared food and distributed it 
to all the area schools. This district must be large enough to be able to support 
such a venture and be able to better utilize seasonal and local products, as well as to create a fresh high quality meal for our kids and staff. You have an 
enormous responsibility to our kids and I respect your challenges and 
appreciate your response, but I can't say that it provides me the assurances
 I was looking for and hope that a new approach is being considered.



P.W. Wrote me privately and shared:






Another thing that really upsets me is that when I was in school, there was a wash basin for the kids to wash their hands when entering the cafeteria. None of the schools here have that and supposedly, the teachers are taking the kids by the bathroom to wash up before lunch, but I don’t believe it. They have staph and other contagious diseases running rampant all the time and good hygiene is essential. There should be a state law that requires hand washing before meals in schools.

My take on all of this:

I frequently find myself very frustrated by school districts serving fatty, sugary, nutritionally deficient foods and then claiming that it is the parent's responsibility to teach their children to eat better and make better choices.  Many families that I know do teach their children these things and do provide much better choices at home.  However in the school environment there are not too many children who are going to choose from the highly limited often not-really-that-healthy option over french fries and pizza.  I believe the school has ice cream and cookies and fast food options because those are the more profitable items.

I know several children who are vegetarians and have heard disturbing stories of the distasteful looking or even empty salad bars that the cafeteria staff refused to replace or refill leaving that child with no viable option.

Earlier in the year I had the opportunity to speak with my local Great Harvest Bread company.  They had received an opportunity to bring whole grain bread, preservative free sandwiches into the school system.  However after a short period of time their contract was reduced to four schools and cut back in the number of days that they were allowed to provide.  They believe part of the reason for this reduction was because the school wanted to bring in Chick-Fil-A more times per day as that was a more profitable option for the school district.  Great Harvest was not allowed to send notes home to parents letting them know that this healthier sandwich option was available.

I believe it is an unfortunate truism that most children, even those who have received more nutritional education at home, will opt for high fat, high sugar foods because they are enticing.  By having an overabundance of these products the school virtually guarantees that they can feed children the least nutritious, cheapest foods and make large profits.

In defense of the school system I do agree that they have a difficult job trying to feed as many children as they need to with the minimal federal dollars allowed.  However this should not be an excuse to allow Pizza Hut, McDonalds and Chick-Fil-A lines in a school cafeteria.

I believe another part of the problem is that school districts simply do not want parents to be involved in the decision making or to have input into the nutrition served at the cafeteria.  School lunches have become a profit center, if not for the school then at least for the food service corporations.  Moves such as this one in Chicago disallowing lunches to be brought from home make me highly suspicious of the intent.  I believe, unfortunately, that many schools are marketing to a captive audience and can therefore preach one thing and do another.

I applaud P.W. and many others like her all around the country who are rallying on behalf of the kids.  Change is happening all across the country.  From the Edible Schoolyard to the Renegade Lunch Lady, Two Angry Moms, Better School Food, Local Food Dude and more, we need to push for the children to have decent nutrition and take back our cafeterias.

gluten-free in an rv

Increasing numbers of people have food allergies, sensitivities or intolerances these days.  There are a lot of theories as to why this is, but the bottom line is that it can make it very difficult for folks to eat outside their home.  Maintaining a healthy pantry is critical for these folks, as is an awareness of what to look for when eating on the road.

Now that summer is over and the kids are back in school, it's time to get back to the regular routine while daydreaming of summer vacations.  My friend Tina recently shared the story of her family and their ability to take a long-awaited cross-country family vacation.  It's wonderful that they were able to achieve this dream, and a definite testament to how much advance preparation they had to do to be able to make this trip a reality.

Traveling gluten-free and dairy-free definitely changes what you do and how you do it.  Our family has dreamed of a cross-country trip for years.  Those dreams were challenged by the fact that my husband is very sensitive to gluten and dairy... even a crumb or drop can leave him with asthma and GI problems for weeks.  We decided that the best way to travel would be to take our kitchen with us and do most of our own cooking. With the help of a friend who lent us their RV we were able to do finally make our dream come true and take this trip.  

Starting from CT, going across the northern states, down California, then returning via the southern states and up the eastern coast it was a wonderful adventure.  We were so happy our dream could become a reality and we had a great time. However we definitely had to consider how we would feed my gluten and dairy-free husband along the way.

Carefully considering our menus we pre-stocked the kitchen with gluten and dairy-free staples we knew we could have a hard time finding on our travels across the country.  Not every area of the country offers a wide range of dietary choices and not every store has things like:

rice/potato pastas
gluten-free pretzels
gluten-free bread crumbs
gluten-free bread
dairy-free buttery spread
gluten-free chicken broths
gluten-free, dairy-free cold cuts
gluten-dairy free brownie mix
gluten-dairy free cake mix (we had some birthdays to celebrate along the way)
corned beef without anything added in (in the midwest a lot of stores only sold corned beef with everything already added in and we couldn't trust it)


Our dinner meals were usually a meat (chicken, steak, pork, burger), sometimes breaded with veggies or a stir-fry with brown rice.


