Tuesday 5/11: Chicken Tenders

The menu reads as follows: Chicken Tenders, Brown Rice, Creamy Cole Slaw, Fresh Orange, Dipping Sauce.

What they got: Chicken tenders, rice, creamy cole slaw, fresh orange, BBQ dipping sauce and milk.

The first thing that struck me was how the brown rice actually looked like white rice with seasoning. In fact the more I think about it the more I think I'm right!  Look closely at the actual rice. Brown rice usually still contains the bran and germ while white rice has been totally stripped down so the rice is smooth in look and texture.

Secondly, I believe the kids got real chicken tenders today! It does look like deep-fried chicken though that has been reheated in a convection oven before serving. But at least it was real chicken. 

The chicken does however remind me very much of KFC and also just serves to confirm how our schools have been transformed into fast food joints. A reflection of current culture perhaps? Probably.

There is a huge effort out there to reverse this fast food culture.  One such effort is that of SLOW FOOD INTERNATIONAL - Their mission: " to counteract fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world."  It lobbies and promotes organic farming, nutrition education while preserving family farms and rejecting agribusiness.  Slow Food is about teaching us to eat again, it's about preserving traditions and celebrating food as the honest pleasure that it is.   


The current Food Revolution, is taking deep root across American schools and society.  It is another example of a united effort to reject fast foods that are highly processed, packed with additives and preservatives, and then sold to the consumer for profits, in this case our unsuspecting kids!  Rejecting the current culture of convenience that is also fast and cheap is what the food revolution means to me. It is what has got us in the this mess in the first place- and I'm talking from environmental destruction to recalls to diseases!  

For me it's meant changing my priorities a bit, like making time to cook every night, like not buying plastic baggies anymore, like composting and recycling and also not always eating what we feel like but what's actually in season (LOCAVORE)! Becoming a locavore has been the hardest one to achieve especially in the winter when we are not getting our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share!  But like anything in life, nothing is perfect and there is always room for improvement! Find what works for you and your family, make those changes and stick to them. Creating good habits that are not only good for you but also good for the earth will ensure a happy and healthy life for all.