More Dinner Table Lessons from Jamie Oliver’s ‘Food Revolution’

May 6, 2010 by Anna Migeon

Behind the times as usual, I finally watched Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution—all six episodes at once. We can draw out some meaty lessons for parents who want to change their way their kids eat from Oliver’s strategies to change the way America eats, one school at a time and one town at a time.

Oliver’s first attempt at getting elementary school kids eating healthier was the addition of a healthy meal with real chicken (something unfamiliar) alongside the school’s regular fare: pizza. When given the choice, between the new, healthy meal or their usual pizza, of course the kids chose pizza.

As Oliver also found out, if you offer pink milk or chocolate milk alongside plain milk, the girls take the pink and the boys take the chocolate. Nothing terribly shocking there so far. However, he discovered if you boldly, ruthlessly take away the flavored, sugary milk options altogether, the kids have to take the plain milk. When you get rid of the junk and offer only healthy choices, they have to take them. And they do. Why? Because they’re hungry!

If your kids are picky eaters, chances are it’s because you:

1. Try to make them eat certain things.
2. Give them what they do want to eat after all when they won’t eat what you try to make them eat, just to get them to eat.

As Oliver shows, if we use this riding-the-fence, half-ass, afraid-they’ll-go-hungry approach of serving our target food while still making available their target food (just in case), we shouldn’t be too surprised when they keep eating their target food. If we continue to supply children with bad choices, they will keep eating them. It’s wishful thinking to think they’ll eat what you want them to eat unless that’s their only choice. If all your kids will eat is chicken nuggets, it’s high time to quit enabling them. Quit buying chicken nuggets.  If they get hungry–and they will–they will eat what’s available, what you know they need, to be healthy. If we’re so afraid that kids won’t like the healthy foods that we give them harmful junk just to get them to eat, what a major disservice we do them. Our only choice is to follow Oliver’s bold move, and. as he says, “Make every choice a good one.”

©  Sacred Appetite / Anna Migeon / 6 May 2010 / All rights reserved