Friday Family Dinner Fan Club

I'm a big fan of Jamie Oliver and his Food Revolution. Helping our kids and families eat healthy foods and exercise more is the big picture goal and many smaller efforts can work together to make this picture a reality: healthy school lunches, daily recess and physical activity, healthy food at home, educating parents and kids about healthy choices, and of course, family dinners.

To rebut accusations of "nanny-state" food policing, I agree that parent involvement and responsibility for their own health and their kids' health is critical. But I also think that political policies, the food distribution system, and cultural attitudes have played a huge part in creating a very broken food system with the disastrous results of ever-increasing rates of obesity and food-related illness. There are social, economic, and political forces that stack the deck against parents and kids, and as a nation, we have to recognize that and stand up to it.  If a food celebrity like Jamie Oliver and his celebrity friends can call attention to that and help parents and lawmakers "wake up" to making needed changes, I'm all for it.

If you haven't added your name to the Food Revolution petition, do so today. This is a change for good that needs as many supporters as possible.