(And yes, that was an intentional pun!)

Take a look at the picture I’m including in this post. What do you see? Do you see the intended humor, that the zombie depicted is a vegetarian and is therefore moaning for grains, not brains? Do you see an unfair caricature of vegetarians, portraying them as mindless zombies, pursuing all things green or growing? Or are you missing the whole joke boat, having watched too few zombie flicks in your formative years to get the brains versus grains play?

I’m using this great cartoon to illustrate a point that the way we see the world isn’t always the way other people see it, but sometimes these two contrasting points of view are both correct in a way. Maybe the zombie cartoon doesn’t help you visualize this, so let me try another example. Say I’m sitting across from you at dinner, and there’s a glass of water on the table. From where I’m sitting, the glass is on the left-hand side of a table, but from your perspective, the glass of water is on the right. And we’d both be correct, in our own way.

As random as zombies and water glasses may seem at first, I’m actually going to a whole grain place with this post. Stay with me…

Last week, I had the pleasure of joining the Arkansas Department of Education Child Nutrition for two Team Nutrition Workshops on whole grains. In both workshops, I spoke to foodservice managers, workers, and directors who are directly responsible for making sure the children in Arkansas schools eat healthy, nutritional breakfasts and lunches. Although my memories of school meals include some decidedly unhealthy options, the 500 or so hard-working men and women I spoke with last week chose to participate in the Team Nutrition Workshops because they truly are dedicated to improving the health and the lives of the children they feed. Naturally, whole grains were the focus of this series of workshops, and together we explored ways to identify whole grains, some interesting facts about whole grains, and how to work with them on a large scale.

What impressed me the most were the ways in which many of the attendees were already incorporating whole grains into their menus. One woman mentioned she had great success cooking brown rice in her ovens to save time, and the questions that followed from the audience made it clear this method of preparing vast quantities of brown rice were sure to be put into practice in many more schools. I was astounded and delighted to learn how many children at one school enjoyed whole grain rolls that were introduced “by mistake” when the white flour ran our and the whole wheat flour was all that was left. Most people think a slow transition is best, but when the refined flour buns returned to the menu, the kids started asking for the whole wheat flour buns instead! And most impressive of all, one woman described her decision to mill her own brown rice flour and use it as a base for reduced-sugar sugar cookies. Lucky for yours truly, she brought in a batch to share with the attendees that day, and I never would’ve guessed they were brown rice flour.

So what’s the other side? There were some attendees who confessed to fewer success stories, or described greater resistance from their students. One school pounced on the success of a neighboring school’s whole wheat pizza crusts with tales of their own failed attempts to introduce the same exact product. Another woman ticked off a long list of all the ways her attempts to cook brown rice in her ovens produced inedible, under- or over-cooked mush that wasted both staff time and her school’s limited money. Still others chimed in with their own challenges, questions, and hesitations, proof that not everyone was fully aboard the whole grain train. However, by the end of each workshop, participants left armed with simple, easy ways to incorporate more whole grains into meals, and the confidence they needed to experiment, even in small ways, incorporating whole grains into their favorite tried-and-true recipes.

In case you’re wondering, I see the water glass is on both sides of the table. I saw enough zombie movies as a teenager that the cartoon makes me giggle (and it doesn’t hurt that I work at the WGC). I know that many schools are going to find challenges with increasing whole grains in recipes, both in adapting existing recipes and even getting some picky eaters to accept the changes. I can understand that trepidation, just like I understand that some people might not think the cartoon is funny or see the water glass is on the table at all. It’s all about perspective, being willing to try, changing the things you know you can change so that you can find healthier alternatives. It might take a few attempts to get the results you’re hoping for, and that’s okay. The point is to try. (Kara)

Special thanks to PaulMadonna.com for introducing such a great cartoon to the world!


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