more than once a day at work i have to have a little conversation to myself that usually goes a little something like this……..”ya know the typical american just reheats crap like this for meals, they don’t cook from scratch, i’m not typical with how i eat and cook, the vast majority are ok with getting a meal through a drive thru.”

my conclusion about school cafeterias is that the quality and types of food that are served in them is an excellent reflection of how the majority of people eat within the united states.  frozen breakfast corn dogs, pepperoni pizza with strawberry milk and dorritos, nachos every tuesday.  whenever a radical suggestion is made like “maybe we shouldn’t offer pizza everyday”  the conclusion is always the same.  the school system doesn’t want to deal with the parents complaining and the parents don’t want to hear the kids whining, so give them what they want. but the beauty with kids is, yes they might whine and complain at first but they will still eat what is put in front of them.  they also get bored with the same food over and over and over.  as an experiment one day, i made up 5 veggie pizzas, i was told “they won’t eat it”, i sold out and i sold out of them again when i made them a second day.

the US has a health epidemic in full swing, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, which all can eventually lead to cancer, with kids developing these problems as early as 8, and now our expected life span is going down because of these health issues.   we as a society have forgotten how to feed themselves. we have been raised on drive-thrus and microwaves are the number one kitchen appliance.  if we feed kids free breakfast everyday, provide them lunch and send them home with backpacks of food for the weekend, isn’t it time to teach them how to feed themselves with something that isn’t doesn’t have a toy included with the meal?

to make this happen we need a cultural shift. i’m declaring a FUDultion REVOLUTION.  if you can’t leave kindergarten without knowing your numbers, alphabet and how to tie your shoes, then you shouldn’t leave 8th grade without knowing how to cook a meal for yourself.  the goal with FUDultion REVOLUTION is to  incorporate nutrition and cooking skills into the general curriculum. i am going to use my powers of being a lunch lady, finish the handful of classes i need to become a genuine certified chef and take on one school at a time with FUDultion REVOLTUION.  if as a society we feel it is essential to learn to read and write in order to succeed, than it needs to also be essential to learn how to feed ourselves in order to achieve success.