COLUMN: Eat up

When my eldest son was about four years old, I remember standing in the kitchen trying to pass off some homemade shepperd’s pie as Power Rangers Pie.

Power Rangers he was into. Trying out new foods he wasn’t.

“But it’ll make you stronger and help you fight the Orgs,” I said, astonished that he hadn’t fallen for my lunch ploy. “It’s what all the Power Rangers are eating.”

He didn’t bite. Nor did I get a nibble on my attempts to pass off Power Rangers rappie pie, Power Rangers salad or Power Rangers grill cheese sandwiches on whole wheat bread.

He grew out of the Power Rangers fad, although my youngest still dresses up as the Red Ranger at least once a week.

I’m glad to say during a recent visit to my son’s school cafeteria, there were no zords, morphers or titanium rangers on the menu. The only gimmick being used in school cafeterias these days is that the food is healthy.

And the kids were gobbling it up as they stood in line with their lunch trays, eager, and excited, to see what was being dished out.

I admit I was a little apprehensive heading into this month knowing that there would be changes on the school lunch menu. Some of the phases of the province’s new food and nutrition policy were kicking in on Jan. 1 and when he came home for Christmas break, my son was already bemoaning the future of hot dogs.

We had gotten to a point where he was trying out a lot more foods on the menu, meaning I was packing a lot less jam sandwiches on a daily basis. Now I saw us sliding back into the same old, same old, day in and day out.

To say I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the new menu is an understatement. I’m downright impressed. Tender, oven-baked chicken, baby roasted potatoes, stir-fried vegetables, white milk or fruit juice and a dessert on one day…baked ham, scalloped potato, sweet corn niblets, white milk or fruit juice and a dessert on another.

Things sure have come a long way since the bologna burgers they used to serve in my day.

Last week we – I say we, because I consider this to be a team effort – purchased our first item off the new menu: whole wheat spaghetti, lean meat sauce or tomato basil sauce, cheesy garlic bread, white milk or fruit juice and a small dessert.

That night I asked him how lunch was. He said it was good and asked what the school was serving the next day.

Still, I may have to dig back down into my bag of tricks to convince him to purchase the hot ‘n hearty tuna casserole, garden salad and whole wheat roll that’s coming up on the menu.

But like I’ll tell him, isn’t that what all the Ottawa Senators eat before the big game?

(THIS COLUMN ORIGINALLY APPEARED IN THE YARMOUTH VANGUARD IN JANUARY 2007)