Jamie Oliver and Michelle Obama have plans for our schools’ kitchens. Their goals are identical — remove much of the fat, additives and starch from our children’s diets — but Oliver has the advantage of a cooking career that started when he was 8 to back up his menu recommendations.

His cooking credentials are all-important to this dietary shift because children’s tastes in food are emotional, and are often about aesthetic appeal. They would surely never use that term, but look at their language of food rejection: “yuck,” “ewww,” “nasty,” “disgusting.” These words are always accompanied by a grimace, frown or other facial contortion. How can adults turn that frown upside down?

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