Watch Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution tonight at 8 p.m. EDT on ABC and you will start to wonder.

This time, I’m back with a look inside one of our own school cafeterias in Southern Ontario…………

On the menu this week was fish ‘n chips (an out-dated Friday tradition), a pizza casserole, chicken burgers and garlic bread with dipping sauce.  Yes, that last item was the entrée.  

Each day there was also a soup offered but, on two of those days, there was the same soup – beef barley.  Of course, the predictable foods like fries, hamburgers and sandwiches were also on the menu and my all-time favourite – poutine.  How anyone can eat fries with gravy and cheese is beyond me.  It’s one Canadian tradition that we should do without.

My “spy” also didn’t see any bottles of water on the students’ trays. There was just the usual pop, chocolate or white milk and juice.  Everything was high-fat, high-sodium and high-sugar but much too low in nutrition and good taste.

Chances are these same kids will be served something similar for dinner at home.  Either it will be hastily prepared by a parent who doesn’t have much time or it will come from a drive-thru window.  The sodium, fat and sugar will add up even more thus increasing the chances for early-onset obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.  These diseases are at critically-high levels in Canadian children already.  You just have to look at the kids today to see the evidence.  It’s right in front of your face.

So, what’s the solution?  Can we too have a Food Revolution here in Canada?  Can we take the time to learn how to cook real food, not just the kind that comes in cans, bags or packages?  Can we then put that knowledge to work and teach our kids?  Yes we can!

Don’t you remember those great Home EC classes that we used to have?  Today’s generation is in desperate need of similar training.  I certainly learned some basic cooking skills in Grades 7 and 8 that have stayed with me my whole life.  Another idea is to go online and choose recipes that you both like and then learn how to cook them together at home.  Buy a crock pot or cook more on the weekend and freeze the dinners.  Whoever is home first during the week should also have the skills necessary to get dinner ready.

Don’t forget about Jamie tonight at 8 p.m.  It’s a must-see show for everyone, but especially those of you with children.  Hopefully, once you watch, you’ll take off the blinders and find out what your child is eating at school.  You need to speak up.  Remember that kids mimic their parents.  Your good or bad habits will be passed on to them.  Your poor choices will also be theirs.

This is the first generation of children that will not live longer than their parents and our bad habits are the reason.  You owe your child the knowledge and skills necessary in order to enjoy a lifetime of good health.  Don’t lose your child too early because you didn’t care enough or have the time. 

Janet Woods is a Doctor of Natural Medicine practising in Peterborough and the Kawarthas