It’s Time to Use the Power of Food Education to Teach Every Child the Truth about Food
Sacramento, CA — Bound by the belief that it’s a child’s human right to have access to real food, chef activists Alice Waters, Jamie Oliver, Ann Cooper and their foundations, have announced that they are forming a coalition calling for food education for all children by adopting #foodtruth as their mission.
“Sadly, children today live in a Fast Food world, where their understanding of– and access to– food is often manipulated by big food companies that prize profit above all else. As a result, many kids believe that food is a packaged product that comes off a shelf or out of a drive-thru window, “ said Jamie Oliver.
Alice Waters continued, “The words we could once trust to identify foods that are healthy for humans and the environment have been co-opted and distorted by the food-and-beverage industry, so that ‘organic,’ ‘natural,’ ‘sustainable,’ and even ‘healthy,’ are rendered empty and meaningless.”
Alice, Jamie and Ann believe it’s time to be loud and clear about what these words actually mean – and what they don’t. It’s time to recommit to real food – food that is grown by people who take care of the land and are invested in our children’s health and future.
“It’s time to teach kids from the earliest ages how to know the difference between real food truths and Fast-Food falsehoods,” said “Renegade Lunch Lady” chef Ann Cooper.
This powerful coalition believes food education:
- Is an essential responsibility of every school and must be at the heart of every child’s school day.
- Is a key component in overcoming the health crises facing the global population. Obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and other chronic diet-related diseases are crippling our citizens, our health care system, as well as threatening our economy.
- Gets us back to the basics of good nutrition and environmental stewardship. Garden and kitchen classrooms are ideal learning laboratories, reinforcing awareness of natural cycles and teaching basic culinary skills. Moreover, these immersive environments can seamlessly integrate food education across all academic subjects.
Alice Waters, Ann Cooper and Jamie Oliver have spent the greater parts of their careers fighting for real food, nutrition and edible education for kids. Each one of them has been so inspired to create change that they have formed non-profit organizations (The Edible Schoolyard Project, Chef Ann Foundation, Jamie Oliver Food Foundation) to help kids and communities eat healthier and gain knowledge of culinary skills through comprehensive food education. Now all three are coming together for the first time to launch this important and exciting coalition.
The coalition has adopted #foodtruth as its mission and will be working on a number of awareness initiatives in 2015 to champion food education in every school and support partnerships with local, sustainable farmers who can feed them these essential values every day.
