Why I want to feed 3000 kids a healthy breakfast

Over the next few weeks you’re going to hear about me wanting to feed kids in Halton a healthy breakfast!

The reason I am so passionate about this is a personal one. 

I grew up in a household that always had food, lots of it, and pretty much everything made from scratch.  Both my parents loved to cook.  Chips and pop were not a staple in our house!  I would come home starving from a high school dance and be so excited to chomp on a chicken leg that was waiting for me in the fridge.

My parents both grew up in Germany during World War Two.  Their families suffered in many ways and quite horribly from malnutrition.  Vitamin B deficiencies created boils on my Dad’s legs as a young boy and my Mom had them under her arms.

I loved food as a kid and wanted to try it all.  I had no palate for McDonald’s I LOVED my parents cooking and would try anything from Lobster to Steak Tartar.

As I got older I became more and more self-conscious and obsessed with fashion and super models.  I wanted to look like those girls and suddenly hated my belly, my thighs and my chubby cheeks.

As a result, bad habits started in Grade 9 and continued for a couple of years.  My bad habits went like this :

Wake up and skip breakfast. Throw my Dimpflmeier dark rye, ham and cheese sandwich that my Mom made for me into the garbage.  Substitute a healthy lunch made with love for an orange popsicle purchased at the high school cafeteria. Come home from school hungry as a bear, my brother and I hit the basement to watch Toronto Rocks and pig out on ice cream.  Mom and Dad get home at 5, dinner is on the table by 6:30 or 7:00, I eat every last crumb and then reach for seconds.

By the time I hit Grade 11 I was failing a couple of classes, doing average in the rest, feeling stupid and having stomach issues alongside a series of problems with anxiety and stress that I could not manage.

Luckily I had supportive parents who took me to counseling, made me feel safe, and worked with me to bring my grades up and navigate through teenage angst and social pressures.

I realize that many of my issues could have been avoided just by eating breakfast.  My entire high school career would have been so much different.

For the last 3 years the glamjulz team has been working with Halton Food for Thought, to raise money and feed kids a healthy breakfast through the sales of our $25 Teacher Bracelets.

Now I know that a full tummy is just as important as a full mind and kids who go to school hungry have more difficulty concentrating, display behavioural problems, are less alert and generally do not perform well in the classroom.

There are so many kids who just don’t have food at home and they deserve a fair chance at success too!

Way to go Halton Food for Thought and way to go glamjulz friends, fans and family!  Last year we fed 1500 kids and I KNOW we can feed 3000 this year!

Monica XO