Ann Cooper's Message to Dr. Janey Thornton

Ann Cooper, the chef behind the famous school food reform in Berkeley, CA, has written at Grist.com about the new USDA appointee for Food and Nutrition Service Department, Dr. Janey Thornton. She's not too optimistic about Dr. Thornton's track record as a nutrition services director in Kentucky, but has some recommended revisions the National School Lunch Program:

• Make meals, both breakfast and lunch universal, a system where every child is fed every day.
• Replace the current system of tracking menus by nutrients, to one where the guidelines are based on healthy, delicious balanced meals. These meals should consist in large part of fresh fruits, fresh vegetables and whole grains, and should include plant based protein.
• Replace the definition of nutritious food, on which the current system is based, to one that defines and is based on real FOOD. (See full definition below.)
• Raise the federal reimbursement rate to $4.00 - $5.00, based on the cost of living of the geographical area, and dedicate a minimum of $1.75 to be spent on food. Additionally, dedicate at least $1.00 be spent on fresh fruits, fresh vegetables and whole grains with a priority placed on procuring regionally produced food.
• Dedicate resources to building or rebuilding kitchens in school districts to accommodate scratch cooking.
• Dedicate resources to set-up a training program to teach school food service workers to cook from scratch.
• Set-up a National Culinary Cooks Corp which allows culinary students to work off student loans by working in K-12 schools.
• Institute hands-on experiential learning in the form of cooking and gardening classes that become a mandatory part of the educational system.
• Dedicate resources to a National marketing campaign to help change children’s relationship to food, so that healthy/delicious school food becomes cool food.
• Underscore the importance of eating healthy food by instituting questions on the SAT tests that highlight sustainable food and agriculture.

Chef Ann Cooper also outlines some general principles that she hopes Dr. Thornton will consider:

Healthful Food is wholesome.
• Includes whole and minimally processed fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, eggs, dairy, meats, fish, and poultry.
• Contains naturally occurring nutrients (e.g., vitamins, minerals, phyto-nutrients).
• Is produced without added hormones or antibiotics.
• Is processed without artificial colors or flavors or unnecessary preservatives.

Healthful Food is produced, processed, and transported in a way that prevents the exploitation of farmers, workers, and natural resources, and the cruel treatment of animals. The process of healthful food production:
• Upholds the safety and quality of life of all who work to feed us.
• Treats all animals humanely.
• Protects the finite resources of soil, water, air, and biological diversity.
• Supports local and regional farm and food economies.
• Replaces fossil fuels with renewable energy sources.

Healthful Food should be available, accessible, and affordable to everyone.
• Is distributed equitably among all communities.
• Is available and emphasized in children’s environments such as childcare, school and after-school settings.
• Is promoted within institutions and workplaces, in cafeterias, vending machines and at meetings and events
• Is reflective of the natural diversity found in traditions and cultures.

Make the connection with Farmers Markets

An article in the Bend Weekly demonstrates how local schools have been able to take advantage of the farmer's market to find new opportunities to establish relationships with local producers. This may be a fantastic way to connect with local farmers and to learn about what products they will have available shortly. (Bend Weekly)

Federal School Food Vending Standards Being Considered

According to an article in Gourmet.com, Rethinking School Vending Machines, Senator Harkin has raised the issue of updating the nutrition standards for food sold in schools that is not part of the USDA reimbursable lunch or breakfast programs. He'd like to see rules on these "competitive foods" put into the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization currently under consideration. (The current Act expires in September 2009 and they are working on its replacement.)

In his opening statement, Harkin argued, “We know from surveys and common experience that the majority of our schools offer children ready access to heavily sweetened beverages, highly salted snacks, sugary and high-fat goods, and candy…We know from research what any parent understands from common sense—that junk food obtained from vending machines, snack bars, school stores, or à la carte lines is far less nutritious and far less nutritionally balanced than meals that meet USDA standards.” Unlike USDA-sponsored meals, none of all those other foods and beverages sold in schools needs to meet nutrition standards.

Harkin and others are arguing that these foods should be required to meet the same nutrition standards as lunch and breakfast. (Note: there are also efforts underway in the school food and health community to update those USDA school meal nutrition guidelines, pointing out that those are not strong enough and do not line up with the most up-to-date Dietary Guidelines for All Americans.)

But the idea is not without its opponents:

Testifying on behalf of the National School Boards Association, Reggie Felton urged the Committee to “refrain from enacting legislation that would further restrict the authority and flexibility of local school boards.” Felton also said that “Such restrictions would in all likelihood increase student purchases beyond school grounds, and could potentially “increase misunderstandings and complaints from parents regarding the banning of certain foods” while allowing others.

