100% natural

The other day I was in the supermarket and I was starving.  (Bad. Idea.)  Nature Valley granola bars were on sale for $2.  I couldn't resist the sale so I picked up a box.  Not until several days later when I actually went to eat one, did I read the label.  It read "100% Natural".  Big claim.  I was curious to know what natural ingredients I was about to consume so I flipped the package over (first indication that it was not 100% natural).  Here's what I found:

• Whole Grain Oats
• High Maltose Corn Syrup--WHAT????  2nd ingredient???
• Semisweet Chocolate Chunks (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural flavor)
• Honey
• Rice Flour
• Roasted Peanuts
• Raisins
• Sugar
• Fructose
• Canola Oil
• Maltodextrin
• Soy Lecithin
• Salt
• Malt Extract
• Baking Soda
• Natural Flavor
• Mixed Tocopherols (added to retain freshness)

Yeah, that's pretty natural, don't you think?

Not only was this granola bar sickly sweet, but also, its packaging contained a bold faced lie.  When I got a 100% on a test at school, that would mean that I got everything right.  Not mostly right, but everything right.  So when I read the claim of 100% natural, I assume that the entire contents of the package are indeed, natural.  But like I said, in this case, it was not true.  Sometimes a single attribute of a food product overshadows everything else and consumers who don't delve deeper by doing something as simple as reading the ingredients, unwittingly delude themselves into thinking that they are doing something good for their body.  

What makes me upset is that these companies actually get away with making these false claims and that there are people out there who believe them.  You may be aware of the recently applauded and progressive move by Ben & Jerry's--sparked by an invitation from the Center for the Science of Public Interest (CSPI) to remove their "all natural" claim.  Ben & Jerry's complied.  Go awesome!  (For more information, read here.)  But this is just a first step.  Clearly, there are other, less progressive manufacturers out there that continue to make these false claims.  My challenge to you is this:

1) READ THOSE LABELS,

2) REFUSE to support those products that make false claims, and

3) SPEAK OUT & CHALLENGE these companies to make changes.

Remember, baby steps...

fed up with lunch: the school lunch project

--soapbox begin--

Brace yourself!  Yes, this is another food related post, but I stumbled across something tonight that I just have to share.  I was on Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution page and found a shocking blog about school lunches.  It's called "Fed Up With Lunch:  the school lunch project".  If you have children, want children, love children, or even think that they should exist, you should check this blog out.  

Authored by an anonymous teacher named Mrs. Q., this blog and this teacher aim to reform school lunch.  For the last year or so, she has been eating and documenting what is being served in the school lunch cafeteria.  Menus range from shocking to eh, not so bad.  But I admire this woman for taking a stand and for advocating for reform.  Why must we reform school lunches?  Take a look at these tasty meals:

As you go through the blog you will notice that some of the lunches aim to incorporate fruits and vegetables.  They don't look SO bad.  Bravo.  But take a closer look.  Notice how it is packaged.  How wasteful.  Each food item is served in a paper container sealed with plastic.   And take a look at the food.  Is it even real?  What are these lunches actually made of?  To me it looks processed, full of refined sugar, and cooked to the point where all nutritional value found within a normally healthy food has gone out the window.  

I realize that there are budgetary constraints within our public school system.  I realize that school cooks want to do their job well and provide their students with balanced meals but are limited by time, manpower, appropriate kitchen tools, and the lack of fresh ingredients.  I realize that not every family can afford to bring their own lunch to school.  My family was no exception.  I remember being envious of friends who would brown bag it.  They would bring the coveted Oreos, the bright bags of chips, and the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on soft, white bread.  (Looking back, those meal options might have actually been worse than what I was getting.)  The point is, however, I understand the limitations that schools and students face when it comes to a nutritionally balanced meal.

