Ideal Bite

HEALTHY SCHOOL LUNCHES

During School Special

09.02.2009

Submitted by tmeronek on Tue, 09/01/2009 - 11:00pm.

Food
Kids

The Bite:

Is your kid's school cafeteria full of bad clichés? Unhealthy foods shipped in from far away, that is. Farm-to-school lunch programs deliver nutritious, locally grown food, and they're popping up everywhere, so help get your kid's school on board. No overdone acting in sight.

The Benefits:

Healthy life lessons. Farm-to-school programs increase kids' fruit-'n'-veggie intake by 25%.
An eco-morality tale. A conventional carrot travels an average of 1,838 miles from farm to cafeteria, but farm-to-school foods are often sourced from fewer than 100 miles away (cutting back on fuel and emissions).
Making farmers' lives less melodramatic. Farm-to-school provides a reliable source of income to small, local farms.
More money for Go Ask Alice on BluRay...or something. The USDA says healthier diets could prevent $71 billion in medical costs every year.

Personally Speaking:

Jen's friend Jenny (yep, yet another one) helped to start a farm-to-school program in Bozeman, MT. Check the blog to hear her story.

Wanna Try:

Farm to School - great resource for getting a farm-to-school program started in your kids' school district.
Slow Food USA - join an "Eat-In" (potlucks where local food's for dinner) on Sep. 7 (Labor Day) during this org's National Day of Action to get better eats in schools.
Two Angry Moms - two moms document their fight for healthier school lunches. Check their movie, which has screened across the country spreading the word about this issue.
Edible Schoolyard - Alice Waters's nonprofit has suggestions for how to talk about sustainable food with your kids and their school leaders - everything from gardening lesson plans to recipes that kids can make at home.
The Unhealthy Truth - new book that focuses on kids and food; while not as sophisticated as Michael Pollan's stuff on healthy eats, we found her personal story totally compelling ($17).

Cocktail Fact

After ABC found success with its After School Special program in 1972, CBS and NBC each launched copycat versions of their own, the not-so-creatively titled Schoolbreak Special and Special Treat.

Bang For The Bite

You gotta get the ear of the school administrators first, but once they're in place, these programs make for healthier kids and a healthier planet.

16 comments

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Helen Sneddon on September 02, 2009 at 06:51 AM 1

When ever I see an article such as this I recall my days as a cafeteria worker. I was often dismayed when I saw the number of fresh fruit and veggies that went into the garbage because the kids didn't want to eat them. Apples and oranges without a bite taken out of them. Fresh carrots sticks, etc. One day I even watch my own child dump her lunch in the garbage because she was in a hurry to go out to recess. Like the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

Cynthia on September 02, 2009 at 07:16 AM 2

I currently own a vegetable and fruit share in a CSA ORGANIC farm organization on the Upper West Side (w100th and bway area). Pickup is once a week and lasts through the end of November. If anyone is interested in purchasing the rest of the share from me (organic fruits and vegetables, once a week, until the end of november) please let me know-- my contact info is cynthiajlee@gmail.com I won't be able to pick up my share for the rest of the year and would hate for it to go to waste!

Diana on September 02, 2009 at 07:19 PM 3

Actually, there's hope! So you don't the horse will drink? If you market the heck out of the water, they will. Buy the best produce possible in peak season, tie it in with free samples in the classroom to taste, maybe involve the kids in growing representative fruits and vegetables in a school garden! Bring that food to life! And if after all that, they still don't eat it, compost it and bring it back into the garden. For more info in CA go to the CA School Garden Network - www.csgn.org. Don't give up!!

Amie on September 03, 2009 at 08:54 PM 4

Great piece! Another great resource is New York Coalition for Healthy School Food. Check out the website at www.healthyschoolfood.org. We are the only statewide non-profit dedicated solely to the issue of healthy school food, and offer many resources, including Wellness Wakeup Call, a nutrition education program in the form of easy to digest soundbites, free to schools in NYS, and $50/year for out of state schools. We also commissioned a fantastic CD called Eat Like a Rainbow by Jay Mankita. You can listen to clips of it on our website on our store page. We have 3 major pilot programs which you can read about and are conducting a pilot program in partnership with NYC Office of SchoolFood, developing and testing plant-based entrees in schools. Check us out! If you want more info, feel free to email me at amie@healthyschoolfood.org.

Beth Ann on September 17, 2009 at 12:16 PM 5

Great ideas and comments. For those packing lunches daily, iLunchBox offers inspiration and information for your family's healthy lunches on the go.

Gadget Sleuth on September 18, 2009 at 03:14 PM 6

Helen: Far too true...most kids don't WANT to eat healthy. They aren't interested. Some of it is parental upbringing, some of is that generally fruits/veggies aren't as pleasurable to eat as junk food, and many kids (due to their age) lack the discipline to eat healthier anyway for their futures.

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