Buy This/ Not That!

 We care that our children are given the future that they deserve. We care about getting our children moving. Sometimes, as adults, we want to fix problems for children in the same way that we would fix them for ourselves.  Adults solve the weight battle all too often by restricting calories and employing a demanding exercise regimen.  Now well intentioned adults are rolling out products to make children do the same. Unfortunately, these products are misguided.  As anyone who has struggled with weight knows, moving just for the sake of burning calories gets pretty boring and eventually people flake.  Studies link healthy lifestyles, better overall health and keeping the weight off longer to moving for fun and companionship not hopping on a machine!
 So instead of  buying these (found at Neiman Marcus)   (which we doubt are effective and are likely to end up in the garage or landfill)

You could . . .

 (photo by Miguel Vieira via Flickr)

 BUY THIS!
 Why not give your family an entire year's worth of fun in California's State Parks for the same dollar amount!!

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

Have you all been watching this? If you haven't and have a moment you should try. We are huge fans of Mr. Oliver. We have his cookbooks, watch his shows, and have his iphone app. But we think we love him more now.

It is about time someone really spoke to the expansive problem that is the current school food service. It's hard to imagine that some schools feed children nachos (with fake cheese no less) for lunch and call it a meal. And we are all understandably horrified by pizza being served as breakfast. But the larger problem that is exposed by this show is the utter lack of connection children in these schools have with their food. Which in turns means their bodies. How can we expect children to be healthy when they don't even know what a potato is? (Actual scene from last Friday's show. A kindergarten class didn't know one of the vegetables Mr. Oliver showed them and he wasn't trying to get them to identify daikon or chard, just simple stuff like broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, eggplant)  And since the adults in their lives are lacking in passion about food how can anyone expect those poor children to care in the least bit about what goes into their little tummies.
So we figure we can help fight the good fight with brave Mr. Oliver. We are going to start our own Campaign for Food Reform! In the coming weeks, we will feature interviews with nutritionists, chefs, and the like to get more information so we can all make more informed choices. We will provide you with more information to help join the cause in your own hometown. We will post our own favorite healthy recipes (some of which are pretty cheap to make!) and ask you to let us know what your favorite healthy recipes are.
What you can all do today is sign Mr. Oliver's Petition to change the food in our schools! And stop on back in the coming weeks for more info!