Chicken nuggets. Taco salad. Pizza. Cartons of milk. Hot dogs. Mystery meat. These foods were all staples of my elementary and high school cafeterias, despite clear guidelines about the nutritional benefits for school meals. Efforts to reform school lunch got a boost Tuesday when Institute of Medicine of the National Academies released “School Meals: Building Blocks for Healthy Children,” a report of recommendations for how to reform school lunch.

The report was requested by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in order to help align the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs with the most recent set of dietary guidelines for Americans. Current school lunches must meet guidelines set in 1995, but nutritional knowledge has progressed since then, and the report tries to address those changes.

Read more of this story »

Read more of this story »

Slow Food USA is a group working to change food policy and attitudes in the U.S. Their mission is:

…to create dramatic and lasting change in the food system. We reconnect Americans with the people, traditions, plants, animals, fertile soils and waters that produce our food. We seek to inspire a transformation in food policy, production practices and market forces so that they ensure equity, sustainability and pleasure in the food we eat.

Chapters across the country organize events where folks can learn about the Slow Food Movement.

On September 7th, slow food groups around the country are planning eat ins to send a message to Congress: it’s time to get the junk food out of our schools and fund real, healthy school lunches. Slow Food USA president Josh Viertel explains the campaign:

Read more of this story »

Yesterday, the Department of Agriculture suspended all business with Peanut Corp. of America, and schools are checking cafeterias and vending machines for old stock. David Shipman, acting administrator of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service stated Peanut Corp. “lacks business integrity and business honesty, which seriously and directly hinders its ability to do business with the federal government.”

Read more of this story »

The clock is ticking and back-to-school sales are bombarding us every time we turn on the TV or open a newspaper. At the same time, farmer’s markets are at their peak with the bounty of the harvest. Is it possible to connect the two?

The answer may be Ann Cooper, a.k.a. the Renegade Lunch Lady. She’s on a crusade to persuade schools across the country to transform lunches into healthy, appetizing meals. Furthermore, she is teaching students about nutrition through hands-on work in gardens and a curriculum that covers the fundamentals of food.

Ann’s mission is to change the way our children are eating. Her goal is to tackle outdated district spending policies, commodity-based food service organizations, political platforms with no mention of school food or child health - and ultimately the USDA - to ensure that kids everywhere have wholesome, nutritious, delicious food at school.

Read more of this story »

The Mercury News - a local Silicon Valley newspaper - recently reported the popularity of healthy cafeteria menus with the schools’ students. In fact, school lunch participation has gone up in the two school districts (Los Gatos and Saratoga Union School Districts) that have teamed up with Revolution Foods - a school catering company that sources local foods, uses 85% organic ingredients, and teams up with Whole Foods to broaden their purchasing options.

Read more of this story »

One legislative bill, awaiting Gov. Ted Kulongoski's signature, that will limit caloric, sugar, and fat content of foods sold in vending machines and school stores. Three more bills currently being debated that would promote, among other things, utilizing food from Oregon farmers, bakeries, and other processors. HB 3476 allocates seven cents per meal served in Oregon public schools to incorporate Oregon agricultural products. HB 3307 creates a Farm to School program within the Oregon Deparment of Agriculture, and HB 3185 awards mini-grants to schools creating gardens and other agriculture/food-based learning. The three bills would cost the state approximately $10 million.

Because public school cafeteria budgets are often strained (at best), many cafeterias rely on fatty, salty, and sugary products that students will pay a premium for to boost their budgets. This is particularly true in Oregon, which is one of a handful of states that does not supplement the National School Lunch and Breakfast program with state dollars. Incorporating local food puts less-processed foods on the table for students, promoting a healthier diet than chicken nuggets and pizza.

Utilizing local producers also cuts down on fuel use/costs, provides fresher, better tasting produce, and boosts local economies by forging steady partnerships between school districts and local agriculture. For example, in the Bend-La Pine School District, students eat blueberries, strawberries and cantaloupe from the local 25-acre Happy Harvest Farms. In Gresham, blueberries, broccoli and milk come from Portland-area farms.

There are downsides. Using local produce can cost more, and that cost will likely be passed onto the students despite the state's possible additional funding. And the amount of local food being used in only a fraction of the food being fed to schoolchildren. But it's a step in the right direction for healthier kids and creating a more sustainable food system.

The Oregonian