Everyone has an opinion about school food.
That’s because everyone who has attended school is a subject matter expert—those who finished high school have been exposed to approximately 2,400 lunches that were either eaten, ignored, or trashed. Our consciousness of the nutritional value and quality of ingredients of these meals heightens when we send our own children off to school. Without truly knowing what is in these lunches and breakfasts, parents with the financial means pack lunch each day for their children. But for approximately 80% of the families sending their children to public schools in Baltimore, this is not a viable option.
Certainly, there are many contributing factors in society that are to blame for the decline in health for America’s youth. Isolating food served in schools is shortsighted. However, we do know that a learning opportunity for healthy eating habits is, for the most part, lost in our schools.
Consider:
- Obesity is a major epidemic in America that claims 300,000 lives each year.
- African-American women are 70% more likely to be obese than non-Hispanic whites.
- African-American children are 1.3 times as likely to be overweight than their non-Hispanic counterparts.
- In Baltimore City, 37% of all students in high school are overweight or at-risk of becoming overweight.
Schools serve as the primary source of nutrition for millions of American schoolchildren. Unfortunately, existing food options have not served this population well. With the rate of increase in the costs of labor and goods exceeding the adjustments in federal reimbursement rates, school districts face the daunting task of delivering nutritious and appealing meals at minimal cost. Some school districts opt to outsource some or all the food service operation to private companies who deliver a marginally better product. However, these companies must generate profits, thereby skewing the incentive to provide the most nutritious and delicious foods possible.
But what if there was another option—one that placed taste and quality of meals above all else? What if the bottom line was students’ educational and health outcomes? What if schools’ kitchens were utilized to actually cook food? What if nutrition and etiquette were part of the educational curriculum? What if commodities could be purchased locally? What if a prominent chef were to serve as the creative force in designing delicious and nutritious meals?
A non-profit organization specializing in school food production is a fresh new alternative. A non-profit organization would hire staff to utilize the cooking kitchens already in place in schools, and reinvest all revenue back into the quality and production of meals. A local “celebrity chef” would spearhead the creation of the menus and generate significant interest. Participating schools would commit to funding a nutrition and etiquette leader to compliment the meals served. Baltimore has gained national attention with its recent focus to emphasize the value of proper nutrition in schools. Any school district will find it easy to integrate a non-profit model within its overall food program.
With today’s scarce resources, all initiatives must demonstrate effectiveness through measurable results. This non-profit would be the first food provider in the nation to partner with prominent health institutions to administer and analyze the relationship between healthy meals consumed and educational and health outcomes. With favorable outcomes, this model can shift the entire school food paradigm.
terrific idea and how about including the culinary institute as a partner…….how cool would it be for the “chefs to be” to participate in this as a research project!!!!!!!!
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. and Yes. Such forward thinking. So doable!
And we would see results so quickly. Thank you. Bless you Mr. Kim.
And what if these school kitchens served as training centers for careers in the food service,nutrition & restaurant fields?
I could see such an effort dovetailing well with teaching work skills to high schoolers. Kids who are interested in food service or culinary careers could work in the school kitchen under an experienced chef, giving them valuable work experience for the future.
Why limit health only to food? How about a more inclusive “wellness” bottom line?
This is a great idea that I totally support, but I think someone needs to point out that its wholly unoriginal. Alice Waters has been making arguments like this for well over a decade at the national level (http://www.edibleschoolyard.org/about-us), and locally the new head of food services for the Baltimore City Public Schools, Tony Geraci, has been talking about this (and more importantly, actually doing it) since he was hired last year (http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=18167; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/05/AR2009050500876.html; http://www.gourmet.com/foodpolitics/2008/08/baltimore-school-chef; http://www.urbanitebaltimore.com/sub.cfm?issueID=66§ionID=4&articleID=1087). His activities have received a huge amount of press (as indicated in part by the links above), so I find it somewhat troubling for Mr. Kim to present this as his audacious new idea. Great to have his support though.
