Category Archives: Nutrition and News

Sep 18Selling Out – Free Gatorade for Students

My husband wishes I would learn to stay quiet...at least until I get tenure at my high school teaching job. See, I have a tendency to rock the boat about issues that I am passionate about (remember the pie-eating-contest-fiasco from a few years ago?). This time around, I had a hard time keeping my trap shut when I heard that Gatorade reps would be on our high school campus handing out free samples to our students during G-week. When I tried to find out how this came to pass, I got the...

Jun 5Media Literacy with Teens – Spoof Ads

It should come as no surprise that a lesson on media literacy would accompany our big food unit in Biology. With food porn from Carl's Junior, weight loss advertisements, diet foods, teensy snack packages, and other not-so-subtle messages, food ads carry a pretty powerful message. I wanted my students to understand a few things about the real world: Women do NOT look like that. Men should not expect women to look like that. You don't need to make love to your food in the back seat of...

May 30The Weight of the Nation - Challenges for Famili...

We are in the midst of a unit on food and food systems ecology in my high school biology class, so I couldn't think of a better time for the HBO series Weight of the Nation to air. Even better is the fact that HBO is generously sharing this show with everyone, even if you aren't a subscriber. I found this portion of the show especially compelling - it focuses on our nation's children and the obesity crisis we are currently in. Things definitely need to change around here. Maybe one...

Jul 18Summer Travel – Making Healthier Food Choices

Many of us are on the road this summer, heading to hiking trails, taking road trips with our families, or driving our kids to sleep away camp. It can be tempting to stop in for fast food when hunger strikes, but how can you select menu items that are good for you and your family? We all stop at side-of-the-road restaurants every now and then. But instead of beating ourselves up about being perfect when we feed our families, let's simply aim for progress. Making Better Fast Food Choices There...

Jun 22Parenting: Progress NOT Perfection

Bring a parent is really hard. This is probably the only parenting issue that I am 100% certain about. We do the best that we know how to do. But let's be honest for a second. Do you ever have the temptation to avoid reality for just a moment, so that there would be less to feel guilty about? Before Robyn O'Brien was forced to look at the foods she was feeding her family, she didn't enjoy being "preached at" about the benefits of drinking organic milk. She had enough on her mind. She...

Jun 10Canned Alaskan Salmon – Healthy and Sustainable

I meet the coolest people through my job. I love connecting with families who are excited about feeding their children good food, and I love meeting food producers, who nourish us. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of speaking with Shirley, the president of Pure Alaska Salmon Co. She comes from a long line of salmon fishermen (and women, of course) and cares deeply for the quality of the food that she eats and for the environmental implications of those choices. I had a few ideas for our...

Jun 1Happy to be Getting Crunchy with Corn

One of the best parts about being involved in social media is the friendships that I have developed over the years. Gina Rau started as a virtual friend, as we worked on a blogging challenge together, and she has become a dear "real life" friend. I adore her new website, Feed Our Families, which strives to help families make better food choices. When I was planning to be away at a culinary conference and Gina offered to do a guest post, I jumped at the chance. I know you'll love it as much...

May 25Improving School Lunches with Sprouted Wheat Bre...

Improving School Lunches with Sprouted Wheat Bread

Unless you live in a cave, you know that school food has a bad reputation. I am excited to report that in our district, at least, it's getting better. Our food service director surprised me with an invitation to visit Alvarado Street Bakery in Petaluma, where she plans to source the bread for our school district next year. My food service advisory committee colleague, Susannah, and I went to learn more about their sprouted wheat breads and got to see the inside workings of the bakery. Unfortunately,...

May 20Are All Processed Foods Bad?

When you think of "processed foods" the center aisles of the grocery store probably come to mind. I imagine rows and rows of brightly colored packages filled with chemical concoctions disguised as foods. But I have news for you. Some "real" foods have to be processed before they can be sold in the stores. Does that make them "processed foods?" I don't think so. On my recent trip to Sacramento to learn more about the walnut industry, we visited a walnut orchard and then saw how...

May 16Is There Spinach In Your Brownies?

There are two sides to every story, especially when parenting strategies enter the picture. And most of the time, each side is fueled by passion and the sense that they are right. And the other is wrong. Several years ago, there was a huge buzz about two books that were published almost simultaneously: Deceptively Delicious and The Sneaky Chef. Both talked about how parents can amplify the nutrition in the foods they feed to their children by including purees of veggies or beans. Let's...