Best quotes from this article in the Washington Post, “On Japan’s school lunch menu: A healthy meal made from scratch.”
“Everything is cooked on site,” school nutritionist Kimii Fujii said. “We even make our own broth.”
“What is most difficult for me to explain is why we can do this and other countries cannot,” said Masahiro Oji, a government director of school health education.
Oji mentioned that last year he attended an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation workshop in Moscow on school lunch programs. Japan sent members of its education ministry, Oji said. Most other nations sent members from their agriculture or farm ministries.
“Japan’s standpoint is that school lunches are a part of education,” Oji said, “not a break from it.”
See also, “How Japan’s revolutionary school lunches helped slow childhood obesity”
To go along with obsession on all things healthy and vegan…see this article. 11 Convincing Reasons why Eating Vegan isn’t Crazy, Reader’s Digest (of all places!)
I’m currently participating in a Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Migraine study. Starting June 12, I’ll be vegan. And…get this – the study lasts until the beginning of October. Of course I hope to continue this way of eating long after that. But I had a laugh when I realized the study will be going through all of the high holidays! I think I’ll need to bring my own food everywhere!
I am already a vegetarian. Now I’ve given up eggs. The cheese will of course be the hard one. I read that it hits the same pleasure centers in our brain as cocaine!
Incidentally, PCRM also cares about school lunches.
The Heavy: A Mother, A Daughter, A Diet–A Memoir by Dara-Lynn Weiss. I never read the original Vogue article that this book is based on but I’m looking forward to reading the book as a mom who is trying to insert some sanity into the kiddie junk-food culture (at least for my children). This book is about her trying to help her 7 year-old daughter after the doctor pronounces her obese. I also like that she has to confront her own spotty eating and body issues. If Mom eats at the kitchen counter every night – usually just grazing and not eating a proper sit-down meal – so will your child.
Anyone have strategies for sitting down to a nice meal (considering that my daughter won’t eat any of the healthy stuff I cook)? It’s so easy to say, “This isn’t a restaurant. You’ll eat what you’re served.” However, it is very hard to follow through. Has anyone followed through with positive/negative results?
I have been cooking up a storm here and will post shortly on that.
Finally, on the food topic: The Secret Financial Life of Food: From Commodities Markets to Supermarket by Kara Newman. Will have to see if it’s for people like me obsessed with behavioral economics or dry for the economist.
My new obsession is the Scary Mommy Blog. You must read today’s post if you are a parent!
See below for a sample of her humor!
p.s. I must be obsessed with the word obsessed because I just used it way too many times in this post.
