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Sam Kass Serving School Lunch to Congress Today
Posted on Tue, May 05, 2009 by Jerusha Klemperer
6 Comments | Categories: Events, Farms and Farming, Food Justice, News, Current Events, Policy, School Food, Take Action,
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by Gordon Jenkins
White House chef Sam Kass and a team of Chicago high school students are serving Congressional leaders a delicious, healthy meal on Capitol Hill today in order to brief Congress on the need to invest in the National School Lunch Program. The meal—which features carrot quesadillas, stuffed peppers and salad—was designed by high school students participating in the Healthy Schools Campaign’s “Cooking Up Change” contest. The students were asked to make a delicious, nourishing meal using ingredients typically available to food service directors. Over 40,000 school children in cities across the U.S. will be served the same meal today in their school cafeterias.
Many organizations are focusing their attention on this year’s reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, which is the bill that funds and sets standards for the National School Lunch Program. Over 30 million children eat school lunch everyday. If we’re going to build a nation where everyone is able to enjoy food that is good for them, good for the people who grow it and good for the planet, then there’s no better place to start than in schools. here, on CNN]
Member Comments
From FFW on Wed, May 06, 2009
Agreed, such leadership by high school children will encourage more people to share a healthier relationship with food and their local community. We should all reduce consumption of industrial food!
FFW
From K on Wed, May 06, 2009
They should also serve the NORMAL school lunch to congress- with a disclaimer about the grade of meat vs the grade of dog food meat. It bums me out when I see my class eat their school lunches, because I know they need to eat it (most of them are FRLP) but want them to be eating GOOD food, rather than cheap, industrial, and profitable food.
From Susan Rubin on Wed, May 06, 2009
Better School Food has been encouraging parents and community members to eat lunch at school for quite some time. We also have a Lunch-In checklist filled with good questions to ask while eating in the school cafeteria.
http://betterschoolfood.org/downloads/resources/BSF_Lunch_In_Checklist.pdf
Its all part of Better School Food’s Action Plan
http://betterschoolfood.org/what_you_can_do/action_plan.cfm
Perhaps a powerful next step would be for citizens across the country to INSIST that their Senators and Congress members join them in local schools for lunch ( unannounced, so you get the real meal). Food needs to be experienced to be fully understood. Our government representatives need to get a real taste of what our kids are eating 180 days a year for 12 years to have a deeper understanding of the healthcare, educational and environmental issues our country is facing.
From Raine Saunders on Fri, May 08, 2009
I’m very active in the school food movement in my city, Boise,Idaho. We brought Two Angry Moms to Boise last fall and had a disappointing turnout, and we are still struggling to work with the district to change our menus. I think anything anyone can do to raise attention to this issue is critical!
Please visit Agriculture Society and read our articles about school food (http://agriculturesociety.wordpress.com/2008/03/30/meals-for-children-restaurants-and-school-lunches-are-lacking-in-nutrition/) and other relevant topics - excitotoxins (http://agriculturesociety.wordpress.com/2008/08/13/what-are-excitotoxins/)which are found in many of the foods people eat and especially in school lunches. Agriculture Society is a resource for nutrition through whole and traditional foods, sustainable living, and alternatives for health and medicine.
From Becky on Wed, May 13, 2009
If they really wanted to get action, they could have fed them what the children were ACTUALLY having for lunch today! How can there be any national initiatives on health when the public schools are feeding the children the school lunches that are being served? I’m glad they’re doing this and trying to make a difference. I mean, not having soda machines in the school is good, but when the main dishes include macaroni and cheese, pretzel and cheese, and chicken nuggets (shudder)...
From nanguyenalice on Fri, June 19, 2009
We also have a Lunch-In checklist filled with good questions to ask while eating in the school cafeteria.