What does "Processed" Mean in the USDA Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Program?

This article from Civil Eats tracks the latest developments relating to the policy question of what foods are considered “processed” for the USDA Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Program. School food was apparently the subject of some last minute rule changes by President Bush--which means it's considered important enough for such maneuvers!

The Battle Over Sliced Apples: New York Senators Gillibrand and Aubertine Take Secretary Vilsack to Task on School Food

In a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, Senators Gillibrand and Aubertine said:

The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program requires these snacks be served outside of standard school meal programs. Therefore, it is illogical to prohibit local produce as “processed” simply because it is in a form that can be served to students outside of the lunchroom.

A letter to Michelle Obama about school food

Dear Mom-in-Chief, a letter encouraging Michelle Obama to make healthy food for kids a priority in her work as First Lady. Debra Eschmeyer, a Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellow and the Marketing and Media Director of the National Farm to School Network, lays out the issues and the current opportunity for improving school meals for kids around the country. The letter, which posted on Civil Eats website, hits so many relevant points that I'm posting it in its entirety:

Dear Mom-In-Chief,

As First Lady you have the ability to set the table for what our nation’s children eat by adding a plank of food justice to your platform. Many ideas have already been sent your way, including starting an organic garden on the White House lawn and appointing a First Farmer. But where should you start?

I request that you make the health of our nation’s children your platform priority. Especially with two growing girls to nurture and nourish, you must understand that we will only be successful as a nation when all children in our country are healthy and well-fed.

You have the support of the 44th President. The Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, was quoted yesterday in the Washington Post explaining President Obama’s goals for the USDA, “The vision is, he wants more nutritious food in schools.” Vilsack went on to depict the role of local foods in that mission: “In a perfect world, everything that was sold, everything that was purchased and consumed would be local, so the economy would receive the benefit of that.”

You have a ripe opportunity to make great strides toward that vision with the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, which is the federal legislation that establishes the guidelines for our nation’s school meal programs and the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. Every four or five years, there’s an opening for all of those concerned with the health of our nation’s children to evaluate, defend, and improve the federal Child Nutrition Programs. That time is now as the current Child Nutrition Act expires in September 2009.

With at least 35 to 40 percent of children’s daily eating occurring during the school day, a reformed cafeteria could improve the health and increase the capacity to learn for the 30 million children that eat at school 180 days per year.

When you invited Chef Sam Kass into the White House Kitchen, your spokeswoman said “he happens to have a particular interest in healthy food and local food.” Mr. Kass has spoken out previously on the need to change the school lunch menu by decreasing the high levels of sugar and fat. He’s right.

Earlier this month the results of the latest school nutrition dietary assessment study by the Journal of the American Dietetic Association exposed that in the 2004-2005 school year, only 6% to 7% of schools met all nutrition standards. This is unacceptable.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25% of children between the ages of 6 and 11 were overweight in 2007. In the late 1970s, that number was only 6.5%. The oft-quoted statistic that one in three children born in 2000 will be diabetic in their lifetime (make that one in two if the child is black or Hispanic) demonstrates we can’t wait a moment longer to act.

If you make the health of our nation’s children your priority, you could save countless lives and potentially save us billions of dollars.

Consider the economic stress of diet-induced diseases such as Type II Diabetes, now inflicting youth. The insulin, needles, test strips, blood sugar monitors, doctor’s appointments, etc. take a considerable chunk of change. The average annual expense for a person diagnosed with diabetes is $11,744, of which $6,649 is directly attributed to the disease. Those with diabetes have medical expenses that are 2.3 times higher than those with working pancreases.

Sasha and Malia are fortunate to be eating nutritious local, organic lunches at Sidwells Friends School. This is what your girls ate at lunch on Tuesday, February 10th:

Organic Vegetarian Chili, Carrot Apple Soup, Roasted Local Beet Salad, Salad du Jour, All Natural Beef Chili, Brown Rice, Steamed Zucchini and Grapefruit Slices

The above shows the solution can be delicious. How wonderful that you and the President can provide local, fresh and healthy foods for the First Daughters, but what about kids in the rest of the country? From your previous neighborhood on the south side of Chicago to your new community in Washington, D.C. with the highest childhood obesity rates in the country, the nutritional divide that stymies the development and potential of youth is an open wound.

The average school cafeteria unfortunately operates on the lowest common denominator of cost, not quality. The USDA currently reimburses schools $2.57 for every free lunch it serves and lower amounts for reduced cost and full price meals. This leaves about one dollar to cover actual food costs, once labor and overhead costs are factored in. What do you expect food service directors to feed our kids with on a $1.00?

