Zach's Food Revolution?

So, there we were having dinner out at Yours Truly the other night when I simply asked Mike if he had heard that Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution show was on again. We had watched it when he was in West Virginia and really enjoyed and were moved by it.

Out of the blue, Zachary (who brings a packed lunch to school daily) starts in. I will paraphrase his rant:

"Mommy, I want to make changes for the lunch program at school. The food is so unhealthy for you. They give you pancakes in a bag! They give you peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on white bread in a bag! I mean how hard would it be for them to take two pieces of wheat bread, put peanut butter on it, with a variety of jelly available and there you go! Also, they need to have more fruit. They should make food that is healthy for you. My friend held up his slice of pizza and the grease drips off. It is disgusting! I want to go in and tell those cafeteria ladies that they need to start making stuff from scratch."

I interrupted him at this point to tell him that the cafeteria ladies were just doing their jobs and that he would have to talk to someone higher up to suggest changes. To which he replied:

"Okay, well I'm going to talk to the principal tomorrow about the changes I want to make. I mean, Mommy, this could change people's lives! Mommy, there is a girl in my class who is...well...bigger...and she eats in the cafeteria every day. This could change her life." (tear)

He said this with such sincerity in his voice and eyes that I just had to give him a kiss and tell him I loved him right then.

We encouraged him to talk to the principal about his idea/suggestions and that he might have to make an appointment during his recess.

Sure enough he went to talk with the principal about this yesterday. He talked with the office staff about his suggestions and they reassured him that they would pass along his ideas to...wait for it..........the Hudson Nutrition Department. (wah, wah, wah, wah - said in the Charlie Brown teacher's voice). For those who don't understand the reference - see my previous blog post called "The Saga of the Hudson Nutrition Dept" from March 10, 2011.

Maybe the 38 cents my family owes them has caused them to feed our children pre-made food in plastic bags. Ha!

So, will Zach be a politician? A nutritionist? A negotiator/advocator? Hard to know, but it certainly is fun to watch him grow and develop with these traits and interests! I continue to be proud and crack up at the same time!