The moment I started reading Amy Kalafa's Lunch Wars I immediately had flash backs to what I ate in the cafeteria in school. I remember the grease soaked pizza pockets, the hot dogs, and the hamburgers. Nothing about any of those meals sounds remotely appetizing to me and I would hate to see them served in my kiddos school.
Lunch Wars dives into some of the nations schools and how parents have worked to change the cafeterias and food programs in their areas. I am not totally familiar with the programs at the schools in my kids areas and was planning on packing them lunches anyway, that way I would have control over what they ate. That little dream of mine was practically shattered when I was reading the book and saw that Kalafa's own daughter was bamboozling her and eating Pop-Tarts and french fries, all stuff that was off limits for her. I began to think my little plan would not work.
Now here's the thing, my kids have Oreo's, french fries and things of that nature. This book kind of made me feel like I am destroying my children to the point of no return. I understand that these types of things are by no means healthy and contribute to the fact that our kids probably will not outlive us because of the health problems they will have, but what's wrong with McDonald's every once in a while? Sometimes the book comes off a little extreme and I find myself up at night worrying if my kids will end up with Type 2 Diabetes because I let them have a Nutter Butter. In reality what it comes down to is you need to find a balance for you and your kids. For my family it comes down to understanding what our genetics are, what diseases we are more likely to have and to adjust our diet to prevent those. It's also about getting out and being active.
That being said, I do think that the school cafeteria situation needs to change. I appreciate that this book is basically a how-to for reforming the food program in your school, it will definitely be a reference if I feel that the food in the school cafeteria in my area needs to be changed. All in all I think this book is a great resource that every parent should read it to better educate themselves about what is going on in the schools and how they can make a change.
Be sure to check out the discussions going on at BlogHer about this book!
This was a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.
Lunch Wars dives into some of the nations schools and how parents have worked to change the cafeterias and food programs in their areas. I am not totally familiar with the programs at the schools in my kids areas and was planning on packing them lunches anyway, that way I would have control over what they ate. That little dream of mine was practically shattered when I was reading the book and saw that Kalafa's own daughter was bamboozling her and eating Pop-Tarts and french fries, all stuff that was off limits for her. I began to think my little plan would not work.
Now here's the thing, my kids have Oreo's, french fries and things of that nature. This book kind of made me feel like I am destroying my children to the point of no return. I understand that these types of things are by no means healthy and contribute to the fact that our kids probably will not outlive us because of the health problems they will have, but what's wrong with McDonald's every once in a while? Sometimes the book comes off a little extreme and I find myself up at night worrying if my kids will end up with Type 2 Diabetes because I let them have a Nutter Butter. In reality what it comes down to is you need to find a balance for you and your kids. For my family it comes down to understanding what our genetics are, what diseases we are more likely to have and to adjust our diet to prevent those. It's also about getting out and being active.
That being said, I do think that the school cafeteria situation needs to change. I appreciate that this book is basically a how-to for reforming the food program in your school, it will definitely be a reference if I feel that the food in the school cafeteria in my area needs to be changed. All in all I think this book is a great resource that every parent should read it to better educate themselves about what is going on in the schools and how they can make a change.
Be sure to check out the discussions going on at BlogHer about this book!
This was a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.
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1 comment:
Loved your review. Definitely agree that the author is a little extreme. I wonder what her kids are going to eat when they move out...it seems like they are pretty deprived.
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