Friday, April 20, 2012
Now that D.C. Public Schools have proven cafeterias can have healthier food, the challenge now is to scale it across the entire system.
The food in D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) is better. But there are those who want more. Namely, they want DCPS to get back in the kitchen and get cooking. Andrea Northup, the director and founder of D.C. Farm to School Network, believes that a for-profit contractor running the school food program will “inevitably” have a “conflict of interest” between healthy food and healthy kids, and the company bottom line. For Northup, DCPS getting back into managing its food services is the best way to provide healthy, local options at affordable prices. Council member Mary Cheh is on the same page. In her Healthy Schools Act she called for a “central facility” where DCPS could “prepare, process, grow, and store healthy and nutritious foods for schools …
Thursday, April 19, 2012
With healthier food items, more students are choosing cafeteria meals.
Food in D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) has changed. Local apples appear on trays. International food days introduce children to a range of cuisine from Nordic to Panamanian. Cafeteria workers are making lasagna from scratch. The tray no longer includes a strawberry milk with as much sugar as a soda. For many, this is proof that the revolution is at hand. “I can say that we make lasagna in all the Chartwells kitchens and the cafeteria ladies love making lasagna and the kids love eating it. And I definitely think there’s a connection,” said Jeff Mills, the food services director for DCPS. Chartwells, the food vendor that manages operations for most of DCPS, has been under intense pressure and scrutiny from Mills to provide fewer processed foods …
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
'Healthy food doesn’t have to be bland or tasteless. It can taste good, but you really need to take the time.'
Leaders, individuals and groups both within and outside the school system have been working to change the way food is bought, distributed, consumed and valued in D.C. schools. Their foes take on differing forms, but can be summed up as the status quo. “So many things have to be in place for a kid to put a bite of local sweet potato in their mouth,” said Andrea Northup, the founder and director of the D.C. Farm to School Network. This sweet potato is a great way to understand the various challenges of school food: buy-in that the sweet potato should be there in the first place; money, vendor sourcing, logisitics of preparation within the school; and kids’ willingness to eat the items on their trays. It is “difficult to even start making a …
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
In the lunch lines in D.C. schools, the food was worse than many imagined.
Although D.C. public school students have ready access to nutritional meals today, not long ago that wasn't the case. “It wasn’t more than three years ago that the food the kids were eating in D.C. Schools was ... I think ‘atrocious’ is not too strong a word,” said Ed Bruske, a food policy blogger and DCPS parent. He has been an outspoken advocate for healthy, whole foods in public schools for several years. Breakfasts were sugar-filled: Pop Tarts, Otis Spunkmeyer muffins and strawberry milk. Meatloaf and chicken nugget lunches came in boxes wrapped in plastic. “The message that sends to the kids is what? Food comes out of a box with it sealed in plastic,” Bruske said. During Michelle Rhee’s reign over DCPS, she decided the school system …
Monday, April 16, 2012
Parents, politicians and administrators are pushing for more nutrition in the cafeteria.
Panamanian beef empanadas, garlicky kale, cheesy grits and Cinnamon Toast Crunch: these are all items being served in D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) in April. Though some might be surprising, they tell a story that the world of food in D.C. schools is evolving. Some believe a slow-burn revolution is at hand. Today, DCPS offers as many as three meals a day. Advocates hope the schools' captive audience makes access to healthful foods an equalizer, allowing all kids to develop a palate for nutrition at a young age, not just those who can afford it. The State of D.C. Public School Food Some of these changes are a result of the D.C. Healthy Schools Act, which the District Council passed unanimously in May 2010. Council member Mary Cheh was the …
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Who are the leaders of the D.C. school food revolution?
This week Patch is publishing a series on the revolution in D.C. schools to bring more, healthy and local meal options to D.C. school children than ever before. Throughout the week you will hear from advocates in the non-profit world, within the school system, from the District Council and from a parent of a D.C. Public School (DCPS) student. Ed Bruske Title/Role: Food policy blogger and DCPS parent If you were a vegetable what would you be? "Okra. Because Okra requires no maintenance...and never complains never requires any attention." Mary Cheh Title/Role: Member of the District Council If you were a vegetable what would you be? Cheh said if she had to pick one, she would probably go with "broccoli." Why? Because she's she's been …
B Wagner
8:48 am on Saturday, April 21, 2012
Great story Shaun - and thanks to Mary Cheh more ›