I've been talking about the new proposed 2011-2012 menu for the LAUSD and how it is a significant step forward from previous years, but unless you've been to the meetings, you haven't seen it. So, I'm posting my version of the document (since LAUSD hasn't provided an electronic copy yet). [The original wasn't much better formatted.]
Obviously, this is merely a rough first draft so we need to focus on fixing some of its deficiencies but keep the advances.
The proposed 2011-2012 menu: Here [PDF]
Showing posts with label school food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school food. Show all posts
Sunday, October 17, 2010
LAUSD Seeks Assistance with the 2011-12 Menu
This past Friday, October 15th, several members of the community met with representatives of the Los Angeles Unified School District to discuss the, dare I say, revolutionary changes to the 2011-12 school menu.
Present at the meeting was Jennie Cook of Food for Lunch, Nicole Feenstra of YourCommunityGarden.org and Walter Smith and I represented SEE-LA and the Farmer's Kitchen. LAUSD was represented by David Binkle, Deputy Director for Menu Compliance and Florence Simpson, Senior Food Service Supervisor.
Read on for my notes on the meeting.
Present at the meeting was Jennie Cook of Food for Lunch, Nicole Feenstra of YourCommunityGarden.org and Walter Smith and I represented SEE-LA and the Farmer's Kitchen. LAUSD was represented by David Binkle, Deputy Director for Menu Compliance and Florence Simpson, Senior Food Service Supervisor.
Read on for my notes on the meeting.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Observations and Suggestions on LAUSD School Menu
Below is the memo I sent to the LAUSD based on my analysis of the existing school menu.
To: David Binkle
From: Ernest Miller
CC: Mark Baida
Date: Oct 13, 2010
Subject: Observations and Suggestions on LAUSD School Menu
First I would like to thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the nutrition and health of our schoolchildren. This issue is very important to me and I am excited to be part of the process.
Second, I am aware of the extreme constraints you struggle with to feed such a large population of students with such meager resources and limited physical plant. Thus, some of my suggestions may be more aspirational than anything.
In a related note, my experience and knowledge base concerning your operation is rather limited, so my suggestions and observations may be faulty on a number of levels. Hopefully, a discussion of these issues will assist in improving the quality of future suggestions and observations.
Herewith my suggestions and observations:
1. Seasonality
I believe that seasonality is a critical aspect in menu planning and healthy eating for a number of reasons. Among other things, it ties us to the land and the production of food that seasonless industrial food production does not. In teaching good eating habits, seasonal produce is better tasting and less expensive. Quality seasonal ingredients need less cooking to produce a quality output. It forces us to think more about our food, where it comes from and how we consume it. I could go on, but you get the idea.
In addition, seasonality can be used to tie school gardens into the cafeteria. Although school gardens will never produce enough food to be anything more than a small supplement to the school meal programs (if they get in at all), it is possible to add seasonal recipes that mimic what is being grown in the school gardens, thus reinforcing what the school gardens are doing. For example, if carrots are being harvested in the school garden, we should ensure that some variation on fresh carrots are being served in the school cafeteria. This will require coordination between school gardens and FSD, but it will be possible.
Seasonality can also be used to coordinate with other programs, such Farm-to-School and Harvest of the Month.
2. Localism
There is no acknowledgment of local sourcing for any of the menu items. Though it won't be possible for the entire menu, it would be good to highlight when local sourcing is used.
3. Cultural/Historical
There doesn't seem to be much social studies built into the menu, especially considering the rich cultural history of Southern California and our diverse cultures.
4. Salads
The only salads I see on the menu are daily spinach side salads. I believe there is opportunity for more variety and seasonality in side salads. Perhaps it might also be possible to occasionally have a salad as an entree option? I'm not talking salad bar, but potentially a composed salad. There are limitless possibilities for savory fruit salads, grain salads of all sorts, bean salads and pasta salads.
5. Soup
Soup is nutritious, inexpensive and often a healthier option but is not on the menu. The possibilities for stews, chilis, gumbos, paellas, jambalayas and curries is also rather large, but not utilized.
