An old college friend (hi, Daphne!) sent me an article yesterday from the Denver Post outlining some promising changes going on in the Denver school lunch program.
The report decribes how a school-food advocate named Kate Adamick, supported by private grant money, has been traveling across Colorado this summer to conduct one-week boot camps to teach school employees how to cook from scratch. She also tries to convince schools that, contrary to popular belief, it’s not necessarily cheaper to purchase processed commodity food (e.g., pre-breaded chicken nuggets) versus fresh commodities (raw chicken parts).
Another hopeful sign discussed in the article is the move to purchase more local food for the Denver program.
Do you have a success story to share from your own school district? Leave a comment and let us know about it.
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Kate is a longtime friend and colleague of mine. Her work was featured in the Two Angry Moms movie. Kate’s concept of transforming lunch ladies into lunch teachers is the basis of her culinary boot camps which have hit both Santa Barbara CA and the state of Colorado by storm.
This strategy works great for districts which have cafeterias which are self-operated. However, if your school district is at the mercy of a food service management corporation such as Sodhexo or Aramark, expect more than just a little resistance to this great idea.