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There's a new war to wage on this year's "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" as he battles the bureaucracy to get access to the Los Angeles Unified School District. The L.A. Times reported in March that the chef and food activist was unsuccessful but that doesn't mean there isn't work to be done.Jamie reminded the world of the pink slime that is in school lunches but he is still raising the battle standard in his fight against flavored milk in the cafeterias. Oliver isn't alone in the war against America's milk producers - parents want it out of the schools as well.
The National Dairy Council compares the four teaspoons of sugar in an eight-ounce serving of flavored milk to seven teaspoons in the same amount of soda. Seems like a good idea in order to get kids to drink milk with their lunch and breakfast, doesn't it?
However, a study from Harvard shows that people who drink more than one serving of sweetened drinks a day double their risks of developing type 2 diabetes.
Of course a child is going to choose chocolate or strawberry milk when given the option unless his parents have given him a good nutritional start. If schools would limit the flavored milk to being an occasional treat, parents - and Jamie Oliver - would be happy.
Budget cuts are causing schools to cut phys ed and even recess. When kids are spending more time online and playing video games than playing outside, excess sugar and fat in their daily consumption has to be trimmed.
The school lunch program is currently being revamped and the feds are looking at milk. The proposed guidelines require one cup of fluid milk every day and it must be low-fat or skim milk. The bad thing is, if schools are serving fat-free milk they can still have flavored products.
Barring a dairy allergy, no one can argue the importance of milk to a growing child. A little bit of sugar never hurt anyone either - the key is moderation.
"Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" is bringing more attention to the little things that parents didn't realize about their children's school meals. For those who qualify for free and reduced lunches, the revelations have been an education as to how bad school meal programs actually are.
The government is taking steps to fix some of the problems. But, until the dairy industry's lobbyists lose some of their power schools will continue to hide sugar in milk.
"Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" airs Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC.
