Summer holiday 2014 – Japan – PART 3
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(Printout of weekly lunch menu from a primary school in Japan)
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(The reverse side has diagrams of what vegetables are in season with a sentence or two about how they are nutritional. Nice little touch with additional diagrams of what these vegetables’ flowers looks like.)
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(Printout of weekly lunch menu from a Nursery school)
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As I was chatting with my friend T about food, ~ especially about the food culture in UK & about how in general, the people feed their family daily ~ she brought out two printed copies of the lunch menu from her childrens’ schools.
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When I saw this, I was… truly shocked.
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As one expects, obviously, every meal of the week is listed, but it was also boiled down to how many grams of which ingredient has been used in the dishes. Right the way down to how many decimal grams of salt.
~ Astonished? I was. And wait for it, there’s more – every meal had been calculated to let you know the total protein amount, the fat content, & the calorie intake.
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Although it delightfully baffled me as to why the Japanese school provided the menu to such super-precision, I definitely think that it is a positive step toward good-food awareness:
– Because, as a parent, you’re safe in the knowledge that your child is not fed something iffy. You can see that everything is made from scratch, from real ingredients with names you’ve heard of (compared to factory-made product names).
– Having to provide the ingredients list keeps the caterers in check.
– You can make a better judgement of what to make for dinner at home, so that your child has a balanced diet. i.e. if the school served pasta for lunch, you wouldn’t serve pasta for dinner would you?
– The menu also has some information about what vegetables are in season, & how they are beneficial to the body (the lunch menu itself also makes a point of using these seasonal produce). ~ Isn’t this fantastic? Imagine this information sheet stuck on the parent’s fridge. It’ll be a constant reminder about what is in season, & might lead them to buy & cook seasonal stuff more often!
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The Japanese school lunch menu is nothing near what you’d expect to get in England. Y’see, first of all, I don’t even get given menu printouts from my childrens’ school! Perhaps if I asked for it, they’d probably provide (all be it with a quizzing look I bet), but that’s not the point. The fact is, the parents in Japan are fully notified by automated default of what their child eat every-single-lunchtime. I like that, ~ it’s integrating good-food-eating close to everyone’s daily living, stripping away the stigma &Â the wall to obtaining food information ~ that surely can be a good thing, & must be one of the ways to elevate the standard of cooking.
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So I thought it important to share this with you. Sometimes, it’s only through observing how well it can be done elsewhere, that a change can be made for the better, don’t you think?
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Above close up translated:
“Cucumber – characterised by crunchy mouthfeel & warty exterior. One of the fresh summer vegetable. “
“Pumpkin – Full of beta-carotene. Maintaining properties for healthy eyes & skin, Builds resistance. Lots of vitamin E & C.”
“The information on which area the ingredients are produced is publicised on the council homepage.”
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Above left menu translated:
Summer vegetable & fried chicken in vinegar marinade. +Â Egg & tomato soup. +Â Bowl of rice. + Carton of milk.
Pumpkin… (green)… 15.00
Aubergine… (green)… 20.00
Chicken… (red)… 40.00
(Thick) Soy sauce… 0.80
Cooking sake… 0.50
Starch… (yellow)… 7.00
Oil… (yellow)… 8.00
Ginger… (green) 0.80
Brown sugar… (yellow)… 2.00
Vinegar… 4.00
(Thick) Soy sauce… 3.50
Cooking sake… 0.80
Mirin… 1.20
Water… 3.50
Egg… (red)… 20.00
Tomato… (green)… 20.00
Onion… (green)… 20.00
Parsley… (green)… 0.60
Salt… 0.50, Pepper… 0.03
(Light) Soy sauce… 3.00
Starch… (yellow)… 0.50
Bonito stock… 2.00
(Cold) Chicken bouillon… 2.00
Water… 100.00
Energy: 664 kcal, Protein: 22g, Fat: 24.2g.
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On the bottom of the sheet, there was a text that says:
“Food also has a function as a medicine. Please chew well and try not to leave leftovers.”
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Well, I hope you enjoyed reading the last part to my report on Japan!
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Lastly, I just want to say, I hope you’re all well & looking after yourselves. Just last weekend, I had a bit of a health scare – I found a lump on my armpit. After a visit to the GP (local doctor), then to a specialist in a big hospital to do a mammogram & a scan, I was cleared, Thank God. It was some sort of skin infection. – In fact, I came home from the hospital with the good result just an hour ago, & maybe that’s why I’m writing this…, so please excuse this melo stuff. It’s just that, on the way home, I couldn’t stop thinking. I couldn’t stop thinking about how keeping good health means everything. How awfully difficult it could’ve been for my family if I was to fall very ill – it’s just beyond words. I was thinking about how I could “up” myself to a healthier lifestyle. I was thinking about how life is so precious & meaningful (lol, I told you this is going to be a bit melodramatic! Oh dear, I better cut this short before the violin starts playing!). So, dearest blog readers, please look after yourselves too, please take care of your body & stay healthy.
“You” mean a lot to yourself & to those around you.
T xx