Ode to Jamie Oliver or How to Feed Kids Good Food

Well, the early results of Jamie Oliver's experiment at reforming school lunch are getting some attention -- because they have been so dismal. When given  a choice, the kids in Huntington, W. Va., prefer the chicken nuggets, breakfast pizza, and fries to his Food Revolution, by a wide margin, according to a West Virginia University study (pdf). 

As a result, school meal purchases declined, as did milk, which Oliver had switched to plain skim from chocolate and strawberry. 

Having a six-year-old daughter, I have some thoughts about these results. I pity the star chef, because in a culture of snack and fried foods, it's hard to introduce anything that is remotely healthy -- and then get kids to choose it -- in a few weeks.

We have veggies and/or fruit at every meal and eat a wide range of foods, such as legumes, pasta and whole grains along with fish and meat. But given a choice, salty crackers, cured meats, olives and pickles always win the day. None of those are objectionable in moderation, but that can be a difficult concept for a six-year-old. And given a choice, my daughter will always pick my home-made baguette over a whole grain loaf, which is why I don't make baguettes so often. Sugary flavored milk is not an issue, because it's not a choice. Never has been.

And that's the key. Like Michelle Obama, who declared French fries her favorite food, nearly anyone will make the choice for fried, salty, fatty if they don't think about it. Kids in particular tend to choose what is familiar. It's not easy to get them to try new things, especially if they are brown or green.

But if you feed kids a wide range of foods, repeatedly, they will eat them, especially if they don't have a choice. Exposing kids to foods at an early age also helps. (Oliver introduced new foods to 60% of the kids at the school). Our daughter favors broccoli and salad over meat because we routinely eat those foods. She has never liked cheese (ever), which opens her to a lot of options outside the usual kid universe of pizza and mac 'n cheese.

And here's a plug for school gardens. Last year, we planted lettuce from seed with my daughter's kindergarten class. The class nurtured the plants indoors, transplanted them to the garden, watched them grow over several weeks, then harvested the full heads.

And guess what? When it came time for the kids to eat the salad they grew, they did -- even those who had an aversion to the stuff. Planting changed the story, which changed the meal.

But I commiserate with Oliver. He's trying to change ingrained habits and tastes in a few weeks. The odds clearly aren't in his favor - at least yet.

"Three to four months is not enough time to see if this program is going to be successful," says principal Patrick O'Neal, who has embraced healthier eating, dines with the children and has shed 20 pounds since October.

"I think it's a spark to start a bigger fire," O'Neal says. "I don't see it as a failure, and I don't see it as a true success yet. It's going to take some time for it to ignite nationwide."

Do you have tips on how to get kids to eat good food?

- Samuel Fromartz

Comments

[Christina Le Beau]

For me, the most important finding was that 66% of the kids had tried new foods. And the Huntington paper did a follow-up story that said the numbers have been improving since that study came out: Lunch counts down at schools with healthier Oliver menus.

So I think you're right -- it takes time. You're also right that it starts with educating and exposing kids to real, whole foods. Like you, I have a 6-year-old daughter. I also write a blog called Spoonfed: Raising kids to think about the food they eat (Spoon Fed Blog). So I get really tired of people saying that kids will eat only a certain way. Because it's not true.

[Vegan Thyme (Kelly)]

I am a huge fan of Jamie Oliver's newest project. I highly recommend the cookbook: Jamie's Food Revolution. In watching the show the first night it aired, my husband and I were stunned. And sad and angry. Sad for the children. Angry over the lack of support he seemed to get. A child's poor eating habits certainly cannot be blamed 100% on a school's lunch menu. Parental involvement is key. And as we see with Jamie interacting with one family on the show, educating the parents can even become a lesson in try and fail. Jamie tries desperately to allow his menu to be kept a bit longer at the school and very smartly invites the parents to see a dumpster being filled with some of the most disgusting food stuffs eaten by each child during the course of their schooling. Many parents were repulsed by this letting out loud gasps even. I thought, There! Now you've struck a nerve. Will this type of "shock" parental involvement be the catalyst to a changed diet for a child? If only one child's menu changes at home by a parent offering an all veggie based meal even once a week--then, yes--the parental involvement worked. I say, keep the parents involved. Make the schools then answer to the communities. Education leads to healthier food choices. (I posted on Jamie's new show on my blog in March. http://veganthyme.blogspot.com/2010/03/vegan-thai-green-curry-tribute-dish-for.html).

[Fooducate]

Great post. As a father of three young children, I have developed various techniques that work most of the time. First and foremost - we the parents must set a good example by eating healthy food. Getting the children involved in the growing, buying, and cooking is a surefire method to get them eating. Also important is choice - empower your child to choose between the broccoli or the cauliflower. She'll choose a veggie in any case, but it will have been HER choice, not something forced upon her by mom and dad.

On my blog I posted 10 Proven Techniques To Get Your Child Eating Veggies:
http://www.fooducate.com/blog/2010/03/25/10-proven-techniques-to-get-your-child-eating-veggies/

[Sam Fromartz]

The parental angle is valid. Apparently, they had to re-institute flavored milks because kids were drinking soda brought from home instead of skim milk.

[SenorPescado Johnson]

Jamie Oliver is an educated compassionate man, obviously
as for kids, they eat what is put in front of them as we had to do growing up, or go to bed hungry or not eat and maybe get a spanking, which builds character

the corporate food companies are a sham
and they are corrupt and in the pockets of the school boards, duh?

wake up gringo 'sheeples'
and of course, eat mo fish

Viva La Revolucion

[Biscotti Queen]

Quite simply taking away the bad choices completely is the only way to break a habit. I didn't quit smoking in 3 weeks!!! But getting those things away from me made all the difference.