One family favorite is a breakfast that we usually have in the winter before spending the day snowmobiling out in the cold.  It's tasty, filling, and an easy on-the-road breakfast. 


The Berge's Hash and Eggs


Can of corned beef (plain, no potatoes added)
4 potatoes (or as many as you feel is adequate for the # of people you have), diced
3-4 T. olive oil
1 onion, diced
ground pepper, to taste
onion powder (optional)
eggs (1 or 2 per person)


Put the onion in a frying pan with a 1 T. oil until softened. 
Add the potatoes, more oil if needed, and cook until potatoes start getting soft. 
Add the corned beef and brown it all (no need to add salt since the corned beef has it already) 
Season with pepper and more onion powder if needed 


When the hash is browned remove from the pan and set aside
Cook the eggs (we like sunny side up)
Place eggs on top of the hash and serve


It's so delicious and for lunch you can get by with just a piece of fruit and some nuts or other light meal... works great when you're travelling around for the day.


My husband's diet influenced us in other ways as well. We ate "out" at a restaurant only twice during the five weeks we were on the road.  Before being seated we would ask our server lots of questions about whether they could accomodate us; if they said they could, we would try it.  However there was always that feeling of playing "Russian Roulette" with his GI system since you're never really "sure" that the chef and wait person "get it." 


While we were on the road  we would seek out health food stores and would be in heaven if we found a gluten-free bakery or somewhere with treats (we were on vacation after all!). We were surprised to find  that out west people do not know what italian ices are. There's a market to be tapped there, for sure!


We talked a lot about how it would be great if there were some quick, healthy drive-thru type places where gluten and dairy free people could find food. Unfortunately it doesn't exist, even the salads are usually tainted with croutons and/or cheese. It was eye opening how much harder it is to travel when you don't fit into the majority.


Travelling with food allergies can be a great experience if you plan ahead on how to find or make foods that work. Yes, it would be nice to be able to eat out a little more often while on vacation (food is half the fun of vacation!) but we were able to manage. The good news is that the States seem to be getting more aware of food allergies and it is definitely easier to find gluten-free and dairy-free foods than it was 10 years ago.


photo courtesy of:  Bill Ward's Brickpile

officially disgusted

Today, while out shopping for Christmas items, I finally reached overload. In one of the stores I went to they were pushing the season. I know, you're thinking, 'Okay, everyone is getting ready for Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/Solstice/Whatever-your-winter-celebration is.' But hold on to your hats folks. The holiday on display was Valentine's Day.

It's bad enough that before Halloween has arrived, they're loading the aisles with Christmas merchandise. I know that manufacturers and shop keepers are desperate to make as much money as they can but there has to be a limit. How can you enjoy what the moment you're in if you're worrying about what is to come. I believe this is part of the reason that so many people feel that they are on complete overload.

This continual merchandise-push is an attempt to force you to buy, buy, buy. To overconsume, disregard the meaning of the season, and always focus on what's next. I hear many people complaining about how far behind they feel. How they miss the time spent with family. How rushing around leaves little time to enjoy the moment. But you are in control.

It's time to take back our lives, the season, and any traditions that you may have. You have the ability to stop buying in to the media/merchandising hype; to determine what is "enough." Enjoy the moment. Choose to ignore those messages, to stop paying attention to the "stuff" and instead focus on your family. You'll feel less stressed and so will they.

Happy Holidays.

green tomatoes

I was recently visiting family in the Northeast where they have been hit badly by the tomato blight. All over the area farmers and home growers are ripping out plants and throwing them away because of the blight. Although cherry tomatoes and plum tomatoes seem to hold up better they are certainly not immune.

When I went with my sister-in-law to her beautiful community garden plot everything appeared to be growing well. The garden was lush, greenly fragrant and productive, even the tomatoes looked good at first glance. But the blight had obviously damaged the plants and the fruit. As she began to pull out the plants I realized that many of the fruits were still unscathed. Remembering the years we lived in Vermont (which Shep Ogden, owner of Cook's Garden, jokingly says should be referred to as the Green Tomato State) I knew that there was a lot we could do with the fruit. My sister-in-law agreed to give it a whirl and we began to hunt for all of the un-blighted fruit we could find.

After the patch was cleared and we headed back to the house with bags full of green tomatoes we began to search for recipes. There are so many things you can make with green tomatoes; more than just the familiar fried green tomatoes. We usually don't use them because we are so conditioned to eating them when they are fully ripe. According to the USDA the nutritional profile of green and red tomatoes is almost the same. Green tomatoes have twice the vitamin C, more vitamin K, and more calcium. Red tomatoes have more vitamin A, E, and potassium. Apparently they have the same amount of lycopene and it is believed that the chlorophyll in the green tomatoes hides the red pigment which indicates a lycopene-rich food.

