From Your Kitchen:

Below is feedback sent to Chef Ann in support of her mission.

Hi Ann,

My name is Deborah Crews. I am a 46 year old single mother of two girls. I have seen and tasted (yuck!) the food served in public schools and long for the type of foods that were served to me as a child in public school. I prepare a sandwhich for my children to take to school everyday as I would rather they eat that than all of the fried crap they would otherwise eat.

I would love to do as you are doing, but I am not a chef. I love food, know a little about nutrition, and I like to cook for people who like to eat what I cook. I just wish I had more time and money to plan and cook great meals all of the time.

Here in South Carolina, we unfortunately have not only one of the highest obesity rates, but also one of the highest heart disease rates in the nation. I am with you!!!! I am pissed-off too about our society selling out our children's health. I had a dream when my children were younger of operating a day care (so I could spend more time with them) where gardening would be one of many activities. I never followed through as money and time were always constraints.

I guess I am at mid-life and am looking for a change of pace from the 8-5 routine working for someone else and not, I feel, making a significant difference in the world. Therefore, how may I help you to spread the word or should I say action? I would love to be able to open my own business selling healthy lunches to children vis a kiosk on school grounds so as to offer the choice of better nutrition.

Please do not think I am asking for money, I would just like ideas or how-to's.

I would love to hear from you.

~ Sincerely, Deborah M. Crews

Dear Chef Ann,

I have started a grassroots movement to help support people who want better food in schools. I am the parent of a two-year-old who, one day at school, was served only applesauce, raisins, animal crackers, apple jelly, white bread, and applesauce (again). That night, I started a group on Meetup.com called Real Food For Schools.

After almost a year of networking, meeting concerned parents, and trying to figure out exactly what was needed, my co-conspirator and registered dietitian, Lisa Markley, came up with an outreach program targeting motivated individuals within a school community.

We are launching our program at the end of this month -- it includes a healthy school assessment, tips for getting buy-in from others, presentations on topics like Kids Nutrition 101, Healthy Rewards, Celebrations and Fundraisers, a mobile resource center, tabling activities, a screening of the documentary Two Angry Moms and, among other things, a strong web presence.

A meeting of PTA presidents is also on our to-do list, and there may be an opportunity to partner with a local sustainability agency on a Sustainable Schools Summit this year or next.

A local foundation, KC Healthy Kids, has agreed to provide partial funding for our program costs, to provide web development in-kind, and to help us secure more funding from other sources in 2008, so although Real Food For Schools is a brand new initiative, it has strong support.

I have your book and just today, spoke with a librarian at our central branch who agreed to help get Lunch Lessons on the shelves of all the libraries in our area. We are also teaming up with the public library's Books To Go program, which, every week, distributes books appropriate for 1-5 year-olds to local daycare, in-home childcare, and preschools all over Kansas City. They also agreed to create a bookmark for us that features books addressing kids nutrition at all age levels, through teens and parents, too. We hope to eventually have some traveling Real Food For Schools resource center that can be set up and schools, churches and back to school events.

Since we are a small initiative and have limited personnel and financial resources, we appreciate experts like you who are paving the way on a national level. As we grow and increase our efforts to raise awareness, we would love to discuss the possibility of bringing you to speak in Kansas City. In the meantime, we will turn to your book and your website for the great tools, information, and inspiration you provide there.

Thanks so much for all you're doing to help kids appreciate good, whole foods!

~ Heather Gibbons
Real Food For Schools
realfoodforschools.org

Hi Ann,

I'm the mother of two boys, Liam, 5 and Rory, 3 1/2. My oldest son will be starting public school next year and I'm very concerned with what options he will be given for food should we decide to consider the school lunch program. I am very into organic and whole grain food, lots of fresh fruits and veggies and also little refined sugar (though I will let them have things sweetened with honey or maple syrup on occasion since both of those are local to me in New Hampshire). I am also very concerned that though I may pack a good lunch for them when they go off to school, they will have less healthy options at their disposal. I have to just trust that my lessons on healthy eating will stick with them during their independent choices. I was THRILLED to see your site and books regarding this very topic. I am also beginning to delve into the world of local only eating, which is easier for me here in an agriculturally plentiful area then for most other people and for that I am thankful as well.

In any case, I just wanted to say thank you for making this important issue more talked about and being the catalyst for change. It drives me to distraction that my children are not allowed to drink soda at home, but could get it in a vending machine at school, which also causes me to rethink the "funding" of our schools with junk food that is detrimental to the health of my boys. Schools should be a place we can feel safe sending our children to for many reasons, There are so many variables we can't control, I say let's do something about the ones we can! Thank you, thank you for making this a forefront topic for your talents and career. As a mom, it really matters to me that you are there pulling for what's healthy for my boys, whom you've never even met.