That being said, what do we do?  Your first reaction might be to do all that you can to ensure that you are packing your child's lunch.  And that's a good step.  As a concerned parent or guardian you have the right, and if I may be so bold, the responsibility to ensure that your child has nutrionally sound food available to him or her.  What happens, you ask, when they go to school and the infamous lunch trading begins?  This is where meals at home come into play.  By creating a culture of healthful food in the home, kids will hopefully have a natural inclination to seek out that which is healthy and familiar.  It's not going to happen all of the time.  Kids are kids.  But if they are accustomed to and enjoy "go foods" (foods that help them "go" and provide energy) as opposed to "slow foods" (foods that are heavy laden with sugars and that are engineered), the chances of them choosing better, increases.

So what now?  You've resolved to continue or to improve upon healthy meals at home as well as your children's lunches that they take to school.   Great!  What else is there to do?  PLENTY!  I feel very strongly that while it is important to take care of our own, it is also equally important for us to figure out how we can help others...especially those that don't have the same types of resources.  Reading this blog almost made me cry.  Not because the writing was especially touching or profound, but rather because I thought of the hundreds and thousands of kids that need to eat school lunches and are basically being served frozen, packaged meals, day in and day out.  Sure, they provide some burnable calories.  Sure it meets the USDA's poor standard of a "balanced meal", but shouldn't food be so much more than meeting a govenmental standard and filling a calorie quota?  Shouldn't it actually be providing nutrition, vitamins and minerals found in whole forms of food, sustainable energy?  Doesn't every child have that right?  YES!  But in order for that to happen, people need to take a stand and speak up.  Change doesn't happen unless we demand it and actually take the steps toward change.

You don't have to be a professional lobbyist.  You don't have to have ties to the government (although that might help).  All you have to do is spread the word and let your voice be heard.  Write letters to the editor, comment on blogs that get a lot of traffic, share impactful Youtube videos on your Facebook page, twitter about a fantastic new site that you discovered, give your legislator a call, write your senator, reach out to the USDA, and most importantly, advocate in your local school district.  Meet with the principal, the superintendent.  Contact the Department of Education and let them know that you want change.  Again, nothing will happen without us taking action.  So get fed up and make a change!

--end soapbox--

love this man!

Hearing Jamie Oliver talk about this stuff makes makes me so excited. It motivates me to make changes in my life and it also makes me want to grow this idea as far and as wide as possible. Take a look. You won't be sorry...and if you are....WHO ARE YOU????

give me revolution!

Yes, I know that Jamie Oliver is not the first chef to use fresh, whole foods.  He is not the first to educate and to give back to the community.  He is not the first to use his celebrity status to move an idea forward.  And he is not the first to make monumental, positive changes happen.  But I’ll tell you what…Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution is inspiring and it is making a difference.  And it is happening because one person decided that he cared enough to use his resources, his know-how, and his status to do something.  And for that, I admire him tremendously.

Recently, I have been reading Fast Food Nation:  The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser.  It is a frightening account of the “evolution” of the American diet and business of fast food.  It details everything from marketing strategies targeting children, the horrors of feeding lots & slaughtering houses, the injustices found within the fast food system including poor wage, dangerous working conditions, lack of training & benefits, to the exploitation and eventual demise of hardworking and honest cattleman and farmers all for the benefit of the fast food giants that have become more popular than about any other thing that you could possibly think of.

What I love about Jamie Oliver or people like Eric Schlosser, Michael Pollan, or Wendell Berry is that they appreciate and understand the importance of our relationship with food, with the earth, and with our communities.  They understand that health and well-being comes from a holistic and natural approach and that it is vital to understand where we are, where we have been, and where we are headed if we continue down the same path.  But not only do they strive to understand, they strive to educate and involve others to promote positive and lasting change.  They understand that revolutions such as these do not happen if one is silent, but rather, they happen when one person takes a stand and says, “No more.”

Change is difficult and slow-moving sometimes.  But I find comfort in the fact that there are others out there who espouse to the same beliefs and actually motivate me to make those changes in my own life and to then look outward in order to be of help to someone else. 

There will certainly be more posts on this subject as I have rediscovered my interest in this.  But for now, check out Jamie Oliver’s show and let the beginnings of revolution stir within.