This is such a wonderful idea. In addition to internship possibilities, this type of initiative could also be staffed by individuals returning from incarceration. This is a perfect opportuntity for this population to become productive members of the community while helping Baltimore’s youth receive nutritionally balanced meals that aid in cognitive and behavioral development.
I’m all for better-tasting, locally-grown, more nutritious food for our kids in public schools. I also endorse integrating nutrition and cooking in the science curriculum and making opportunities for career technology education in food service. What this article doesn’t broach, however, is why a non-profit is assumed to be better able to move in this direction than the staff of the public schools. I think the school system needs to sort this out by considering all the issues and decide whether to plan and/or prepare meals in-house or contract out. Contractors sometimes go for their own financial interests over the interests of the kids.
Dear All: These are all great points, suggestions, and criticisms! Just a couple considerations:
1) Such a non-profit should aim to have 100% of federal reimbursements go back into the production of food. (All overhead costs would be raised through contributions from various public and private funding sources). In my opinion, this is a sustainable model.
2) While a non-profit’s involvement in school food is not altogether “new” (as David points out), here in Maryland, the 501c3 route has yet to take hold in a way that brings about fundamental change–even in a couple schools. I think Tony Geraci is a Baltimore hero, and this type of initiative could merely compliment his and Dr. Alonso’s efforts to make wholesale changes across the board–if this model was a success in Baltimore, they would be the fathers!
3) Lots of possibilities w/respect to student involvement & work training opportunities, but I think such an operation should first focus on the food and quantifiable outcomes first, then if it is successful, see what other avenues it could take.
4) Any non-profit seeking to perform this function would have to compete with outside entities (assuming a school district bids out for the service). If another entity comes in and utilizes the kitchens to their
fullest capacity using fresh commodities, pays employees a living wage, covers overhead, and does so at a lower cost, well, then at the end of the day, the children come out on top.
Thanks again, and I look forward to checking bak in a few days!
Thomas
It seems like the most important component of the non-profit concept is in parenthesis…”overhead costs raised through public and private funding sources”. Good luck with that one. There are oodles of great ideas already on the public education table but no public or private money being coughed up to fund them. Can someone please propose an audacious idea to fund the rescue of the historic buildings at the Baltimore City Schools farm? Tony Geraci is trying to implement a food revolution right now but no one will put money into the effort. We need audacious bucks not more talk!
Celebrity chef is a fabulous idea, mentoring opportunities, work study, apprenticeships, for all of the services that a school uses would be a great role model for how the system works in miniature, and will give everyone a real sense of the challenges the politics and bureaucracy are in maintaining the inertia of the status quo. If it can be made ‘cool’ and become part of the pop culture…. its a home run!
Actually, this idea wouldn’t be a stretch for some existing nonprofits. Every major city has a large food bank, and many of these food banks operate “community kitchens” where low-income clients or prisoners returning to society are trained in the culinary arts. The food that is prepared is cycled into the food bank’s programs, but could just as easily be cycled into a school. Even better, most food banks have existing contracts to receive USDA commodities (same as schools), eliminating one link in the transportation chain. For an example of this model, see: http://bit.ly/8FxHt
For an example of a non-profit already doing this kind of work, check out http://christinapirello.org/
Christina Pirello is a vegetarian chef with a long-running show on PBS and an inspiring story (http://www.christinacooks.com/mystory.html)
Among her media programs (including a new kids’ show on PBS focused on good eating!), she’s beein going into schools to run workshops and teach children about better nutrition. As the program grows, she is seeking to implement a School Lunch Program: http://christinapirello.org/schoollunch.html
Of course, like all non-profits, sponsorships and funding are the key element to get the necessary scale.
Hi all. A realy good idea. I have a qeustion. I’m involved with a project of starting a school in zambia for blind, low vision and special needs children with or without multiple disabilties. My qeustion is what kind of menu do you suggest for a school like this? Concidering that the school will rely on donations and partnership. And implementation of a budget is imperative. What type of programs do you have at the moment.