Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution: Help Kids Make Smart Choices

Last Friday night's "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" was a feel good show where kids were given information and allowed to make choices. Happily, they made the right choices.

Early in the show, Jamie talked about the number of years that a school lunch program impacts a child's life. "From the age of three to the age of 18, that's massive, that's epic," he said. You don't usually think of the full scope, but if your child eats the school lunch every day, that's between 2,400 and 2,800 meals consumed during your child's formative, nutrient-needy years.

Two segments of the show focused on empowering the kids. At the high school, Jamie's school lunch program was in jeopardy of being cut. He gathered all the teens in the gym and explained to them, "I took all your French fries off the line. I want to apologize to all of you. I've got it wrong. I don't want to fight you. I need to get you on board."

Jamie then went on to explain that only one of the four options for school lunch that day would be his food. The students could pick any meal they wanted, but if his food didn't get enough takers, the Food Revolution would be over and wouldn't be rolled out at other schools. "Basically, it's all up to you," he said. "What happens in this country, this 'Food Revolution,' comes down to this school and this day with you students."

Surprisingly, the students queued up in his pasta, sauce and salad line. The demand was so high, the cafeteria had to open a second line for Jamie's food. Almost no one picked the French fries and the school district gave permission to convert the entire high school over to Food Revolution prep methods featuring menus of fresh food with wholesome ingredients. "It was a massive success," beamed Jamie afterward. "It was a massive confirmation that if you give teenagers a bloody ounce of credit and a bit of respect, they'll give it a look, they'll give it a go."

Meanwhile, back at the grammar school, flavored milk had returned to the cooler against Jamie's wishes and the kids happily resumed choosing day-glow pink (strawberry) and chocolate milk over white. Turns out, there was an issue. "The Office of Child Nutrition in Charleston [West Virginia] was contacted," said Rhonda McCoy, the director of food services for the entire Huntington school system. "They said it's more important that children get calcium than it is to look at the sugar in the product and think [the students] will more likely drink the milk if it's flavored."

Quite the eye roll from Jamie over this news and rightly so. Gee, the kids like highly sweetened over regular? Shocker! "[The flavored milk] has more sugar in it than a pop," said Jamie, shaking his head. He watched as child after child chose flavored milk until one group of kids went right for the white milk. He stopped them and asked why they were taking the white milk. "Our teacher told us to," they answered. One girl chimed in, "The other has too much sugar."

How about that? An adult tells a child to do something because it's good for them, and they actually do it. At both the grammar school and the high school, if children are given enough information to make an informed choice, they will usually choose well. The kids are alright.

1. Cook with them and show them the ingredients you put into your meals. I'm willing to bet there isn't any high fructose corn syrup lurking in your pantry.

2. Teach them to read labels. When you go to the grocery store, show them a box of highly sugared cereal versus a healthier cereal. Ask them if they really want to eat all that sugar.

3. Get an empty 12-ounce drinking glass, a spoon, and the sugar jar. Set them in front of your child. Take 9.5 teaspoons of sugar and place it in the glass. Explain to your child that this is how much sugar is in the average can of soda. It works like a charm. (Side note: This also works on husbands; it worked on mine, anyway. He gave up soda cold turkey.) It is important to take the time to think about what you're putting in your own body -- and especially in your child's body.

Read more on Jamie Oliver and his French Fry War.