6. Fish
Fish seem underutilized on the menu. Additionally, are the fish nuggets sustainably farm-raised or …?
7. Pork.
Outside the sausage, perhaps, pork is not part of the menu.
8. Breakfast
Hot cereal is not an option – but there is a lot of potential for hot cereals and healthy toppings.
Yogurt is not noted as a breakfast option.
Though it is undoubtedly popular, Frosted Flakes doesn't seem like a good selection for cold cereal.
9. Whole fruit?
Is whole fruit available, particularly for secondary school?
10. Beans and grains
With the exception of the bean and cheese burrito, there doesn't seem much in the way of legumes and other grains on the menu. Such items as black beans, black-eyed peas, and red beans are all excellent sources of nutrition and are inexpensive.
11. Whole Grain Pastas
The menu doesn't indicate that the pastas are whole-grain. If not, I'm sure you've considered the switch.
These are some of my more general comments, I have a number of more specific questions and observations about particular menu items, but will reserve those for our discussion if appropriate.
I apologize for the poor formatting and organization, but I wanted to get these notes to you before our conversation this afternoon.
Respectfully,
Ernest
To: David Binkle
From: Ernest Miller
CC: Mark Baida
Date: Oct 13, 2010
Subject: Observations and Suggestions on LAUSD School Menu
First I would like to thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the nutrition and health of our schoolchildren. This issue is very important to me and I am excited to be part of the process.
Second, I am aware of the extreme constraints you struggle with to feed such a large population of students with such meager resources and limited physical plant. Thus, some of my suggestions may be more aspirational than anything.
In a related note, my experience and knowledge base concerning your operation is rather limited, so my suggestions and observations may be faulty on a number of levels. Hopefully, a discussion of these issues will assist in improving the quality of future suggestions and observations.
Herewith my suggestions and observations:
1. Seasonality
I believe that seasonality is a critical aspect in menu planning and healthy eating for a number of reasons. Among other things, it ties us to the land and the production of food that seasonless industrial food production does not. In teaching good eating habits, seasonal produce is better tasting and less expensive. Quality seasonal ingredients need less cooking to produce a quality output. It forces us to think more about our food, where it comes from and how we consume it. I could go on, but you get the idea.
In addition, seasonality can be used to tie school gardens into the cafeteria. Although school gardens will never produce enough food to be anything more than a small supplement to the school meal programs (if they get in at all), it is possible to add seasonal recipes that mimic what is being grown in the school gardens, thus reinforcing what the school gardens are doing. For example, if carrots are being harvested in the school garden, we should ensure that some variation on fresh carrots are being served in the school cafeteria. This will require coordination between school gardens and FSD, but it will be possible.
Seasonality can also be used to coordinate with other programs, such Farm-to-School and Harvest of the Month.
2. Localism
There is no acknowledgment of local sourcing for any of the menu items. Though it won't be possible for the entire menu, it would be good to highlight when local sourcing is used.
3. Cultural/Historical
There doesn't seem to be much social studies built into the menu, especially considering the rich cultural history of Southern California and our diverse cultures.
4. Salads
The only salads I see on the menu are daily spinach side salads. I believe there is opportunity for more variety and seasonality in side salads. Perhaps it might also be possible to occasionally have a salad as an entree option? I'm not talking salad bar, but potentially a composed salad. There are limitless possibilities for savory fruit salads, grain salads of all sorts, bean salads and pasta salads.
5. Soup
Soup is nutritious, inexpensive and often a healthier option but is not on the menu. The possibilities for stews, chilis, gumbos, paellas, jambalayas and curries is also rather large, but not utilized.
6. Fish
Fish seem underutilized on the menu. Additionally, are the fish nuggets sustainably farm-raised or …?
7. Pork.
Outside the sausage, perhaps, pork is not part of the menu.
8. Breakfast
Hot cereal is not an option – but there is a lot of potential for hot cereals and healthy toppings.
