Meal plan

September 10, 2007

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An analysis of the first year of the program, conducted by local environmental nonprofit Ecotrust, found that the amount of fruits and vegetables eaten by Abernethy students increased, the number of students who participated in the lunch program rose, and the meals met the USDA nutritional requirements.

The Ecotrust report also found that the Abernethy meals cost more than those at a similar school that did not have a scratch kitchen: $3.52 per child versus $1.67. But the report attributed the difference to the cost of labor rather than to the cost of food. An analysis of the second year is due out in October, but Colwell says that with systems in place, labor costs in 2006-2007 dropped significantly.

“We know Abernethy isn’t losing any more [money] than any other school in the district that does heat-and-serve [meals],” she says.

While Colwell holds no fantasies that all 83 of the schools in the Portland district are going to fire up their own scratch kitchens anytime soon, she does believe change will gradually come to Portland.

Elements of the Abernethy program have already been exported district-wide. More schools have edible learning gardens tended by the students, Nutrition Services is procuring more of its food from local growers, and a Harvest of the Month program has been established at all schools.

“We positioned the scratch kitchen as part of the institution, so it could be evaluated within the system. It says it can be done,” says Colwell. “To me, Abernethy represents a holistic approach, a partnership between farms, Portland Schools, and Nutrition Services. It’s the best way to support the wellness plan.”

The same year that the Abernethy program started, chef Ann Cooper took over the school-lunch program in Berkeley, California. Cooper spent several years as executive chef at the private Ross School in East Hampton, New York, before Alice Waters and the Chez Panisse Foundation lured her away to improve the diets of Berkeley’s 10,000 public-school students.

When Cooper arrived in Berkeley in 2005, 95 percent of the food served in the cafeterias was processed. By the end of the 2007 school year, 90 percent of the products Cooper was using were fresh; many of them came from local farmers. And from the government commodities program — which offers cut-rate overstock to all schools nationwide — she bought only whole foods.

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Given the childhood obesity crisis, Cooper believes that American schools should start offering free nutritious lunches to all students. “We’re looking at a pandemic of childhood obesity,” says the self-titled Renegade Lunch Lady. “Wellness and nutrition should be part of the school curriculum. I don’t see [serving nutritious meals] as any different from teaching other subjects. It’s part of our children’s education.”

Cooper says that, with the attention the Centers for Disease Control is giving to childhood obesity, the time is ripe for change; she challenges national politicians to take more leadership on children’s health. “It’s going to take some political will for that to happen, and the only way we’re going to get some political will is if moms go out on the street and protest,” she says.

Enter Susan Rubin and Amy Kalafa, rabblerousers from Connecticut who teamed up to produce “Two Angry Moms,” a movie that highlights the flaws of the National School Lunch Program and offers solutions that have been implemented in different parts of the country. Examples include the school district in Riverside, California, where food-service director Rodney Taylor buys locally grown produce from the farmers’ market for school salad bars, and the ConVal School District in New Hampshire, where food-service director Tony Geraci has established a farm-to-cafeteria program, gotten rid of junk food, and invited kids to help plan and cook meals.

The logo of the Better School Food Network.

Rubin has been working to improve school lunches in her community for more than 10 years, ever since her daughter came home from first grade with fruit roll-ups in her backpack. “As a dentist, I was appalled,” says Rubin. “To me, food is health care.” Rubin believes that, in addition to obesity, the rise in cancer, asthma, and allergy rates are all related to our poor diets. In response, she developed the Better School Food Network to share information and encourage other parents to get involved in their local school-lunch programs.

Filmmaker Kalafa, who has produced numerous food shows for PBS, wants to convince parents that they have the power to make changes. “There are many creative ways parents can get what they want, as long as they work together as a community. Here in our local communities we can have an impact not just on the school, but on the planet,” Kalafa says. “We all know that a dollar invested in a lunch today is one hundred dollars saved in health care in the future. It’s time to pay attention and put that money where it needs to go.”

Anne Laufe is a freelance writer in Portland, Oregon.

Also on Culinate: See Deborah Madison’s take on French school lunches in her Culinate column.