My daughter is no longer allowed McD's after reading "The Omnivore's Dilemia". We still drive by it, she still sees it and she will ALWAYS ask for it.

Thankfully my daughter enjoys broccoli, carrots and peas at 3 years old... and will ask for seconds before she ever finished a hot dog!

I am not going to allow the corporate side of feeding our kids surpass the health of it. Even though it has already become a processed industry and most Americans has wondered into it like a sheparded cow forced to down corn and will never see grass again.

[Cheryl]

It seems to me that parents are the key. We need to take a lesson from our mothers and grandmothers. My mom and grandmother prepared delicious, balanced meals. From a young age, the kids were required to help--we set the table, put the condiments on, etc. We were also required to wash dishes. We eat what was served. We were required to use our manners. We were not allowed to waste food. I can't imagine my mother or grandmother giving in to any whining for junk food--or any whining, period. Parents have got to quit acting like wimps. "Sit up! Eat your vegetables!"

[Chris at Lost Arts Kitchen]

Getting kids to eat their vegetables is a matter of offering them, repeatedly, despite refusals. I have read that it can take up to 20 tries for a child to become familiar and comfortable enough with a food to like it and my experience, with a nearly 7-year-old learning to overcome multiple food aversions (potatoes?? who doesn't like potatoes?), repetition is key. I have even explained to her that if she tries something 20 times, she'll like it.

What I have also found is that both my kids prefer raw vegetables. They will eat raw cabbage, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and asparagus. Many vegetables develop bitter flavors when cooked and kids seem especially sensitive to that. So, when I'm making any of those veggies for dinner, I set some aside and let the kids enjoy them raw. My 4-year-old son loves dips--especially homemade mayo.

I think we can appeal to kids using the same tactics food processors use--fat, salt, and sugar--but use them to flavor otherwise healthy foods. Skim milk is an abomination--the cholesterol in it becomes oxidized during processing and *that* is what's lining people arteries. Serve children strawberries with lightly sweetened whipped cream. Green beans sauteed in bacon fat. We take such an all-or-nothing attitude with food--"healthy" food is low-fat, low-salt, unsweetened and "unhealthy" food is the opposite. Our bodies--especially our brains, need fat. Salt is vital to good health as well. And if we allow a little sweetness--develop a taste for fruits and homemade treats that are only lightly sweetened instead of factory processed junk loaded with HFCS, our palates will change for the better.

[Stephanie]

I think, write about and live with this issue all the time as a food writer and mother of two. I specialize in cooking for kids and I have good news for parents:

1) All the research shows that kids develop eating habits that mirror those of their parents.

If you cook, serve, eat and enjoy vegetables now, your kids will grow up eating vegetables. No, it won't happen in a few weeks, but it will happen long term.

Why can't we be happy with long term? I have moms writing me all the time about how horrible I am for suggesting that they be patient.

Listen, heart disease doesn't develop in 60 days. Neither will good eating habits.

Think of it this way: If your kids spend 10-20 years in the picky eater stage, but they develop a taste for vegetables in their teens or twenties, that's 60-90 years they will be eating vegetables.

2) Family meals are exceedingly important to good lifelong health and nutrition. The mere act of sitting down at a table, eating together, without TV or any other devices has countless benefits for kids both emotionally and physically.

This is where kids process the idea of enjoying food. And when you enjoy food, you want it to be good -- good tasting and good for you.

[Kelly]

I actually wrote a whole post on this subject on my website: http://www.patiofarmersguild.com/news.php?item.60.10

I don't have kids but I remember being the picky kid in question so I hope this helps.

[Cheftometrist]

Samuel, I agree with you 100% that kids shouldn't ever be given a choice with certain foods. As in your house, flavored (ie sugared) milks shouldn't ever be a choice for school kids, in my opinion. Sugary drinks are highly implicated in childhood obesity.

Introduce the foods repeatedly, and they'll eat them. Choice can be an option among healthy foods.

I'm glad that the principal sees the bigger picture on this.

[amy]

I have to agree with Chris. I think people get to focused on the immediate. My daughter is a very picky eater. She is exposed to and offered vegetables repeatedly, helps plant and grow them in the yard, helps me can and comes with me to a farmers market weekly. She sees me eating vegetables all the time and probably could do a better job than most adults on a quiz of what is in season during the year. However, she strongly dislikes most veggies.
I see no reason to force them on her as the rest of her diet is very good (a key point) and she eats a lot of fruit. Long term, I am fairly certain she will eat the tomatoes and corn and green beans that she now hates.

[JGold]

I agree that kids shouldn't be given a choice. Seriously, why should schools allow the tastes of kids to dictate the menu? Aren't schools just undermining themselves when the teach "making healthy food choices" and then selling crap? I also agree that changes need time to take root. I understand that Jamie Oliver was trying to shake things up for TV, but I think that change would have been more successful if implemented differently, preparing the kids for change and phasing things in instead of yanking the rug out from underneath.

[Veggie Mama]

Kids need to be enticed to eat the vegetables. See my blog post about "Dinosaur Leaves." A little creativity goes a long way in getting kids to "Eat their veggies." http://dinosaurleaves.blogspot.com/2010/04/vegetable-by-any-other-name.html

[alex]

We have veggies and/or fruit at every meal and eat a wide range of foods, such as legumes, pasta and whole grains along with fish and meat. But given a choice, salty crackers, cured meats, olives and pickles always win the day. None of those are objectionable in moderation, but that can be a difficult concept for a six-year-old. And given a choice, my daughter will always pick my home-made baguette over a whole grain loaf, which is why I don't make baguettes so often.

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