The Light System

This year Carissa's Kindergarten class talked about the 4 Basic Food Groups (Meats, Fruits/Vegetables, Dairy, Grains).  They were also taught within each of the 4 Basic Food Groups there are lots of choices to make, some are healthy and recommended, and some are not so healthy, and there are even some we should avoid. It is important to educate children about making healthy choices that will nourish their growing bodies. The 3 basic types or quality of food are based on & analogous to the Traffic Light System.

Green Light Foods - Go to foods, because they are full of healthy ingredients. Fresh is best, and organic even better. The closer to its natural source is the goal, and most beneficial to the body.

Yellow Light Foods - Are sometimes foods, an occasional treat, a snack food that we can sometimes have, but they are not to be consumed on a regular basis. They are not designed to sustain us, and we are not to depend on them for our nourishment. They have some good qualities, mixed in with things we do not need, and can be harmful if we consume too much of them.

Red Light Foods - Stop. Do not consume this food. It has zero nutritional value, because the harmful ingredients nullify, or out weight what ever good may be in there. Stop, don't consume, contains noting healthy, and is full of unhealthy ingredients. This is a never, hardly ever, or rarely ever item. If we based our consumption on strictly healthy content this would be a Never item, because it has zero, none, nada healthy components and actually contains harmful ones, like candy sweet to eat, but has the potential to rotten, damage, & destroy.

After the children studied in school about the 4 Basic Food Groups and the 3 Types/Quality of Food they went on a Field Trip to test their knowledge. A representative of the grocery store took them around the store, and had the children identify the 3 Types/Quality of Food. The representative eventually took them to the Produce section where the children identified all the healthy fruits and vegetables, then the representative brought out a wonderful fruit tray for the children to select their favorite "Green Light" Foods. After the children had a healthy snack, off to the Bakery section they went. The representative quizzed the children, and asked the children, What food group are the rolls in? The children shouted out, "The Bread Group", then the representative said that these are in the "Green Light" Group, some of the parents and children looked a little confused, because the bread she pointed to was a variety of white bread, french and sour dough and the children have been taught the difference between healthy brown multi-grain bread and white bread, as in multi-gran brown bread is "Always Food/Green Light Group" vs. white bread that is "Sometimes/Yellow Light Group".

Then the representative pointed out the donut display, and said that "these are sometimes food"so they are in the Yellow Light Group, and some of the parents said "well for us they are in the Red Group as in never or hardly ever foods. Then sitting right next to the donuts were the muffins that were sprinkled with large clear sugar crystals, they were definitely not the healthy muffins. The representative pointed out the different kinds of muffins to choose from, blueberry, banana, cranberry, and chocolate, and said these are healthy choices, so what group are they in? Some of the children were perplexed, because they were taught that healthy foods are from the Green Light group, and muffins are "sometimes foods" thus are from the Yellow Light Group. The children were confused and did not know how to answer, after all the ingredients were healthy, but this muffin looked like a treat, and was sitting right next to a donut which was clearly a dessert and sometime food at best.

Then my daughter Carissa, one of the youngest in the class, shouted out, "Muffins are a Sometimes Food". Her friends echoed in agreement, "yes muffins are Sometimes Food". The children shouted in unison, "Muffins are in the Yellow Light Group". The representative intended to identify the muffins as "healthy food" "Go to Food" "Green Light Food", and tried to convince the children that muffins were a "healthy go to food". Well, at this moment I had to step up and say, this item is a bit tricky to identify. While the muffins do contain healthy ingredients they also have lots of sugar & fat, and they are sitting right next to the donuts which is a hint that they are in the same group as the donuts which is "sometimes food" "Yellow Light Group". The representative replied, I never saw it that way before.

After the field trip was over, and as we were loading up the children back into our cars, the thing that stood out in the children's minds were the fact that the representative "tried to trick them" by saying the muffins were in the Healthy Green Light Group, and were a "good choice" when they knew she was not saying the truth and the children knew better. This was a great learning opportunity to explain to our children the importance of remembering what you have been taught, that other people may try to trick you into making a bad choice, or maybe they were not taught the correct information, so they don't know any better, but you knew better, and you made a better choice. We explained to our children that it is okay to disagree with people, even adults, when you have been taught the correct information, the correct way, and you know that the other person is wrong. Some of your friends even though they are taught right from wrong will make the wrong choice, like having muffins or donuts every day instead of sometimes.

I wonder what if we could use and adapt, "The Light System" to identify and discern whether or not something is spiritually healthy for us?