Last updated on September 8, 2010 by Liza Hawkins
I was in a meeting at work today, and we were talking about lunch – our cafeteria lunch. My comment was, “Yeah, the quesadillas were alright; they were okay.” A few of my coworkers nodded in agreement, except one.
He said very plainly, “Why is it that we’re okay with cafeteria food just being okay?”
And he’s right. Why is that? I don’t eat cafeteria food that much…hardly ever, actually; 99% of the time I bring my lunch. Occasionally the cafeteria beckons, and not because the food’s stellar, it’s because it’s easy. But work isn’t the only place where cafeteria food looms. What about our kids’ school lunches? In our area a lot bring a bagged lunch from home, but a bunch buy every day because it’s inexpensive and convenient.
Inexpensive and convenient should not be an excuse for bad, or even “okay” food.
Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution is a wonderful start to bringing the food in our schools’ cafeterias up about a dozen notches – fresh, homemade, healthy food that kids actually love! Imagine that! Sure would beat the same PB&J sandwich I send with our kindergartener every day (although she loves it).
I’m sure other companies have cafeterias that are just as genius as Jamie’s plan for school lunches. Even in the 10 years I’ve worked for my company, I’ve seen improvement. It’s gone from “not great” to “okay.” Wouldn’t it be nice for “okay” to turn into “wonderful”?
With his show Food Revolution, Jamie proved that cooking with fresh and local ingredients was simple, inexpensive, and enjoyable. Hopefully the Revolution continues to spread – I believe it should. Perhaps his show’s recent Emmy win is a start!
Great post! T’s school does not offer hot lunch, but used to have pizza friday and you could buy pizza for your child. Now, it is chicken teriyaki wraps and fresh fruits and veggies. They have partnered with a local produce delivery place that gets their product from a variety of local farms, so the fruits and veggies come from there for Friday lunch!
Even when the cafeteria offers healthier options my son would not go for them. I do not miss that now that I homeschool him. We hardly ever eat out, and when we do it is nice that they are offering healthier options. (Not much healthier, but better than before.)
Marsha – that sounds amazing! What a wonderful idea for kid meals!
Lynda – I asked my daughter the other day if she wanted to buy lunch, thinking it would be a treat. She said emphatically, “NO. I want to bring my lunch.” LOL