Chef Ann Cooper is a renegade lunch lady who works to transform cafeterias into culinary classrooms for students - one school lunch at a time. She brings you information to learn about the importance of changing the way America feeds its children.
“Garden to Table”: Making School Lunches Green
May 1, 2008
By Kim Fuller
The green thumbs showing up at Boulder area elementary schools this spring are not leftover from afternoons of finger painting. Hands are instead being submerged in soil, breaking apart the sedentary ground, stiff from its off season. Fingertips are pinching through tiny pods into rows of beds, new life left to the care of water and sunshine.
Beef recall spotlights real cost of cheap school lunches
When was the last time you spent 50 cents and got lunch? For millions of children who eat public school fare these days, it’s just about every day.
School cafeterias get up to $2.47 a student from the U.S. government to serve lunch. After expenses such as labor, transportation, utilities and equipment, schools are left with a little more than $1 to put food on a tray. Costs typically include 25 cents for a carton of milk, about 25 cents for fruit and additional money if they also serve vegetables. About 50 cents is left for an entrée. Many students pay for at least a portion of their lunch, and as the student contribution rises, the part covered by the government drops, which leaves schools to cover the difference.
School kids feel the bite of high food prices
Administrators are cutting corners and considering lay-offs to make up for the price spike in milk, eggs and flour.
By Aaron Smith, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: May 5, 2008: 12:09 PM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Rising food prices are making it harder for schools to cook up ways to give kids the nutrition they need.
Right now, they’re taking shortcuts and shuffling ingredients to make up the difference, but that’s only a short-term solution with long-term consequences on the horizon.
“I’ve been in school service for 27 years and this is the worst it’s ever been,” said Sara Gasiorowski, food service director for Wayne Township Schools in Indianapolis. “I have never seen food prices jump up so far.” Read the rest of this entry »
Beef recall spotlights real cost of cheap school lunches
When was the last time you spent 50 cents and got lunch? For millions of children who eat public school fare these days, it’s just about every day.
School cafeterias get up to $2.47 a student from the U.S. government to serve lunch. After expenses such as labor, transportation, utilities and equipment, schools are left with a little more than $1 to put food on a tray. Costs typically include 25 cents for a carton of milk, about 25 cents for fruit and additional money if they also serve vegetables. About 50 cents is left for an entrée. Many students pay for at least a portion of their lunch, and as the student contribution rises, the part covered by the government drops, which leaves schools to cover the difference.
As schools push to satisfy growing demands to squeeze more fruits, vegetables and whole grains onto lunch trays, such small margins have forced them to rely heavily on the Department of Agriculture’s commodities program for costly items such as meat and cheese. The program markets surplus food produced by the farmers and ranchers.
“From a business standpoint, government commodities are the only way you can produce a $2.47 meal,” says Barry Sackin, a California school nutrition consultant.
Produce law just a start, educators say
Susan Gordon; susan.gordon@thenewstribune.com
Published: April 27th, 2008 08:26 PM
Public schools would be allowed to pay more for Washington produce as part of a new law promoted as a way to improve child nutrition while supporting Evergreen State farmers. “It’s a tremendous opportunity for us. We just need to connect with our farmers. … It’s great for kids to learn where food comes from – not from a can or a box,” said Lisa Chatterton, a dietitian and nutrition service supervisor for the Franklin Pierce School District in Parkland.The Washington Environmental Council and others lobbied for the “Local Farms-Heathy Kids” legislation as a way to foster good health, plus support agriculture and sustainable living.
The $1.5 million measure provides $570,000 in school nutrition grants beginning next fall. But some school nutrition managers are skeptical about whether the law will change what children eat in school.“It’s great for the state economy, the growers and the environment, but without added funding it’s not great for our kids,” said Eric Boutin, Auburn School District director of child nutrition services. Read the rest of this entry »
Let’s support sustainable farming, instead.
By Christopher D. Cookfrom the April 23, 2008 edition
San Francisco - At a time of soaring food prices, America’s grocery bill is about to balloon. Congress is staggering toward completion of a nearly $300 billion farm bill that upholds subsidies for big farmers and food corporations – undermining vital efforts to make our food supply more healthful and sustainable, both environmentally and economically.
It’s time to overhaul the government’s approach to food and farming.
If the current measure passes (as it’s slated to this Friday) Americans will shell out billions of dollars for farm subsidies that wreak havoc on our land and diets. These payments irresponsibly promote the consumption of cheap fatty foods, the depletion of soil and air through overuse of pesticides, and destructive farming practices. Read the rest of this entry »
Chef Ann Cooper is a renegade lunch lady.
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