Teaching Every Child About Food

52 GROWTH MINDSET IDEAS WORTH SHARING # 6

Jamie Oliver - Teaching every child about food

Main Idea: The food we eat binds us to our life.

Because of how we view our food, the adults of our last four generations have blessed our children with a shorter life span than their own parents. Our kids are destined to live a life 10 years shorter than our own because of the landscape of food that we've built around them.

The statistics of bad health are very clear and yet we spend our lives being paranoid about crime and murder when statistically speaking, they are the least of our worries by a long shot. Diet related diseases are the leading cause of death and suffering globally.

We need a food revolution that can change peoples Fixed Mindsets around food so that we can cure our problems with knowledge, not cash. Obesity and diet related disease doesn't just hurt the people who have it, it affects friends, family and literally all of us.We are talking about preventable disease and waste of life.

There are 3 main protagonists that influence the food we eat:

1. Main St. - The highly processed foods that are controlled by fast food and big brands (note that Canada just changed our official food guide because the old food guide was sponsored by food lobbyists, not good science).
2. Homes - Home used to be the biggest part of our food culture, passing on healthy food traditions and that's simply not happening any more.
3. Schools - School was invented to arm kids with the tools they need to succeed in all aspects of life and it hasn't changed how it operates for a very long time. It hasn't evolved to deal with the catastrophes we currently face in North America. There are no food experts in schools and schools are highly influenced by big brands who buy their ways into our kids daily lives. We don't teach kids about food (or household finances) and that has to change.

"If kids don't know what real food is, they will never eat it." "If any judge in the world looked at the statistics and the evidence about what we are actually serving our kids, they would find any government of old guilty of child abuse."

The good news is that food related chronic diseases are very preventable, we just need to do a re-boot and get out of our Fixed Mindsets about food. We need to have food ambassadors in every supermarket who are not influenced by food brands. We need food manufacturers and governments to understand that healthy people can lead to healthy profits. We need a 5 year VISION and plan to ween us off of the fat, sugar and salt that keeps us addicted to processed foods.

Life Skills - Every student leaving school should have the basic knowledge of knowing at least 10 recipes that can save their lives. Kids need to be agile lifelong learners when it comes to food because if you know how to cook, money doesn't matter. Every child should be taught how to read a food label and what our daily recommended limit is for sugar.

Corporate - Has a responsibility to look at what foods they make available to their staff to ensure agile learning about food continues throughout adulthood and parenthood. You can care and still be commercial.

Homes - We need to start passing on the traditions of cooking fresh food again. Every one of our efforts has the potential to make a real difference. We have to recreate what's been lost. This is real tangible change.

VISION: "I wish for everyone to help create a strong, sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity." Jamie Oliver

Dave Buzanko is a Growth Mindset Influencer helping people move from Fixed to Growth Mindsets.