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	growing child food

Fresh Food Nation
By Cathe Olson
Issue 143: July/August 2007

Because so many children rely on school cafeterias for breakfast, lunch, and snacks, the quality of school meals plays a major role in their health and well-being. What do schools feed our children? Typically, it is heavily processed, deep-fried, frozen entrées such as chicken nuggets, pizza pockets, and corn dogs. Many schools have fast food delivered to their cafeterias on certain days of the week—and some even have fast-food franchises right on campus.¹

Overconsumption of processed and fast foods that are high in fat, sugar, and sodium, as well as a decrease in physical activity, have been major factors contributing to the obesity epidemic in the US.² The percentage of children 6 to 11 years old who are overweight has more than doubled from the 1970s to 2002, and the percentage of overweight adolescents 12 to 19 has tripled.³ James O. Hill, PhD, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado at Denver Health Sciences Center, stated in a 2002 WebMD article that, if rates continue to rise, obesity-related diabetes alone "will break the bank of our health care system."⁴ Besides diabetes, obesity can lead to impaired lung function, sleep disorders, heart disease, and other health conditions.⁵

On the other hand, studies have shown that healthy, active, well-nourished children are more likely to attend school and to learn, having better attention spans and concentration levels.^6,7 In addition, increased levels of physical fitness are associated with higher achievement in reading and mathematics.⁸ The conclusion is inescapable: Nutritious meals are essential for our children's physical and academic health.

Some US schools now make it a priority to feed students fresh, wholesome food, and are turning to farm-to-school programs to improve the quality of school meals and the effectiveness of nutrition education. Farm-to-school programs not only offer healthy, tasty, fresh food to students, but also provide hands-on educational experiences to connect children with the sources of their food. Local farmers benefit from direct sales of their products, which helps the community as well.

Do farm-to-school programs really make a difference? Rodney Taylor, Student Nutrition Services Director of the Riverside Unified School District in California, is a strong advocate of farm-to-school programs—though he needed convincing at first. His experience began while he was Food Service Director for the Santa Monica?Malibu Unified School District. Robert Gottlieb, a professor at Occidental College and a parent of a student at one of the schools, approached him about buying fresh vegetables directly from farmers and implementing a salad bar.

"Initially, I thought he was just another affluent parent with too much time on his hands," Taylor says, "but he didn't go away easily. I finally agreed to try a preschool pilot, and as I watched the kids eating, I knew Bob was on to something."⁹

From there, Taylor tried a pilot project at an elementary school. It went so well that he expanded the program to every school in the district. Three food-services directors later, the program is still thriving. When Taylor transferred to the Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) in 2002, he had a whole new demographic to deal with. Rather than Santa Monica-Malibu's 18 schools, RUSD has 46. In Santa Monica, parents and PTA members had been the driving force to get the farm-to-school program implemented, and did most of the organizational work. In Riverside, it was Taylor's vision to bring healthier food into the schools—and school administrators who needed convincing. Perhaps in Santa Monica, kids were accustomed to eating vegetables, but in the lower-income areas of Riverside, where fresh produce at meals was not as common, would the kids be interested in a salad bar? The school district was reluctant to spend money on the additional equipment and staff needed to handle a farm-fresh salad bar, but Taylor proved that the investment was worthwhile.

"At Adams School alone, 94 more students purchase a school lunch each day. Previously, we had no teachers buying lunch; now we have 13. That brings in a lot more money to the school. We had to make the investment up front, but we're gaining trust and increasing participation. We can have healthy kids and a healthy bottom line."

Usually, 12 to 16 items are offered at a Riverside school salad bar. On a typical day, these might include red-leaf lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, grapes, pears, and plums. "When food is fresh and user-friendly, when the salad bar smiles with colors and varieties, kids don't have to be coerced into eating," Taylor explains.

Taylor believes that childhood obesity can be reversed by offering healthy foods as part of a program that takes kids on tours to local farms and farmers' markets, invites chefs into the classroom, and provides nutrition-education activities. "I want to start with kindergartners, and by the time they leave elementary school, they'll have been taught to be lifelong healthy eaters," he says.

Farm-to-school programs may seem natural in California, with its long growing season, but they've been successful in other areas as well. Schools in the Midwest and Northeast have found creative ways to develop programs that take advantage of the produce in season, and use preservation methods to make fruits and vegetables available in the off-seasons.