Thankfully, kids, parents, food service staff, teachers, farmers, school administration, and other community members have a taste for change and have been working to incorporate fresh, local product—no matter the perceived barriers—through what is called “farm to school” programs.

The farm to school movement has not waited for the federal government to make children a priority. There are over 2,000 known programs in 39 states as reported by the National Farm to School Network, a joint project of the Center for Food and Justice at Occidental College and the Community Food Security Coalition.

Even though I promote from scratch cooking, you don’t have to start from scratch in your platform.

The Child Nutrition Forum, a collaboration of many groups, including, National Farm to School Network, School Nutrition Association, Food Research and Action Center and School Food FOCUS, has a statement of principles that outlines key issues to champion immediately.

From there you can delve into an extensive menu of ideas such as establishing a national farm to school grant program or strengthening nutrition standards for school meal programs.

On February 26, I invite you to attend one of two Congressional briefings on farm to school and hear directly from those working every day for a healthy America.

Fulfill your wish to be America’s Mom-in-Chief by making sure that every child has the nutrients necessary to carry our country forward—now that is a stimulus plan I can believe in.

Sincerely,

Debra Eschmeyer

Debra Eschmeyer is a Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellow and the Marketing and Media Director of the National Farm to School Network and the Center for Food and Justice. She works from her fifth-generation family farm in Ohio, where she continues her passion for organic farming raising fruits, vegetables, chickens, and pigs. Debra's previous non-profit work spans the globe in the humanitarian, conservation, sustainable agriculture, and food justice realms. Most recently, Debra was the Project Director at the National Family Farm Coalition in Washington, DC where she focused on U.S. agricultural policy and food sovereignty initiatives among grassroots domestic and international rural advocacy and social justice networks.

[Thanks to Kelly Horton for the heads-up!]

New USDA Director Vilsack: Thoughts on School Food

From the Washington Post interview, the new director of USDA, Tom Vilsack, spoke with staff writer Jane Black. Here are the parts relating to school meals:

... There are ways we can go do a better job of educating young moms and dads about the vital role they have as the child's first teacher. I think there are ways in which we can partner with local school districts and states to do a better job to provide nutrition options at school. It's our responsibility to get this health-care crisis under control.

What specific ideas do you have about how to move forward to improve nutrition in school lunches?

Part of my responsibility is to find people who share my concern and have more expertise than I do. People we nominate will be people who understand this issue and have the desire to effect change. The specifics of how we can do this will come from the experts. My job is to listen to the president, who is the ultimate vision maker, articulate his vision to the people who work in this department and add my two cents' worth. The vision is, he wants more nutritious food in schools.

Will local foods play a part?

In a perfect world, everything that was sold, everything that was purchased and consumed would be local, so the economy would receive the benefit of that. But sometimes that stresses the capacity: the production capacity or the distribution capacity. Especially since we don't have yet a very sophisticated distribution system for locally grown food. One thing we can do is work on strategies to make that happen. It can be grant programs, loan programs, it can be technical assistance.

Breakfast and summer meal grants announced; First recipient to connect kids with local, fresh-cooked meals

Okay, so I'm a bit out of practice. My summers are spent focusing on coordinating our county-wide Harvest Celebration Farm Tour, and the Farm-to-School blog has been neglected. I apologize.

But here's a little positive news to kick-start it again!

Here's the basic info:

"East Side Entrees, the Woodbury supplier of school meals, yesterday
announced a $9-million, three-year initiative to help school districts around the country boost student participation in breakfast and summer meal programs."

"These programs would target districts and areas where high portions of the student population are eligible for free or reduced-price meals and provide free breakfast to all students, in the classroom, to remove any negative stigma associated with subsidized meals."

Sounds great, but how will it be used, and how does this relate to farm-to-school specifically?
Turns out the first recipient school district, Baltimore Public Schools, "plans to revamp the schools' food services system by building kitchens so that the department can begin cooking its own food instead of reheating processed food, purchasing local food that's fresh and cheaper and turning a 33-acre farm into a classroom to teach children about nutrition and connect them with their foods' origins."

I'll admit I'm a little confused here. The grantor is East Side Entrees, a company who sell pre-packaged, shelf-stable breakfast boxes using branded food items. I'm a bit surprised that they're funding grants that can be used to revive kitchens to cook more fresh, local food. I also can't find info about how to apply for the grants, and their offices are closed for the day. I guess we'll have to wait and see how these grants will be distributed, and how to apply. It's worth checking into if you are connected to a school with a high percentage of students eligible for free and reduced priced meals.

All quotes from: Giving kids a $9M breakfast boost, by Newsday's Keiko Morris. Here's a lengthier article about the program from the Baltimore Sun: "Food for thought: In-class breakfast for city schools"