School nutrition: A fresh approach

A veggie revolution takes hold at Vashon's public schools

Story and photos by EDDIE WESTERMAN
WEA Communications

Corn dog, cheeseburger, chicken nuggets, pepperoni pizza, mashed potatoes with gravy, sun chips, and dinner rolls -- do you feel your arteries clogging as you read about the lunch fare being served up in a suburban school district this month?

Compare that with Vashon Island's school lunches this month: Thai chicken lettuce wraps with yakisoba noodles; boneless cilantro chicken breast with couscous; fresh garden pizza -- all of those dishes come with a fresh fruit selection and every day Cafeteria staffer Kim Gateman watches Jamieson Wald make healthy choices.children can make selections from an organic salad bar.

Why so different? Paul Cézanne once wrote, "The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution." The quiet revolution has begun in schools and lunchrooms around Washington state.

Doctors say it's a revolution that is long overdue. Teachers and parents and community activists would say it simply makes good sense and the students who are benefiting might not even know it.

Public school cafeterias are changing the food in the school lunch and breakfast programs. Some are doing it because of a new state law requiring each district to adopt healthier nutrition policies by 2005. The school districts leading the way are finding that old habits die hard, but new habits can change student behavior, academic achievement and the whole culture of the school.

Once a week, first-, second- and third-graders skip the cafeteria and bring their sack or school-bought lunches to "Chez Berliner," teacher Glenda Berliner's homeroom café. The students are treated to fresh flowers at each table cut from Chautauqua Elementary's own garden on Vashon Island and the odor of either freshly cooked vegetables or another sumptuous wholesome treat to supplement their own meal.

The culture difference is apparent -- a parent volunteer brings Berliner an organic chocolate chip pumpkin muffin as she comes in to help sprinkle maple syrup on the freshly cooked squash being served up at Chez Berliner. It's not just about the food.Fruits and veggies

Parents and students share some time around the tables while most (though certainly not all) students taste the squash.

Vashon naturopath Fran Brooks says moving Vashon's school cafeterias toward a more wholesome, locally grown, freshly prepared and pleasingly served menu is something she has wanted to do for a long time.

Pediatricians say childhood obesity is at an alarmingly high rate. Lack of physical exercise coupled with too much sugar and other poor nutrition habits is causing chronic illness, hyperactivity and childhood diabetes.

As a new teacher, Berliner made a goal, a few years ago, of bringing renowned chef Alice Waters' edible garden curriculum to Vashon Island. After attending a sustainable food conference a couple of years ago, Berliner realized she wasn't the only person with the goal of bringing farm and/or garden fresh food to cafeteria tables.

"By the time I was teaching my multi-age first-, second- and third-graders, my teammates and I realized gardening was where it was at," Berliner says. With the help of a couple of grants, multi-age teammates Gerie Wilson, Tina Taylor and Berliner were on their way.

The last piece was to bring the nutrition director, Food Service Manager Claudia Campbell, on board. Campbell says she always had an interest in healthier foods, but she knew she'd get nowhere without nutrition education and community support. Attending an edible schoolyard conference nurtured creative ideas such as fresh garden pizza and sautéed Chinese vegetables.

Students working in the garden Vashon isn't the only school district heading up a healthier path. Olympia schools have been working their local farm-to-school program for a few years now and they have solid data showing that their students are eating more fresh vegetables and fruit and less junk in their schools. Food Service Supervisor Paul Flock says 10 elementary schools are purchasing food from seven farms in the area and middle and high schools are serving organic soups as well. And Seattle Public Schools just approved sweeping changes in their nutrition policies.

What about the children? Ask some of them and they'll tell you their lunches haven't changed a bit even as they munch on zucchini baked right in their classroom.

Then tour Chautauqua's garden with students who go out once a week to work in it and you'll hear a whole different awareness level.

"I like our garden because we grow stuff that we pass around the cafeteria," second-grader Sophie Harrison says. "Good food helps your digestion and I know the nutrients are good for my body."

Even the youngest students are learning. "I just like digging around in the dirt," first-grader Simon Derrer says. "I even dig when I'm not supposed to. I just love it."

Seattle schools approve far-reaching nutrition policies

The Seattle Public School District has a new set of comprehensive and far-reaching nutrition-related policies on the books. The idea is to provide students with healthy food and beverage choices during the school day, ban sales of foods containing high levels of sugar and fat, improve the quality and appeal of school meals and prohibit exclusive contracts with beverage vendors.

The policies are among the strongest in the country and were pushed through by Citizens Campaign for Commercial-Free Schools (CCCFS), a group of parents, teachers, a school board member and Nathan Hale others who are interested in providing an environment that maximizes students' ability to learn.

CCCFS President and Nathan Hale High School teacher Ted Lockery says getting the policy passed was the easy part.

"We can have the healthiest policies in the country, but it's the community that actually has to take the policies to heart and enforce them," Lockery says.

The changes in the breakfast and lunch menus are already evident. Organic apples, more fresh fruits and vegetables bought from local farms, low-fat dips and less a-la-carte junk food are available in schools across the city.

The problem is that many middle and high schools fundraise a lot of money utilizing the vending machines. With open campuses, students can walk off school grounds and purchase the same soda that would bring the school much-needed funds.

"I've always thought it would be good to have a transition grant," Lockery says. "It would be used to help students kick the junk food habit and offer ways to replace funds lost. It doesn't really make sense to be making money off our own kids by encouraging them to eat sugary and fat-filled foods."

little carrrotSmall signs of change encourage Lockery. As senior class advisor, he encourages parents to bring seltzer instead of soda to a pizza party. Nathan Hale's faculty lounge is seeing more bagels and fewer donuts than in past years. Some vending machines sell only bottled water.

But Lockery knows that because of Seattle's size, it will take a culture change to make a real difference.

"We have to rely on ad hoc enforcement," Lockery says.

He says it's going to take changing the whole culture including getting adults to model healthier nutritional behavior. But he is pleased that Seattle Schools are taking solid first steps.

 

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