Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Starts at Home

Thursday, 3/25/2010

There’s a crisis in America, in our homes.  The food we eat is hurting us and hurting our children.  Jamie Oliver is leading “the food revolution” to change what and how we eat.

Current food habits in America undermine health and culture - taking away one of the most basic pleasures that connect us to one another and to traditions of past generations.  Jamie Oliver is prepared to change the “triangle of food”: at home, in school, and on Main Street.

Jamie Oliver isn’t the first to try to mobilize fresh, local eating but this food revolution is one that cannot be ignored.  Watch this TED video of Jamie Oliver explaining his food revolution:

Parents must begin the change at home…now.  Start with small changes as you rediscover healthier meal times.  Small changes will lead to larger ones, guaranteed.  Where do you start?

1. Bring fresh food into the house.   Yes, it’s time lose the “junk”, or some of the junk food.  Start setting an example by eating fresh fruits and vegetables, and non-processed foods (including those chicken fingers and fish-sticks).
2. Cook at home.  Cook simple, healthy, real food, preferably with your children.  Limit fast food - it’s a habit but not necessarily a convenience.  Read these tips for cooking at home with kids.  Family meal times are invaluable and easy.
3. Teach your child to cook.  Kids love to be hands-on in the kitchen.  They can do so much more than you think and eventually meal prep becomes one of the best “family times”.
4. Grow your own.  Kids need time in nature as much as they need healthy food.  Plant a vegetable garden, a few tomato plants in portable containers, or herbs.  Make a connection between food and gardening.
5. Teach food education.  Your child may not know where food comes from, how foods help the body, what other cultures eat, or how to describe different tastes and textures.  Be a conscious foodie and raise an informed, observant child.  Check out FreshforKids.com for great activities including “from farm to plate”, parents resources, and even food jokes.

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About Parenting Examiner Karen Deerwester: Karen is an educator, coach and author whose lifelong mission is to understand and celebrate “life with kids.” Karen consults for early childhood programs and continues to teach in Mommy & Me where she’s always learning more about parenting in a changing world. Read all of Karen’s posts on Examiner.com.

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