Our cooking and canning foray took two days (in part because we also canned zucchini, but that's another story) and we made green tomato cake, green tomato pickles, green tomato salsa, and some really fabulous green tomato relish. Now when their family sits down in the middle of those cold New England winters they'll still be able to have a jar of summer goodness on the table to enjoy.

Green tomatoes are versatile and can be made into pie (it's delicious, trust me), pasta sauce, and all manner of preserved goods. While I'm not sure if the farmers in those states affected by the blight will be able to harvest and sell their green tomatoes I sure hope they do. And I hope that people realize just how tasty green tomatoes are. Who knows, it might start a new demand for green tomatoes.

photo courtesy of wikimedia.commons.org

pie

Christmas is, as most of us over four feet high know, not just about the presents.  It's about a lot of different things; for many of us that includes family.  And food.  Lots of food.  And where there's food there is dessert.

We were fortunate to have a large family gathering.  My brother and his wife came to Texas where her father lives.  We drove out for the day, spending it with them plus an assortment of her family, cousins, kids and all; it was wonderful.

I didn't want to go empty handed and decided to make a pie.  Looking around my kitchen I decided that banana coconut custard pie was the order of the day.  Since I made this pie at 10:00 pm the night before I confess that I did use a pre-made pie crust.  Well, that and the fact that I am not very good at making pie crusts...I need to work on that.

The pie was delicious and so easy to make.  It turns out that Poppy's (my sister-in-law's father) favorite pie is anything-to-do-with-coconut.  He tried to hide the pie in the refrigerator to keep for later.  I guess I'll be making this again for the next time I see him.

Banana Coconut Custard Pie

8" pie crust, baked

3/4 C. evaporated cane juice crystals

1/3 C. oat flour

1/4 t. salt

2 ripe bananas

1 can coconut milk (I prefer Thai Kitchen brand as they have no preservatives, bleaching or added sugars)

3 egg yolks, beaten

2 T. butter

1 1/2 t. vanilla

1 C. shredded coconut

To make the custard:

mix together sugar, flour and salt in a pan

turn burner to medium heat

shake coconut milk to mix and slowly pour in to dry ingredients

mix well to avoid lumps

stir continuously until mixture start to bubble

remove from burner

slowly add 2-3 T. of hot mixture into egg yolks to combine

(this prevents curdling)

add egg yolks to milk mixture stirring well

put back on heat, bring back to a bubble

remove from heat

add butter and vanilla

put back on heat and cook 2 more minutes

remove from heat and let cool

Once the custard has cooled assemble the pie

slice bananas thinly and arrange on bottom of pie crust

sprinkle with 1/2 C. shredded coconut

pour custard over the top of the bananas and coconut

sprinkle remaining 12/ C. shredded coconut on top of pie

Bake 350 degrees F for 15 minutes

chill for one hour before serving

I hope that your holiday celebration was everything that you wanted it to be and that you too were surrounded by family, friends and good food.

Be well.

thankfulness

Some hae meat and canna eat, and some wad eat that want it; but we hae meat, and we can eat, sae let the Lord be thankit.  ~ Robert Burns

Thanksgiving is an occasion for us to sit down together with loved ones, eat a good meal and be thankful.  Even when some of those things are not present in our lives the practice of gratitude is one that I believe helps us to lead a happier and healthier life.  This year I'm thankful for many things: being surrounded by my husband and children, friends, the abundance on our table and so much more.  

Today is a day for feasting; our menu includes turkey, chix nuggets (for the vegetarians), green bean and celery salad, mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry chutney, braised carrots, wild rice and apple stuffing, olives, peaches, pumpkin pie, cherry pie and chocolates.  This doesn't even begin to address the snacks for pre-dinner munching.  On this day, more than most, there is the temptation to indulge in overeating.  In order to avoid that groaning stomach and dyspeptic feeling the day after I plan to eat mindfully; enjoying the abundance of the table but not over indulging.  Saving room for pie, because, after all, who doesn't love pie, and remembering that leftovers practically taste better than the meal itself.   In it's own way mindful eating is a form of gratitude, one that causes us to reflect on the bounty before us, to savor the aroma and taste of good food lovingly prepared.

As we cook, slice, dice and saute for our feast later today I am struck once again by how fortunate we are; grateful to be baking pies with Steve, basting the turkey with Sasha, all cooking together.  While I try to practice gratitude every day, on this day it is more evident because of the nature of the holiday.  I plan to use today as an opportunity to renew my practice of gratitude for all the blessings in my life, both large and small.   And I send a wish that wherever you, whoever you are with, whatever your circumstances there are blessings in your life;  here's to a happy and healthy Thanksgiving Day and every day.

picture courtesy of freefoto.com