Snack Attack

April 21, 2010

When it comes to Jamie Oliver and his food revolution, I am so in. In case you missed it, the so-called Naked Chef is leading the fight against childhood obesity, specifically by taking to task the American school system for the crap they serve in the cafeteria labeled as nutrition. He has already changed the way Brits serve up students and now he's come stateside to do the same. Sign me up.

I am astonished at what passes for fruits (ketchup) and vegetables (french fries) in school lunches. I am sickened at the thought of children eating pizza for breakfast and vending machine Cheetos for snacks. I am not a vegan/granola girl (although I see nothing wrong with that) but I do try and eat healthy and TRY to help my kids do the same. We eat hot dogs but they are made of lean turkey. We eat chickenless nuggets (don't knock 'em 'till you try 'em), baked chips and lots of fruit (still working on veggies). We also eat pizza, ice cream and donuts but in moderation--and not for breakfast.

I live in a suburb of Los Angeles where eating healthy is truly a way of life made very easy with ready-packed fresh produce available everywhere at reasonable prices. The beautiful weather makes it so kids can play outdoors year round. And the Hollywood adjacent thing means that fortysomething women out here live and look as if they are keeping up with the Kardashians. Every mom I know uses her precious free time to get in some sort of daily workout be it running, Bar Method, pilates, yoga, spinning, or time with a personal trainer. Lululemon active wear is practically a uniform around here. These moms are the picture of healthy living but for some reason, it's a very different picture when the moms show up at the baseball field.

Which brings me to the snack shack at my son's much ballyhooed baseball park. Despite its location, smack dab in the middle of the place we bring kids to exercise, it is truly a crap shack -- a beacon of unhealthy eating. The most popular items include blue or coca-cola slushies, hamburgers and hot dogs on white buns, churros, sour-patch kids, nachos, blue or yellow Powerade, corn nuts, drumstick ice cream cones and my personal favorite, Fritos covered in thick straight-from-the-can chilli with sprinkled cheese on top. Nestled among the fields, as the sole food provider, this calorie-packed cafe is a cash cow feeding the players and their schelpped-along siblings who return over and over again to feed their boredom.

I had the "opportunity" to volunteer in the shack this weekend and was literally sick to my stomach at the sight of children downing sodas and candy before 11 a.m. Moms, drinking non-fat lattes in skinny jeans, opened their wallets generously to stuff their kids with junk. And then came back for more.

I'm a mom so I am all too familiar with not wanting your child to feel like the odd man out. Of course I let my kid get a snack after playing a two hour game. But I try to teach him what exactly he's putting in his body and, honestly, does anyone even know what's in a blue slushie? How can we, as parents, allow snack shacks like this to exist without alternative choices? I realize cost is an issue and it's much more expensive to have fresh food but there are small changes that can easily be made. How about apple slices with string cheese? Turkey dogs? Veggie burgers? 100 cal packs? Almond trail mix?

After Jamie's done with school cafeterias, I say it's time he heads to the ballpark. We are way past three strikes. Snack shack revolution anyone?