Tag Archives: the kids

Guest blog: What’s On Your Plate?

Guest Blogs,
Note to readers: What’s On Your Plate? sent me a free copy of their book because the blog appeared in the school lunch chapter. The words of the blog post are theirs, but the photos of the book were taken by me.

Hello, we’d like to introduce ourselves. We are the What’s On Your Plate? project. It started out with an idea, then came a movie, and we have now developed curriculum and a family activity/recipe book as well as some really cute t-shirts, buttons, posters, and pins.

What’s On Your Plate? the movie, is a witty and provocative documentary produced and directed by award-winning Catherine Gund about kids and food politics. Filmed over the course of one year, the film follows two eleven-year-old multi-racial city kids as they explore their place in the food chain. Sadie and Safiyah take a close look at food systems in New York City and its surrounding areas. With the camera as their companion, the girl guides talk to each other, food activists, farmers, new friends, storekeepers, their families, and the viewer, in their quest to understand what’s on all of our plates.

Following the film project, the What’s On Your Plate? team set to building a community to make the film’s impact as large as possible. Through this process, we met new people, re-engaged with the original community and learned from new projects. We decided to make a book with all the lessons and ideas we found- including Mrs. Q’s journey! She shows up in our chapter on school lunch.

In What’s On Your Plate? the book, seven kids and their families explore the food chain, sharing fundamental questions and vital discoveries. With honest, humor, and creativity, they face serious issues including the lack of access to fresh food; health problems such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and food allergies; and the national school lunch program. They celebrate time together by cooking and gathering at the table. The stories, recipes and terrific activities in this book will inspire readers of all ages to be conscious of what they’re eating and where it comes from, and to make positive changes in their homes, schools, and communities.

It’s been a wonderful experience meeting and learning every step of the way. We have a screening map that you can check to see if What’s On Your Plate? is coming to an area near you, or you can host your own screening. If you are looking to enjoy What’s On Your Plate? at home, we have DVDs and books available in our shop and it is also available for streaming on Netflix. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments- we’d love to meet all of you.

You can watch the movie trailer below:
 
 
 

"Kifmas ti!"

Uncategorized,

My favorite thing about this picture? The neck rolls.
My least favorite thing? He has grown out of that sweater in the three weeks since we put the tree up.

Thank you readers for following me along on this journey. I ate school lunch all year for my students. I think about them a lot when I see my son doing wonderful things and growing up into a beautiful little boy. I hope that life affords them the same opportunities I want my son to have. Most importantly, I want them to have access to safe, healthy food that will help them grow into productive citizens and realize their full potential in life.

Happy holidays everyone!

Guest blogger: Cooking with Remmi

Guest Blogs, ,
I am Remmi from Cook Time with Remmi which is a healthy-based cooking show for kids. In April 2009 we launched our website and pilot show. Within a month we were picked up by the Tulsa Public School systems cable channel and they have aired the show multiple times a week ever since. Concerned about the childhood obesity epidemic, my show’s objective is to link the skill of cooking to improved nutrition. In my show I prepare healthy meals consisting of main dish, side dish, and salad. My show has now received a lot of attention at the national level so we are now in preproduction of our second series. Our plan is to roll out the series in three markets in the fall and air the show on conventional TV. We hope to continue to distribute the show to other cities so we can have a wider distribution and help kids get excited about cooking and improving their health. In addition to my show, I just recently landed a monthly column for the award winning Tulsa Kids Magazine.
To tell you a little bit about me……..I am 10 years old and I started cooking when I was 4 years old. I started with washing vegetables and assembling salads with my mom. Within the last year and a half I started cooking even more and now I am able to prepare entire meals. There really isn’t a day that doesn’t go by that I don’t cook something. I am able to do most everything in the kitchen and the only thing I am not allowed to do by myself is drain the pasta (not allowed to carry boiling water)! I love basketball and gymnastics and I love spelling bees.
My goal is to go to culinary school soon as I am ready to learn more about cooking and nutrition. I am lucky that I enjoy fruits and vegetables more than any other foods so eating healthy is not a problem for me. I really think kids would think about eating healthier if they had the opportunity to learn to cook. Cooking can be so much fun and food can be very interesting as well. I love food history so I read about the ingredients and dishes I am fixing. Did you know General Grant loved cucumbers so much, he ate them everyday with his cup of coffee? Not sure about that combination but I do so much love cucumbers! And about Mrs. Q,s blog………I am honored to be a guest here and I would also like to say I am concerned about what kids are getting in their school lunches. I wonder why salads and fruits are the smallest portions on the plate, or even, non existent. I wonder why the food is not displayed more attractively so kids will want to eat it. And, this is a big one….I wonder why can’t we serve a salad without it always being ranch dressing. Ok, so since I got stuck on salads………….here is one of my favorites…………Let’s get cooking! For a simple summer dinner, we have Eggs Benedict (low fat sauce-I promise) and Gazpacho Salad with Italian Dressing.
Eggs Benedict (serves 4)