Yogurt is not noted as a breakfast option.
Though it is undoubtedly popular, Frosted Flakes doesn't seem like a good selection for cold cereal.
9. Whole fruit?
Is whole fruit available, particularly for secondary school?
10. Beans and grains
With the exception of the bean and cheese burrito, there doesn't seem much in the way of legumes and other grains on the menu. Such items as black beans, black-eyed peas, and red beans are all excellent sources of nutrition and are inexpensive.
11. Whole Grain Pastas
The menu doesn't indicate that the pastas are whole-grain. If not, I'm sure you've considered the switch.
These are some of my more general comments, I have a number of more specific questions and observations about particular menu items, but will reserve those for our discussion if appropriate.
I apologize for the poor formatting and organization, but I wanted to get these notes to you before our conversation this afternoon.
Respectfully,
Ernest
LAUSD - Cafeteria Improvement Committee Meeting Notes - 2010-10-11
The monthly Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Cafeteria Improvement Committee meeting took place this past Monday, October 11th. This committee has been meeting for several years, but recently there has been an increase in interest in the issue of school nutrition, and the committee has become more popular. It is open to the public, so parents and other concerned citizens can provide their input as well.
Now is actually quite an exciting time to participate on the committee because not only is there increased interest in the topic, but the LAUSD is preparing to make some of the biggest changes in its school menus in its history.
The committee is chaired by Dennis Barrett, director of LAUSD's Food Service Division. David Binkle (Food Service/Menu Compliance) also represented LAUSD FSD.
Unfortunately, other (should be) interested parties from LAUSD were not represented. Facilities Service Division, which is responsible for the construction of new schools and modernizing existing schools was not present. There was some discussion about getting them involved, but it seems that Facilities hasn't been much interested in hearing the committee's suggestions on providing adequate kitchens, food distribution designs and eating accommodations.
Did you know that in many of LAUSD's secondary schools there is no indoor seating for students to eat? There might be a few covered, but unwalled areas, but no seating area free from weather (yeah, it doesn't rain much in Southern California but, sheesh) and competition from pigeons. Yes, school plans take years to come to fruition, but the childhood obesity epidemic isn't going to be solved in a couple of years. We need long term planning. We need Facilities Service Division to make adequate access to good food for students one of their priorities.
Also conspicuous by their absence was anyone representing principals and other school administrators. One of the biggest problems for students having adequate access to good food is that they don't have time to eat it. Principals are notorious for limiting meal hours in order to maximize classroom hours. Instead of several lunch periods, administrations will schedule a single lunch period, forcing thousands of students to overrun the cafeteria at once and leaving many hungry at the end of the thirty-minute period. On the other extreme, some schools are scheduling lunch as early as 10am, well before students are hungry for lunch. Frankly, the way some of these schools schedule lunch, if the students were employees the schools would be in violation of state labor standards for adequate breaks.
There were many representatives of community organizations. Matt Sharp of California Food Policy Advocates was there, of course, along with several of his co-workers. Elizabeth Medrano of Occidental College's Urban and Environmental Policy Institute (UEPI) and head of the Healthy School Coalition was also there along with other members of her coalition. I could go on, but lack of time prevents me from continuing.
There were a number of students of Professor William McCarthy, Adjunct Professor of Public Health at UCLA, present as observers (for class credit). Hopefully, many of them will choose to move from observation into action.
The beginning of the meeting was an overview of the lunch program and the financial status of the Food Services Division (dire) for those who were new to the committee. Just a couple of years ago, the School Board determined that part-time employees of the FSD, who usually worked 15 hours a week would work a minimum of 20 hours a week and be entitled to full medical/dental/vision benefits for them and their families at no cost. While this might have benefited the employees, it meant that the money available for student meals dropped from 86 cents a meal to 57 cents. It has since climbed back to 77 cents due to contracting reforms and other efficiencies implemented by FSD, but that is still less than adequate for healthy meals for children.