Vermont has been a leader in helping schools implement farm-to-school programs. In spring 2006, the state legislature passed Act 145, an incentive-based bill through which schools can get grants to set up farm-to-school programs. Funds from the grant will enable schools to buy local foods and the equipment needed to prepare them, as well as to train food-service staff and teachers. The grants even help local food-processing facilities expand or research ways to work with the school system. So many schools have little money; the grants help them try farm-to-school programs without risking their own funds.

The organization Vermont Food Education Every Day (VT FEED) has been instrumental in helping schools implement these programs, serving as a liaison between local farmers and school food services to help establish purchasing relationships. VT FEED gives individual attention to each district so that a program can be designed to fit the needs of that school and community. The group also holds periodic statewide and regional trainings.

According to VT FEED coordinator Dana Hudson, getting students involved is the key to making farm-to-school programs work. "If students participate in growing, preparing, and especially serving meals, it really accelerates the acceptance, and we have almost full participation in trying them. Even something as simple as getting to know the farmer supplying the food makes kids much more likely to eat it," she says.¹⁰

VT FEED has come up with innovative ideas for making the most of seasonal produce. For late fall and winter, when locally grown lettuce is unavailable, they've designed salads that can be made from cold-storage crops such as cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and apples. Kale, a hardy green vegetable that is ideally suited to the Vermont climate, is incorporated into many foods, such as minestrone soup, pesto, and even pizza sauce. The Burlington, Vermont, school district has been especially creative in going both local and healthy with its pizza. Rather than depend on a national chain to supply cheese or pepperoni pizza, they found a local caterer to create veggie pizzas using whole-wheat flour from King Arthur, a Vermont company, and local kale in the sauce. The caterer ended up with a contract for the entire school district, and even worked with kids to make their own pizzas—again, connecting a face with the food.

VT FEED is looking to move to local sources of dairy and meat as well as fruits and vegetables, and is even working on getting Vermont products into the commodity stream of the US Department of Agriculture, as schools are allotted a certain amount of commodity funds. (Commodity foods are those purchased by the government to help support farm prices when there is a surplus of a certain product. The foods are distributed through various programs, including the National School Lunch Program.) Hudson also advises asking food distributors if they offer any local products. "Distributors don't always think to offer local products. Just by asking, you are helping to create demand."

How to help your school get started

If your school doesn't have a farm-to-school program, the best way to start is by checking out the National Farm to School Program, at www.farmtoschool.org. The site offers many tools for evaluating the needs of your school and the resources available in your community. Director Anupama Joshi says the first step is finding out what needs to be changed. Assessment surveys for food services and local farmers can be downloaded from the website to find out what is realistic for your school district and community. Step two is to garner support. Joshi suggests a meeting to bring everyone together—school administrators, parents, food-service directors, teachers—to create a feasible plan for your program. She stresses the importance of getting food services and the school administration to buy into the idea of a farm-to-school program. "Just parents are not enough. The school must embrace it as well to make it sustainable." Last but not least, she advises, "Dream big. Take baby steps toward your goals and the task of starting a program will flow easily."11

The Resources page on the website offers evaluation tools, case studies, funding opportunities, and information about local, state, and national policies that support the farm-to-school program. The website also includes information on existing farm-to-school programs, with contact information—you can get help and advice from those who have already initiated a program. The staff at the National Farm to School Program is available to answer questions and provide technical assistance. The site also lists upcoming conferences, workshops, and other events.

Imagine healthy school lunches that children and teachers actually look forward to eating. Imagine your children planting seeds, nurturing plants, and eating the literal fruits of their labors. Imagine your children choosing fresh, nutritious food over chemical-laden, overly sugared and salted processed foods. A farm-to-school program at your school could make this a reality—and it can start with you.

For the notes to this article, see www.mothering.com/articles/growing_child/food/fresh-food-nation-notes.html.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Center for Ecoliteracy; www.ecoliteracy.org.
Community Food Security Coalition; www.foodsecurity.org.
The Edible Schoolyard; www.edibleschoolyard.org.
National Farm to School Program; www.farmtoschool.org.
The School Lunch Initiative; www.schoollunchinitiative.org.
Slow Food USA; www.slowfoodusa.org.
Vermont Food Education Every Day (VT FEED); www.vtfeed.org.

Cathe Olson is a mom, a freelance writer, and the author of Simply Natural Baby Food and The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook. For more information, visit www.simplynaturalbooks.com.