ArcaMax

Enjoy this previously published Zola classic for today!

Some of you will cry as you watch what I am offering up today.

But first, let me take a step back and give you some of my perspective.

I have always admired Jamie Oliver. Jamie is a chef. Jamie is an entrepreneur. You might remember back in January I wrote a column about one of his restaurants in London where they take on the disadvantaged and teach them how to become restaurant workers so they are better skilled and prepared for employment. Jamie has had a variety of cooking shows broadcast first in England and then in America and around the world. He’s very successful. He’s also modest, funny, dedicated and no less than doggedly determined. He has been tirelessly trying to fix school lunches. They are terribly broken. Our nation’s children are being abused by their own government, being forced to eat a less than ideal food supply. And that’s saying it nicely. Our kids are being forced to eat cheap, processed, and unhealthy food. No wonder too many of them are getting fat.

You are about to take your children out of school for the summer. They are about to be let out and let into your care for the full day, each day.

If you don’t have school-aged children, maybe you have nieces or nephews or even grandchildren who will be visiting you over the summer. They might be on vacation. You might want to give them treats and treat them special because they are so special to you. Be careful what you feed them. They don’t have long before they have to go back to school and eat what they are offered in the cafeteria. It’s not their fault they are -- in many cases -- gaining weight. They are too young to know. They trust us. We are failing them.

I was giving a speech the other day. I was talking about my plans going forward. I was talking about how in the near future I hope to start a foundation. I want that foundation to fund the cooking arts for kids. Bring home economics back. I want after-school programs set up so we can teach kids, starting at 11 years old, how to cook. I want to do that so when they go off to college or go off to their busy lives they know how to feed themselves and not depend on fast food. I want them to know what’s good for them so when they make their choices they make them wisely. I think if we do this right we can make our kids healthy again before it’s too late.

Right now our children are not expected to live as long as we will. They are too unhealthy to live long, fruitful lives. We all want our children to do better than we did. Well, we have done this to them. We are all responsible. We need to fix this.

Jamie Oliver is making an impassioned plea. Please see what you can learn from this and transfer it to your children, your grandchildren or even your neighbor’s kids.

Have a good summer of eating healthy. Make yourself and your kids a priority. Enjoy this Jamie Oliver video about teaching children about food.

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