The most important item on the agenda was the unveiling of a proposed 2011-2012 menu for the schools. It is amazing. Not perfect, by any means, but a revolutionary move forward. Seriously, revolutionary. No longer will pizza, chicken wings and bean/cheese burritos be the mainstay of the diet, but increased fruits and vegetables in a wide variety of culturally relevant preparations. Jambalaya, quinoa salad, black bean soup, black-eyed pea salad, and vegetable manicotti are just a few of the healthy dishes proposed for this new menu. Of course, this is just a proposal, and it will be the mission of the menu planning committee to see to it that the menu is implemented as much as feasibly possible.
The menu planning committee is meeting this coming Friday, Oct. 13th. I'll report more on the new menu then.
See my next post for the recommendations that I made based on the old menu.
Now is actually quite an exciting time to participate on the committee because not only is there increased interest in the topic, but the LAUSD is preparing to make some of the biggest changes in its school menus in its history.
The committee is chaired by Dennis Barrett, director of LAUSD's Food Service Division. David Binkle (Food Service/Menu Compliance) also represented LAUSD FSD.
Unfortunately, other (should be) interested parties from LAUSD were not represented. Facilities Service Division, which is responsible for the construction of new schools and modernizing existing schools was not present. There was some discussion about getting them involved, but it seems that Facilities hasn't been much interested in hearing the committee's suggestions on providing adequate kitchens, food distribution designs and eating accommodations.
Did you know that in many of LAUSD's secondary schools there is no indoor seating for students to eat? There might be a few covered, but unwalled areas, but no seating area free from weather (yeah, it doesn't rain much in Southern California but, sheesh) and competition from pigeons. Yes, school plans take years to come to fruition, but the childhood obesity epidemic isn't going to be solved in a couple of years. We need long term planning. We need Facilities Service Division to make adequate access to good food for students one of their priorities.
Also conspicuous by their absence was anyone representing principals and other school administrators. One of the biggest problems for students having adequate access to good food is that they don't have time to eat it. Principals are notorious for limiting meal hours in order to maximize classroom hours. Instead of several lunch periods, administrations will schedule a single lunch period, forcing thousands of students to overrun the cafeteria at once and leaving many hungry at the end of the thirty-minute period. On the other extreme, some schools are scheduling lunch as early as 10am, well before students are hungry for lunch. Frankly, the way some of these schools schedule lunch, if the students were employees the schools would be in violation of state labor standards for adequate breaks.
There were many representatives of community organizations. Matt Sharp of California Food Policy Advocates was there, of course, along with several of his co-workers. Elizabeth Medrano of Occidental College's Urban and Environmental Policy Institute (UEPI) and head of the Healthy School Coalition was also there along with other members of her coalition. I could go on, but lack of time prevents me from continuing.
There were a number of students of Professor William McCarthy, Adjunct Professor of Public Health at UCLA, present as observers (for class credit). Hopefully, many of them will choose to move from observation into action.
The beginning of the meeting was an overview of the lunch program and the financial status of the Food Services Division (dire) for those who were new to the committee. Just a couple of years ago, the School Board determined that part-time employees of the FSD, who usually worked 15 hours a week would work a minimum of 20 hours a week and be entitled to full medical/dental/vision benefits for them and their families at no cost. While this might have benefited the employees, it meant that the money available for student meals dropped from 86 cents a meal to 57 cents. It has since climbed back to 77 cents due to contracting reforms and other efficiencies implemented by FSD, but that is still less than adequate for healthy meals for children.
The most important item on the agenda was the unveiling of a proposed 2011-2012 menu for the schools. It is amazing. Not perfect, by any means, but a revolutionary move forward. Seriously, revolutionary. No longer will pizza, chicken wings and bean/cheese burritos be the mainstay of the diet, but increased fruits and vegetables in a wide variety of culturally relevant preparations. Jambalaya, quinoa salad, black bean soup, black-eyed pea salad, and vegetable manicotti are just a few of the healthy dishes proposed for this new menu. Of course, this is just a proposal, and it will be the mission of the menu planning committee to see to it that the menu is implemented as much as feasibly possible.
