(Enriched wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, ribflavin, folic acid), water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil with artificial flavoring, artificial coloring, citric acid, baking powder [sodium bicarbonate, sodium aluminum sulfate, cornstarch, monocalcium phosphate, calcium sulfate], salt, dextrose, dough conditioners [wheat flour, salt, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (soybean, cottonseed and/or canola oil), L-cysteine, ascorbic acid, fungal enzyme], wheat gluten, xanthan gum, calcium proprionate, potassium sorbate), Cheddar Cheese (Pasteurized part skim milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes, cellulose gum [anticaking]), Cheddar Flavored Mozarella Cheese Substitute (water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil with citric acid, milk protein concentrate, casein, modified food starch, contains 2% or less of the following: sodium aluminum phosphate, salt, cheese blend [cheddar, blue, and semisoft cheese {Pasteurized milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes}, water, whey, salt, citric acid}, lactic acid, disodium phosphate, sorbic acid, nutrient blend {magnesium oxide, zinc oxide, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin and vitamin B12}, paprika annatto blend, [natural extractives of annatto seeds and paprika with soybean oil, mono-, di-, and triglycerides, other flavors, tocopherol, and potassium hydroxide], romano cheese flavor [cheese {milk, culture, rennet, salt}, milk solids, disodium phosphate], mozzarella cheese type flavor {cheese {milk, culture, rennet, salt}, milk solids, disodium phosphate}, provolone cheese flavor {milk, culture, rennet, salt}, milk solids, disodium phosphate, sodium glutaminate, salt, cheese flavor {maltodestrin, acacia gum, 1,2-propolyene glycol, trisodium diphosphate, sodium polyphosphate], beta carotene [partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils, corn oil, beta carotene, tocopherol], vitamin A palmitate), water, tomato paste (31% NTSS), Shredded Mozarella Cheese Substitute: (Water, partially hydrogenated soybean oil with citric acid, milk protein concentrate, casein, modified food starch, contains 2% or less of the following: sodium aluminum phosphate, salt, lactic acid, disodium phosphate, sorbic acid, romano cheese flavor [cheese {milk, culture, rennet, salt}, milk solids, disodium phosphate], mozarella cheese type flavor [cheese {milk culture, rennet, salt}, milk solids, disodium phosphate], provolone cheese flavor [cheese {milk, culture, rennet, salt], milk solids, disodium phosphate, sodium glutaminate, salt, cheese flavor {maltodextrin, acacia gum, 1,2-propylene glycol, trisodium diphosphate, sodium polyphosphate}], nutrient blend [magnesium oxide, zinc oxide, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin and Vitamin B12], beta carotene [partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils, corn oil, beta carotene, tocopherol], Vitamin A palmitate), salsa seasoning (salt, sugar, dehydrated onion and garlic, dehydrated jalapeno pepper, citric acid, xanthan gum, spice, dehydrated cilantro, potassium, sorbate), vinegar, releasing agent (water, mono and diglycerides, polysorbate 60 and lecithin, acetic acid, citric acid, potassium sorbate, propyl gailate, sodium benzoate and polydimethylsiloxane), cellulose gum.   CONTAINS MILK, WHEAT, SOY.

Think about all the labor that goes into making  the ingredients that food manufacturers use.  You can’t make Cheddar Flavored Mozarella Cheese Substitute in your kitchen.  Even the many ingredients that make up the highly processed “dough conditioner” are highly processed.

What is this?  Anyone want to take a guess? (Hint: it’s something that is regularly served in the school lunch program.  No I’m not kidding)

Anybody watch this last night at 10 pm on ABC?  What did you think?  Man, the lunch ladies hated him.   Loved their visors.

Jamie’s pretty brave.  He left no strawberry milk or chicken nugget unturned.  The close up of the list  ingredients of some of the “food” the school (all schools!) serves everyday to children is just what you’d expect but choose to ignore.  I liked that the process didn’t  resolve  happy  in the first episode.  Changing what we feed our kids at school will take time, money and better politics.   A miracle that the ugly truth of school lunch is being addressed on national television - and not cable!

The American Dairy Association (ADA) has had its udders rooted in the USDA’s dietary recommendations for many decades.  A week ago I was going over the history of the USDA’s colorful charts depicting what Americans are supposed to eat.  One of my favorites, penned in 1943, gives us the Seven Food Groups.  Milk has its own group, so does Butter.  But dairy finds its way into the Meat Cheese Fish Poultry group and surprisingly shows up in the Cereal and Bread group too where the claim is that “Added milk improves nutritional values”.  Wow.  Four out of seven.  Impressive.  If you believe that is an accident, or meant to improve health, think again.  Politics abound as nutrition maven Marion Nestle is quick to write a tome on (Food Politics).  All this to remind you of the powerful, government-backed organization  dairy farmers have profited from for many many moons.

This week the ADA announced its “Raise Your Hands for Chocolate Milk” campaign in an effort to promote school sales of sugary flavored milks.  They claim that if kids skip chocolate milk, they will choose fruit juice or soda and miss out on all those important nutrients that they are not getting in their macaroni and cheese, cheese pizza, ice cream, smoothies and yo-yo yogurt cups.  How much dairy does a child need? Or more precisely – how much calcium?

Cow’s milk is designed to quadruple a calf’s bone structure in six months.  At no point in a human’s life do we lay down that much bone.  Yet recommendations from the nutrition party line would have us believe that we can never eat enough.  The United States has one of the highest intakes of calcium in the world and simultaneously one of the highest rates of osteoporosis.  What gives?

I’m not anti-milk, not at all anti-dairy but I’m strongly in the court of “more is not better.”  Dairy foods can be difficult for a lot of people to digest.  Many kids have dairy allergies or dairy sensitivities.  Traditional wisdom teaches us that culturing dairy (adding probiotics or allowing it to sour) breaks down the pesky lactose and casein that many people to have trouble digesting past the age of weaning.  Shouldn’t we make sure that each child is sporting a healthy digestive system by getting enough fiber, vitamins, minerals and probiotics before we coerce them to raise their hands for chocolate milk?

Being pro or con chocolate milk once again loses sight of the common sense big picture.  Why fill kids up on sugar and milk and leave no room for the nutrients they are NOT getting enough of on their school lunch tray?

Chef Jamie Oliver gets incensed by what we feed our kids for lunch. Worth watching. Definitely worth showing your kids, especially if they have a penchant for chicken nuggets. It ends abruptly. Go to You Tube to watch part 2.  If you’re incensed too, join Dr. Susan Rubin in her Better School Food movement.

If you’re packing, check out Laptop Lunches - an environmentally-friendly bento box style container.  Use the coupon code “cookus” to get a discount!