Had a talk about processed foods with my class today...

I approached today's class with trepidation.  I have a very small budget for my cooking class at school, so one day of my week is spent just talking to my students... I'm sure they hate it... but it is a necessary evil.   It's sooo important to teach nutrition to young adults... I was very, very proud of my students today...  They made it very easy for me to teach...

I started with assigning homework requiring them to bring in a food label of any kind from home.  Only a handful of students did it... but it was a good class anyway...

I asked each of them to pass around the labels and write down on word they couldn't understand from the label, and then we went around the room and everyone said their word...

Disodium Phosphate
Maltodextrin
Soy Lecithin
Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil
etc... etc... etc...

I think by the end of class... they were either disgusted... or mad... I couldn't tell... LOL

We broke it down... and I wrote on the board... ASPARTAME = THE DEVIL... Cuz that's how I feel about it.

I told one lovely girl, I'd rather she drank a cup of water with a tablespoon of sugar in it rather than aspartame...

I got some really great questions too... One young man asked if someone could die from drinking an entire of case of Aspartame laden drinks in one day... OOOOHHHH... HOW I WANTED TO SAY YES!~!!   But, alas... I couldn't lie to him... but I did say it doesn't do that person any good... that's for sure...

Another young man asked... "Why is Diet Coke bad for you?"  I didn't have an answer that would jolt him... but I said that no one needs caramel coloring, aspartame, and all the other ingredients in it to quench thirst... I mentioned about three times that all we should be drinking is green tea and water...

Another young lady asked if Gatorade is bad... Again... I WANTED TO SHOUT "YES" FROM THE ROOFTOPS... but... I did admit it does have some electrolytes in it that are beneficial, and it should be drunk only during extreme workouts, and at half strength cut down on the sugar...

They may have been bored silly... but I liked the class... I felt like I may have made them think twice about the types of food we all eat...

Then I passed around an old picture of me 90 lbs heavier... my face looked like it was about to explode... and I explained that I understand that I have a lot more to go.., but on  the inside... I'm actually a 120 lb supermodel and my body hasn't caught up with my brain yet...

I told them... that one day... when they are grocery shopping with their babies and their hubbies one day... and they look into their babies sweet faces and want only the very best for them and they decide to buy their babies only the best, freshest, wholesome food available... and that will make all the difference.

It was a good day at school...

I love my class...