As it bails out banks, the federal government might also do something to improve the quality of school cafeteria food, renowned chief Alice Waters argues.
In an op-ed published last week by The New York Times, Waters and co-author Katrina Heron took aim at the National School Lunch Program, a federal effort started in 1946 that they describe as a “poor investment.”
At $9 billion annually, the program is under-funded, they wrote. Beyond that, the money is not spent well, Waters and Heron argue, as it goes toward low-quality and high-fat food.
In effect, the program has led schools to serve the equivalent of fast food to their students, the writers allege.
“We need to scrap the current system and start from scratch,” they write. “Washington needs to give schools enough money to cook and serve unprocessed foods that are produced without pesticides or chemical fertilizers. When possible, these foods should be locally grown.”
Waters and Heron estimate that it would cost about $27 billion annually to give 30 million school children a wholesome meal.
In addition, there would be one-time costs associated with putting real kitchens in school. (Currently, many schools simply heat foods that have been prepared off-site.)
Waters and Paul Aratow co-founded Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, Calif., in 1971. Considered one of the top restaurants in the world, Chez Panisse features locally grown foods.
In 1996, Waters created the Chez Panisse Foundation. The foundation advocates for the improvement of school lunch programs. It envisions schools in which the students help in the preparation of healthy meals made from local ingredients.
Heron, a former editor-in-chief of Wired magazine, is a member of the Foundation’s board of directors.
She chaired the board of Slow Food Nation, a 2008 showcase of organic and locally grown foods in San Francisco, and she’s a co-producer of the website civileats.com.
Waters and Heron might find support in the White House kitchen for their call to improve the National School Lunch Program.
Sam Kass, a Chicago chef brought to the White House by Barack and Michelle Obama, faulted the national program in a talk he gave in Chicago in May, as reported in the Times last month.
Too much of the money spent in the program goes toward meat and dairy products, not enough to fresh vegetables, Kass argued.
The end result, he said, is that children are not getting foods that enhance their ability to learn. In addition, the typical school lunch diet contributes to childhood obesity, he said.
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1 Comments
#1. Debra 06.15.2009
I would love to get on board-saw Alice Waters on 60 minutes and I agree. I am a high school English teacher with an herb garden from Ophelia’s speech in Hamlet, but I see we could really do something about nutrition and the economy with the push for schools to be more connected to real food, local food. Count me in!
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