Ingredients:
4 English muffins
8 eggs
1 lb asparagus (trimmed/with peeler remove outer layer on 2 inches of bottom of stalk)
1 quart of water
1 T white wine vinegar
Hollandaise sauce (recipe below)
Fresh parsley (chopped)

Directions:
Boil water and place asparagus spears in the water for 5 to 7 minutes until crisp tender. Drain on paper towels. Toast English muffins. Prepare Hollandaise sauce. Reheat water used with the asparagus. Add vinegar and bring to boil. Break each egg into small bowl and slide into the boiling water. Cook only 3 eggs at a time. Boil just until the whites are cooked. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining eggs. To assemble, place 2 muffin halves on each plate. Split the asparagus among the 4 plates and on top of the muffins. Place an egg on each muffin and spoon 2 T sauce on each egg. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve immediately.
Remmi’s Notes- Alton Brown of the Food Network has a great video on how to poach eggs.

Hollandaise Sauce

Ingredients:
1 ½ T cornstarch
2/3 C milk (2%)
1 t unsalted butter
2 ½ T lemon juice
1 egg yolk
¼ t salt

Directions:
In a small pan on low medium heat, place the cornstarch and milk, and heat until thickened stirring constantly. Add butter and blend. Add lemon juice and salt and blend. Stir in egg yolk. Remove from heat. This can be made ahead and reheated.

Gazpacho salad with Italian Dressing

Ingredients (salad):
2 C Romaine lettuces (sliced in 1” strips)
½ C Cucumbers (seeds removed/medium dice)
½ C Cherry tomatoes (sliced in half)
½ C Red bell peppers (large dice)
½ C Green grapes (sliced in half)
¼ C Green onions (sliced/medium)
¼ C Celery (sliced/medium)
¼ C Fresh parsley
2 T Almonds (toasted)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 C Croutons (directions below)
Ingredients (dressing):
¼ C Oil (canola or light oil)
2 T Red wine vinegar
¼ t Garlic powder
¼ t Dry mustard
½ t Sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Prepare all ingredients as directed. Place lettuce on platter. In medium bowl, mix cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, grapes, green onion and celery. In small bowl, mix the dressing ingredients and then mix with the vegetable mixture. Place the vegetables on top of the lettuce. Sprinkle parsley and almonds on top. Serve prepared croutons on the side so they do not get soggy.

Croutons

Slice 1 cup of French bread into small cubes. Place on cookie sheet. Drizzle the olive oil on the bread. Add 1 teaspoon of diced garlic and a tablespoon of parsley. Bake in 325 degree oven.
Ok for some food history and fun food facts……………Did you know?……………………….

-Credit is given to Delmonico’s Restaurant as the creator of Eggs Benedict. This was the very first public restaurant. A customer did not like anything on the menu-so the chef created this dish.

-Grape growing is the largest food industry in the world.

-Did you know under ideal conditions-asparagus can grow 10 inches in 24 hours?

-There are 4 top super foods in this menu. They are tomatoes, almonds, greens, and eggs!

-The larger the diameter of asparagus-the better the quality.

-The first recipe published for “Gazpacho” was in Mary Randolf’’s book The Virginia Housewife published in 1824.

-“La Paella”(rice dish) and “El Gazpacho”(cold vegetable soup) are the most famous dishes from Spain.

-Although “hollandaise” means from Holland-the sauce really came from France and was originally called “Sauce Isigny.” During World War I, butter production came to a halt in France. At that time butter was imported from Holland so the name of the sauce changed to “Hollandaise” to indicate the origin of the butter, and the name was never changed back to “Sauce Isigny.”

Well…I want to thank you for reading this blog. I hope you enjoyed some of the fun food facts. Hope you will try the recipes……..they are delicious! You can get some more great recipes on my website at http://www.cooktimewithremmi.com/. Have a really happy day and don’t forget the second week of August is “smile” week……….so let’s do a lot of that! Remmi

Anonymity

Mrs Q, , , ,

I’m blogging anonymously because I like my job and getting a paycheck. But I’m still putting my livelihood on the line by speaking up. Why? Because I want to raise awareness about school lunch. It may not be what every child in this country eats, but I believe the meal that I am showing represents what most children eat at lunch in the US.

