Healthy Kids Meal Wheel - developed by Chef Ann Cooper and Nutritionist Hailey London, RD.

British Chef, Jamie Oliver, is in the midst of pushing a huge campaign right now, which if successful, will bring about a major overhaul in the American school lunch system. The Jamie Oliver Food Revolution is the name of the campaign, and so far just over half a million people have signed a petition to get rid of overly processed lunch foods, in favor of fresh and flavorful foods with much greater nutritional value.

I just added my name to the petition list and sent a message out to many of my friends advising/requesting them to do the same. Too many kids in America today are obese, mostly because they are bombarded daily with an overwhelming supply of empty-calorie foods; foods that are laden with either sugar or fat, and held together with ingredients that are so unnatural that to correctly prounounce their names  requires a significant amount of tongue-twisting.

While regular activity can help burn the extra calories accumulated from such “junk” foods, it’s often not enough to keep excess fat from showing its ugly bulge. And for kids who are serious about their sports, eating a diet that’s mostly void of essential nutrients will inevitably hinder their performance capabilities. Diet also determines to a large extent a child’s ability to stay focused in the classroom, and ultimately their potential to do well in exams. Taking all of this into account, shouldn’t we be doing everything we can to ensure that our kids are fed a healthy diet?

What Jamie Oliver is trying to do to help our kids achieve optimal health is truly commendable, and I hope his efforts to bring about the change he is calling for will come to pass. In the meantime however, until such changes are made, I will continue to support his efforts and tell as many people as possible about his campaign, but also, I will of course continue to send my children to school with a home-made lunch.

For helpful lunchbox tips, check out thelunchbox.org.