Food Nation: Changing the way we raise our children

I hope some of you were able to tune into the Food Nation sneak preview last night, I was totally drawn in, and glad about it.  It is a new show about a man who helped reform the British school systems menu coming over to America to help change what our children are eating.  First stop: Huntington, West Virgina.  In 2008 statistics were published naimg Huntington the most obese city, in the most obese state, in unfortunately, the most obese country.

I was truly disturbed viewing the first few minutes of the show.  To see what is being fed to our children in schools.  It looked like complete greasy, fried, carb overload.  Pizza for breakfast, chicken nuggets for lunch?  This was a little too much for me, I am happy that my son is not old enough to be in school and it got me thinking that unless some huge changes are made, my son will be bringing his bagged lunch to school.  Don't get me wrong, I know not all schools are like this, and many have made great strides.  I am glad that someone is taking initiative, and I think this show will help families actually think about what they are sending their children to school to eat.  We expect that our children are getting a good education and are not being harmed by the food they eat.  What a child eats is the basis for what they will eat the rest of their life.  We are their parents, their elders, we have to teach them.

This got me thinking, I'd really love to add a healthy recipe a week for toddlers/children.  We all know how hard it is to come up with different things that our children like.  Hey, they might not like it all...but at least we are showing them what good food is and not exposing them to all the processed junk!

So for this week, here's a great recipe that my son loves.

Avocado, grilled cheese sandwhich

It's simple.  In a toaster, toast whole wheat bread with avocado spread on one side and a slice of any cheese (preferably organic) on the other side.  You can also add a tomato, or even some chicken.  You can cut it into different shapes, or little pieces for your little one.