Television Debut

Food For Thought is hitting the big screen this week on RFD TV. Please tune in to NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen to see the feature they did on our group. Check out your local listings and tune in at the following times to catch the episode.

Airs Weekly on

Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at 9:00 a.m. (All Times Eastern)

Log on to http://www.cattlementocattlemen.org/watchepisodes.aspx for more information online. Thanks for tuning in!

Kill it, Cook it, Eat it

Sounds pretty gruesome doesn't it? Actually, I'm quite a fan of this show featured on BBC that started in 2007. This show takes a group of 6 participants through the process of how livestock are raised in the UK, slaughtering and processing the carcass and eventually eating the resulting product. Designed similar to a reality show format, this show is not simply a tutorial of how to butcher animals, but brings together participants from a wide array of backgrounds and everybody gets their hands dirty. Participants are shown everything from how to castrate baby pigs and deliver vaccines to properly stunning and exsanguinating the animal to maintain the integrity of the meat. After slaughter, trained butchers take participants through the process of how the carcass is utilized for a variety of meat products.

In the 2011 season, the cast includes both vegetarians and meat-eaters, including those who were raised on the farm and urban socialites. Throughout each episode, there is dialogue between the participants about how animals are housed, slaughtered and consumed and their personal opinions about each step in the process.

Designed to show viewers the real process from pasture to plate, Kill it, Cook it, Eat it does a masterful job of providing an unbiased view of livestock production and the slaughter and butchering process. Whether you are an avid meat-eater, cautious skeptic, or a life-long vegetarian, this show has appeal for everyone so be sure to check it out!

What's in your lunchbox?

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution is aired every Friday at 8pm central time, featuring new segments on his focus in Huntington Beach, West Virginia. The CDC has proclaimed this town to be the most obese town in America. I found the show very interesting and his philosophy on food even more interesting! It is a touching show that brings a face and true reason to advocate for healthier food choices.

Part of Oliver’s revolution is affecting the way schools prepare food for the children who walk out of the kitchen with trays. There is a very interesting website, The Lunchbox, that gives tools and recipes to school lunch programs. These recipes include a wide variety of healthy foods – from lean protein options to red meat recipes, whole grains and vegetables. This is a smart approach to shaping the future face of the food industry – by starting in schools. 

A New Food Philosophy

Fad diets. Miracle weight loss pills. Drastic lifestyle and eating habit changes that more often than not begin with the letter, “V”.  What if it doesn’t need to come down to all of that? What if we took a better, more responsible look at eating healthy and stopped looking for loopholes in the nutritional system?

I am excited to DVR Jamie Oliver’s, Food Revolution, which will air on ABC Friday April 2, at 9/8 pm central.  I hope I am not let down, but from what I have read it will be one of the most honest approaches to de-bugging the food industry and taking a realistic approach at making balanced nutrition decisions in schools and homes.  

Jamie’s philosophy is that food has become an enemy when it should be a joy. America wants to place blame on food groups rather than consuming a portion-controlled diet of various foods and letting the nutritional values of those foods speak for themselves. For more information about Jamie Oliver's philosophy on food, please visit his website and watch the show! Don’t let us down Mr. Oliver!