This week, a host of VIP visitors got an eye-opening class at MacGregor Elementary with Chef Monica Pope and Team Leader, Chef Molly Graham. The kids were learning about the true nature of commercial Hot Pockets, which feature over 87 ingredients including chemical compounds made from human hair, pig hooves and duck feathers.
Hot Pockets are the single biggest selling snack food for American kids, but most are made in China where lax oversight might produce some surprising results. Taking a page from the RFS Summer Camp Curriculum that teaches kids how to detect the difference between promotion (what's on the front of the box) vs fact (whats on the side or back,) our Hot Pocket class was developed by Chefs Advisory Board member, Garth Blackburn of Wolf/SubZero. For instance, the front of the box may say Real Cheese, but the back lets you know that the cheese flavoring boasts food colors and man-made chemicals, but no actual cheese.
"I've never made anything with 87 ingredients, not even curry," exclaimed Chef Pope. "How about you guys?" After watching Monica and Molly add a collection of the "real" ingredients to a bowl, the kid's astonished responses--accentuated by dramatic gagging and gasping sounds, gaping mouths and wide eyes--indicated that they would not soon again run to the freezer section to buy Hot Pockets. As a delicious stand-in, they learned a healthier version made with shredded turkey, garnished with chopped winter greens from their garden and dressed with homemade vinaigrette. Plates were cleaned!
Why don't you visit the classroom sometime? Read about ways you can visit and volunteer here. In the meantime, don't forget to read the real ingredients in the prepared foods that you buy, or better yet . . . follow our suggestion to shop only the perimeter of the store, where the fresh, unprocessed ingredients are displayed.
Also in class was regular monthly volunteer and blogger, Bettina Siegel. She wrote about her experience in The Lunch Tray. Our volunteers regularly contribute to our own Volunteer Voices blog. Keep up with what they are saying.
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