~ Blessings, Verona Haught, Londonderry, NH

I am up for this challenge and am going to call the Superintendent right now to ask about the Wellness Policy. Thank you for motivating me and holding me (and the nation) accountable for making some changes!!

~ Family Advocate, Margaret, New Jersey

Why are bologna sandwiches, baked pretzels and chichen "patties" acceptable to serve for lunch. During the day when children need nutritious meals to sustain them why on earth is this junk on the menu. It is so frustrating and I want to use this week (National School Food Challenge) to make some changes at our school!

~ Cathleen, Gill, Mass

Dear Ann:

I couldn't sleep this morning so turned on the TV around 5:00. I saw you talking on CSPAN about the 2007 Farm Bill. Wow, that's was interesting information and statistics you were giving.

Are you familiar with Head Start? Head Start claims that they promote healthy eating. Well, to an extent they follow through with it. However the children eat the same school lunches as the other students and if some thing is what Head Start considers "unhealthy" the children don't get it. But they get a healthy item to replace it. I think school lunches are horrible and unhealthy all around.

One of the classrooms I work with will be having a family activity this Saturday. We have a personal trainer that has volunteered to come and teach the families about exercising. Then the families will prepare easy and nutritious snacks.

Mainly I just want to thank you for your hard work and dedication and to tell you how lucky the children in your school district are to have someone like you that cares!!!!!! I wish there were more people like you. Especially since I have a little boy that goes to daycare and will go to school in a couple of years. Jaxson is 2 1/2 and already tells me the food and daycare is "yucky" and is not for nutritious. I have spent time there helping and I can tell you that just looking at it I never even tried any.

~ Kim G., Head Start Family Support Worker

WOW

That’s all I can say after reading your site. I am a parent in Underhill Vermont beginning the challenge of changing the lunch program at our elementary school.

I am a freelance recipe tester and developer. After speaking with parents, I realized someone needs to challenge our school board and start making some positive and fun changes for our kids.

After reading your site, I feel hopeful.

Thank you - Millissa F.

Dear Ms. Cooper,

I saw your web page after looking at information about the School Lunch Initiative in Berkeley. I was looking for information in relation to a fitness program at St. Ignatius School in Sacramento where my six-year-old son is a first grade student. In January, we kicked off a pedometer challenge. Each of the 350 students in the school received a pedometer and we challenged them to walk 200,000 steps between January 10th and March 27th. The children participating are between 5 and 14 years of age. All of the faculty and staff of the school also received a pedometer. We also hope to have a few “Catch Up on Steps” Saturday programs where we have the kids come out (with their parents and/or older siblings) to walk/run to log additional steps toward their goal or engage in some other physical activity. The idea is to instill a longer-range plan of fitness and health for these kids and their families beyond a one-day jog-a-thon. Throughout the next few months, we will be conducting raffle prize drawings, an event t-shirt design contest, “healthy recess” days, speakers and much more. Later in the springtime, on March 29th, we will have a jog-a-thon at the school which is titled the Family Fitness Challenge. We will have the children run, walk, or jog laps and we will invite families and staff to participate. We anticipate 600 – 800 total participants.

I believe that this program is a great opportunity to improve the nutritional program at the school. We are offering the Healthy Recess program in which we are asking grocers, local orchards & growers, and families to donate nutritious items for a recess snack. We would also like to transform the school hot lunch menu, as well. I am hopeful that you might consider helping us in any variety of ways which you are available:

• Help us to transform our school lunch program. We are inspired by the program that has transformed the Berkeley School District. However, we are looking to for help on a smaller scale without any public funding. We are hoping that you can help us in any way you may be able to transform the program at our school. We have looked for models for an example, but most of the schools in our area have similar menus to ours.
• Come to the school and present healthy food choices and nutrition information to the children. Every Monday morning, the school assembles in the gym. There is a kitchen within that building. You might come to speak to the children and possibly demonstrate selection and/or cooking of good food choices.
• Provide recommendations regarding incorporation of our school garden into the nutritional program at the school.
• Provide education information to school staff and administration regarding the school nutrition program.
• Provide educational information to the parents regarding good nutrition, healthy food choices, and the nutritional program at the school.

Ideally, we would like for you to come on a date between February 5 and March 29. With participation in this program, you would not only make a great impression for our students, but will also demonstrate your support of this effort to their parents and other community members. Our school address is 3245 Arden Way, Sacramento, CA 95825. Our school website is http://www.stignatiussacschool.org/.

