Sweet defeat

Submitted by Michael on Wed, 06/30/2010 - 08:59

Via Jamie Oliver, the heartening news that in the fall, DC schools will stop serving sugary cereals and flavored milk. 

As many readers know, I'm a new dad — Joe turned 8 months old yesterday. I try very hard not to make assumptions about what it will be like, beyond expecting that I won't know what each new challenge is like till I'm there, and that in addition to just being wrong about some things, I'll also be surprised by stuff I hadn't even considered.

With those provisos, can I just say: Why would anyone serve that crap to their kids? The pervasive answer is, flavor the milk and at least they're drinking milk. I grasp the concept, but I still have trouble with it.

My experience is that simple foods can be very tasty, very sweet, with simple preparations. I serve lots of vegetables when I have guests, and even the vegetarians rave about how good the veggies are. This is not the result of my genius, I assure you. Roasted or sauteed, they just taste good, with or without a little garlic or ginger or sesame or whatever.

In the face of that, why serve crap?

Yes, you may remind me of this when my son refuses to eat anything but mac-and-cheese and Cheerios.

 

Speaking at Commonwealth Club

I will be speaking on the topic of food addiction at the Commonwealth Club of California, the oldest public affairs forum in the country, on Feb. 28. I'll be joining a fabulous panel of researchers and clinicians: Nicole Avena of Princeton and the University of Florida, Eric Stice of the Oregon Research Institute, Vera Tarman of Renascent Center of Toronto, abd Elissa Epel and Andrea Garber, both of the University of California at San Francisco. I am very excited to be part of the roster, not to mention to be appearing at such a great institution. Ticket information here; if you come, please stay afterward to say hello.

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