This issue is important now because the Child Nutrition Act is being reauthorized and debated in Congress right now. I realize that everyone is strapped for cash right now. Individuals, companies, states, and countries are losing money. No matter what is going on in this world, we can’t forget the kids and the fact that many of them are at the mercy of school districts and corporations for their daily meal(s). It will cost the US more money in the future (healthcare costs) if schools don’t address the big problem that is staring them in the face everyday: childhood obesity. No matter how great a school is, it can’t control what the kids eat outside of school. But still schools can do better for kids while they are in building.

People say “school lunches have always been bad.” But actually I think in a lot of places they have gotten worse as far as quality and variety are concerned. Considering all of the powerful health, wellness, and nutrition research that has come out over the past thirty years, school lunches have not kept up with the latest medical advice.

I’ve been very stressed out about this project recently. I really love my school, the principal and the lunch manager a lot. I respect them. The principal is fair and is a strong leader. The lunch manager is kind to me and to the kids. And then I go home and do this with my limited spare time. I feel a lot of guilt and turmoil about what I’m doing here. I’m waiting for the moment I’m called to the principal’s office and let go. I do believe it’s a matter of “when” not “if” they both find out and it’s curtains for me and then of course the project. I want them to know that the project is not about individuals in one school, but about a country full of children who need better food models.

I’m getting a lot of requests for interviews from major newspapers and other news outlets (I have done other interviews for media with smaller distribution and/or all online). Many assure me of my anonymity, but if I get major attention even without my real name, well, someone is going to put 2 + 2 together. All that is needed is one person sending one email to all lunch room managers and asking, “Who’s eating school lunch every day?” Then they get a short list …and I’ll be carrying a cardboard box to my car.

My husband says, “You’re paranoid! Stop it.” But in a subsequent discussion he said, “You’re not going to lose your job, are you?”

Sweetie, when I decided to do this blog, even though I thought I would not get a comment for a few months (it took just a few days) and that I thought maybe in a few months I might get 5-10 hits per week (I’m averaging 1,000 to 4,000 per day)…. well, it’s not looking good. I’m just hoping to finish out the school year…

Socio-economic status

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My husband and I went to excellent elementary and secondary schools and then we graduated from college. Although we both have had no formal education or training in nutrition, we have a basic grasp of healthy food and how to nourish our bodies and those of our littlest family member too.

We would be considered “middle class” by most Americans, but if you compare us to the rest of the world, we are in the top 3-5% of income worldwide and our standard of living is high (we have all basic necessities met as well as lots of fun extras). Consider that half of the world’s population subsists on less than $1 per day and you get really happy about your life if you live in America.

Through my “middle class” eyes, some of the meals offered to the children at my school make me wonder, but then again I have no training in nutrition (just an interest). All I can say is that I wouldn’t want my toddler eating the school lunches. Lucky for us because of our socio-economic status we can make sure that our little one gets the best possible food either at the best possible school or through meals we pack for him at home.

Some have asked what the kids think of the meals. Well, they always try to say something positive about the food. I hear “good” or “great.” I’m thinking that if they didn’t like it, they just don’t answer. Overall, none of the kids want to sit around and discuss their lunches. I don’t pry because I know that for some, the school lunch is their best (or only) meal of the day.

What do they know about food? Can they have an opinion if they can’t compare the meal to anything? For example, at different times over this past weekend I prepared catfish, edamame, swiss chard, rice, rolls, avocado, eggs, sausage, and bacon for my family for various meals.

Socio-economic status makes it hard for these kids to experience food in the way that “rich” people like us get to. So when these students are given food, they just say “thank you.”

Day 17: pizza

School Lunches, , , , ,

Today’s menu: pizza, carrots, milk, ranch dressing, apple

I felt under the weather so I ate half of today’s lunch. I brought some very plain food from home to supplement because of my queasy stomach,

I realized that I can’t post pictures of the menu because it has identifying info on it… hmm

***

I’ve eaten more pizza in the past few weeks than I’ve ever eaten in my life and I’ve never disliked pizza more. Ironically, when kids see me in the hallway taking my lunch back from the cafeteria, they exclaim, “Pizza! Yes!”