The menu planning committee is meeting this coming Friday, Oct. 13th. I'll report more on the new menu then.
See my next post for the recommendations that I made based on the old menu.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
War Era Food Posters Exhibit
Okay, so having been out of touch with blogosphere for a few months, I'm probably the last one to know about this, but I still think it is pretty darn cool. Apparently, the US Department of Agriculture's National Agriculture Library has an exhibit, When Beans Were Bullets, of war era food and agriculture posters. Many of the posters feature ideas that are very topical today, stuff I didn't realize was part of the culture back then.
Early Michael Pollan perhaps?
We all have heard of victory gardens, but what about the "School Garden Army"? Maybe we should bring that back.
And, of course, a nice selection of canning posters:.jpg)
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Be sure to check out the whole online exhibit, When Beans Were Bullets, or the Smithsonian Magazine's online gallery of highlights: American Food Posters from World War I and II.
Early Michael Pollan perhaps?
We all have heard of victory gardens, but what about the "School Garden Army"? Maybe we should bring that back.And, of course, a nice selection of canning posters:
.jpg)
.jpg)
Be sure to check out the whole online exhibit, When Beans Were Bullets, or the Smithsonian Magazine's online gallery of highlights: American Food Posters from World War I and II.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Gotta Beef with Lunch?
Food for Lunch is a new group looking to reform the school lunch program in the Los Angeles Unified School District:
FOOD FOR LUNCH is a group of concerned LAUSD parents, residents, grassroots and community organizations from across Los Angeles who have joined together to affect positive change in the LAUSD lunchroom.They're meeting on Wednesday, August 18th and Tuesday August 31st. I plan on being at both meetings and helping as much as I can.
In response to what even the USDA is calling “the single greatest threat to public health in this century,” the obesity epidemic, and to combat health trends in this epidemic which will put 1 in 2 of America’s children at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes in their lifetime, we propose the following changes be made immediately for food served to children at breakfast and lunch:In addition, we want transparency from LAUSD Food Services in menu choices and food selection and a willingness from the School Board and Food Services to go through the challenge of transition as healthier changes are implemented in LAUSD breakfasts and lunches.
- More whole foods, fruits and vegetables served. We advocate for California-sourced, unprocessed foods served daily for breakfast and lunch.
- Less processed foods: no chicken nuggets or other such highly processed animal protein foods.
- Less sugar: Reduce sugar to no more than 20 grams per meal and remove foods made with high fructose corn syrup.
- Water: We want filtered, non-bottled water as a beverage option school-wide.
- Sustainability: We want food that is sustainably sourced and minimally packaged as well as a reduction of individually wrapped and packaged foods.
On Wednesday, August 18 at 6:30 PM at Manual Arts High School located at 4131 Vermont Avenue next to USC, all interested parties are invited to make their opinions known about LAUSD school food. Mud Baron, school garden guru and LAUSD’s Green Policy Director, will be co-facilitating with Laura Benevidez of LAUSD Food Services. This is the official listening session of the School Food Parent/Student/Teacher/Community Taskforce before the first LAUSD Board meeting of 2010-11 school year. Speakers will have the opportunity to hear & discuss options.If you're in LA and care about school food policy, you're invited. If you can't make it, I encourage you to sign the petition and join their mailing list: contact Jennie Cook at jennie@jenniecooks.com or Rebecca Crane at r.h.crane@gmail. And check them out on Facebook.
Then, on Tuesday, August 31 at 1:30 PM is the LAUSD school board meeting where school lunch and this halted Tyson contract will be discussed again. WE NEED A BIG SHOW of people to come and let the School Board meeting to let board members know we want them to start making healthier food a reality NOW! The meeting is held at the LAUSD School Board offices, located at 333 South Beaudry Ave in downtown Los Angeles, just north of the 110 freeway. Park in the Visconti parking lot on Miramar St. and get free parking for 2 hours!
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