Well Bust My Buttons

I awoke today to some great news making me even more impressed lately with the National Restaurant Association.  Today they launched a new initiative called Kids LiveWell.  The lead paragraph on the website say's it all: When parents dine out, they are looking for healthier options for their kids. Many restaurants already have them. The National Restaurant Association has teamed up with Healthy Dining on Kids LiveWell. The new initiative showcases the restaurant industry’s commitment to offer healthful options for children.  To that end the NRA has launched this new program with the industry.

If you go to the website http://www.restaurant.org/foodhealthyliving/kidslivewell/index.cfm you will find detailed information about the program, participating restaurants and companies, and media resources.  This program is destined for success since more than 15,000 restaurant locations became part of the launch of the program that belong to the following 19 brands: Au Bon Pain, Bonefish Grill, Burger King, Burgerville, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Chevys Fresh Mex, Chili’s Grill & Bar, Corner Bakery Cafe, Cracker Barrel, Denny’s, El Pollo Loco, Friendly’s, IHOP, Joe’s Crab Shack, Outback Steakhouse, Silver Diner, Sizzler, T-Bones Great American Eatery and zpizza.

This is great news indeed as long as the brands start to promote the healthy eating options over those laden with fat, sugar, salt, and artificial colors & flavors.  Indeed this has to be done if we are going to reverse the obesity epidemic in this country which is costing the economy billions of dollars each year due to fast and junk food addictions.  And if you do not think fast food can be addicting, yes just like heroine and nicotine, then you should have watched this past week's episode of the Extreme Makeover weightloss tv show which showcased the power that food had over this gentleman who had to be checked into a rehab clinic to stop his addiction and lose weight for the sake of his health.  He actually lost 110 pounds in three months under the watchful eye of the trainer then gained 70 of it back when on his own to lose more weight due to sneaking fast food meals everyday.

I do hope that culinary arts and education can join with the NRA to reformulate menu offerings that are tasty and healthy.  It is very possible to provide food that is good for customers without sacrificing the profits of a foodservice operation.  My hat is off to the 19 brands that signed on to the program.  Now what about us?  You can bet your bottom dollar that I will be pushing harder than ever to offer healthier options on the menus we offer the public through our foodservice operations because we are in the EDUCATION BUSINESS and have to do all we can to educate the next generation of students and consumers to make better food choices.  I hope more of you will join me.