I hope that you might consider this opportunity. Please let me know at what capacity you will participate. Please feel free to contact me.

Thank you in advance for your support.

~ Sincerely, Lori M.

Dear Ms. Cooper,

I just wanted to write you a note to say thank you for what you have done and continue to do. School lunches have been a hot topic for me since before even my own children were born. Now I am extremely concerned over what they are being exposed to and the choices they will have to make on their own.

I just got done watching "Super-Size Me," after which I was inspired to check out the Natural Ovens website. I thought maybe if there was a company like Natural Ovens in our area, I would check in to it, since according to the movie, the healthier, fresher diet costs the schools about the same price.

I was looking around on your website to see if perhaps you had any recommended food companies for the schools. You do have many great ideas and recipes, but all the schools in our area (South Florida), seem to contract out the school lunches to companies like "Appetites." As you can imagine, their menus consist of hamburgers, corn dogs, french fries (AS THE VEGETABLE!!! - is that legal???), grilled cheese, etc. At least they manage to get "Arroz con Pollo" in once or twice per thanks to our heavy Hispanic population.

When I attempt to confront the schools on the issue, I usually get either, " you can always pack their lunch, " or, "this is what the parents (& children) want." Unfortunately, I believe the latter is all too true, so between that and the fact there ARE no alternative school lunch programs or schools that offer good lunches (beyond the Young Chef's Academy, for which my children are too young), what's a concerned mom to do? I also wanted to point out that I do pack my childrens' lunches, but I remember being a kid & how I always envied what the other kids had- all those Twinkies, Ho-Hos, and Little Debbie's. By the time I got to Jr. High & high school, I had to pack my own lunches, hated the same boring things my Mom packed (had no idea what good alternatives to pack), and often ate only a package of Little Debbie's for lunch - but that was all; I didn't want to get fat, you know. I'd estimate it took me 15 years to relearn how to eat (still learning). So, I guess I can see what my kids are up against. I can never remember being given the option of something healthy AND appealing in school. The other scary trend is folks thinking Gatorade (or even juice) is a healthy alternative to soda. I'm sure they exist in California, but I have never seen a healthy vending machine.

I guess I don't need to make this case to you, but please keep doing what you're doing. And with all your spare time, maybe you could do me a favor & send me a list of some good companies that might cater to our schools or place the list on your website. By the way, I am US Military & therefore will be leaving this area in 2 years & will be needing to research new schools / food programs. Maybe the next place we move will offer more choices. With all your spare time, maybe you could also start a "healthy schools" list- schools that meet your criteria for healthy food offerings. :)

Sorry for the book, but I was truly exited to find your website. Thank you.

~ Sincerely, Gretchen J., Pembroke Pines, FL

Ann,

I heard what you do on the NPR, Talk of the Nation when I was cooking soup. It is so wonderful!!

Originally, I am from Japan and am a mother of 12-year old boy. It is so difficult for me to teach my son about Japanese food here because he was born in U.S. However, whenever I cook one of his favorite foods, Japanese curry, with him, I ask him to wash, peel, and cut carrots, onions, and potatoes. He seems to enjoy his mission, not all the time but most of the time.

Mothers in Japan feed very nutritious foods. They spend so much hours to make fantastic lunch boxes for their kids every single day. Also, no macaroni and cheese, pizza, or hamburger at home as their dinner!

Yes. Now, you see more American Fast Food places, such as Wendy's, Pizza Hat, BK, and Mc...; however, we still strongly believe feeding many kinds of vegetable to children is very important so that children can develop their taste in early age.

Some mothers here just feed fast food, and they think it is very cheep, but if you buy ingredients at the store and cook at home, the cost of food per pound must be more economical than fast food with SODA drinks.

Most Japanese live in U.S. think Americans do not know the word "Cuisine".

However, you are a very impressive pioneer, who challenges and breaks the Japanese view against Americans!

Thank you for telling me your passion.

~ Mayumi F.

Wow, Ann!! Really enjoyed your presentation on WJCT Friday afternoon. We really need your info in Duval County, FL! I'm a school counselor and see the prepackaged high fat low protein/fresh veg & fruits continually. In a State where we have produce available 11 out of 12 months, someone needs to take some leadership. Lots of overweight kids coming from low and high socioeconomic level homes. Anxious to send this info on to PTA presidents, school lunch folks, etc. The soft drinks are gone, but greasy pizza, etc. continue to reign supreme! And no vegetarian choices except occasional pasta with cheese. Looking forward to all your offerings over the www!

~ Barbara Jean W., Atlantic Beach, FL

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