Healthy Schools Campaign

Students Shine in Cooking up Change Demos on Fox and WCIU

On Friday morning, teams of high school culinary students across Chicago gathered with their teams to get ready for the Cooking up Change healthy cooking contest. Students started early, cooking at their schools before traveling to the Brideport Art Center, where they prepared, plated and presented healthy school meals to a panel of judges.

For a few students, the day started even earlier! Three energetic student chefs brought their talent to television by presenting cooking demos on two local morning shows: Fox's Good Day Chicago, hosted by Cooking up Change judge Corey McPherrin and WCIU's You & Me This Morning, hosted by Jeanne Sparrow.

Check out these great segments, below! Thanks to the hosts for their warm welcomes and to the students for sharing their talent for Cooking up Change.

Cooking up Change judge Corey McPherrin hosts students and the culinary instructor from Tilden Career Academy:

Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News

Jeanne Sparrow of WCIU welcomes Dunbar Career Academy Ciara Dixon and lends a hand in preparing the team's Creole vegetable hash:

Plus: On Thursday, November 8, Cooking up Change contest co-chair Randy Zweiban of Province visited NBC studios and chatted with The Talk's Marion Brooks about Cooking up Change!

Epicurious.com Spotlights Cooking up Change

by Lindsay Muscato

Cooking up Change is right around the corner -- so we're extra-thrilled to see some hype from Epicurious. 

Yes, that's right, one of our very favorite food web sites did a blog post on Cooking up Change and interviewed our President and CEO, Rochelle Davis. The post says:

In the land of meat and potatoes and epic Italian beef sandwiches and weighty pizza, Chicago is leading the way to empowering schools to create healthy environments, in part with Cooking Up Change, a healthy cooking contest that challenges teams of public high school students to create a "healthy, great-tasting school meal that meets high nutrition standards, incorporates a local food item, draws from ingredients commonly available to food service, and can be easily prepared in a school kitchen."

Read on.... 

Writer Rose Palazzolo is one of the judges for Cooking up Change, so she has the inside scoop on why the event is so valuable and exciting. Thanks, Epicurious, for the spotlight! We're still blushing.

'It’s Not Rude to Ask about Food!': Film Urges Consumers to Drive Changes With Their Choices

By Ashley Hofmann, HSC public policy intern

Ashley Hofmann is completing the final practicum to earn her Masters of Social Work from the University of Missouri. Her academic research focuses on disparities in access to health care and how policy can act as a catalyst for social justice.

What if you changed just ten percent of your food habits? Would you eat more organics, buy food with less packaging, get eggs from a local grower or cook at home more often?  If 10 cents of every dollar you spent on food was shifted to healthier, more sustainable choices, what kind of impact would that make – on your health, the economy, the environment?

These are the questions behind a new documentary called Food Patriots, which I first heard about at an institute on food access around the world presented by the University of Chicago's Center for International Studies, followed by a dialogue with filmmaker Jeff Spitz.

The goal behind the film is to spark a conversation about our individual purchasing power as consumers of food.  

The choices we make in (and out) of the supermarket drive the food industry and determine what is available, both physically on the shelf and financially at an affordable price. The idea is that growers, manufacturers, and retailers respond to market demands. Consider the example of something as simple as ketchup: if today we all stopped buying ketchup with high-fructose corn syrup in it, for example, not only would the ketchup recipe change, but companies would also purchase less corn from large agribusinesses, which in turn could open up markets for farmers who grow produce for human consumption. The list of examples goes on and on: increased consumer demand could increase our access to chicken raised without antibiotics, recycled packaging, food with fewer additives and fillers and much more. Where would you start?

The film urges consumers to find out where their food comes from and how healthy it is, using the mantra, "It's not rude to ask about food!"

As individuals, each of us can make a small 10-percent change.  As a whole, we can drive changes in industry, the economy, and the health of our planet, our children, and ourselves. 

Not sure how to get started changing your food habits?  The film’s website has 10 great  suggestions that are easy and practical first steps.  Here are a few other resources to get you thinking about the power of your dollar:

• Save money shopping organic: An article in the Los Angeles Times with tips
• Good Food on a Tight Budget, an interactive resource guide by Environmental Working Group and Share Our Strength

Also, take a moment and head over to the Food Patriots web site to see the film trailer, join the effort, and watch member videos showing changes they are making in their communities.  And be on the lookout for the documentary’s release in January!

Media Spotlights Cooking up Change Student Chefs

Not too long ago, students from across the country gathered in our nation’s capitol to help transform the future of school food. Cooking up Change is a spectacular platform for students to join the national dialogue around healthy school meals. The student chefs were the stars of the day, at the event and in the media! Thanks to the local and national news teams that came to spotlight these talented student chefs.

Photographers capture photos of Arne Duncan’s visit with the Cooking up Change student chefs

Prior to preparing their meal, student chefs from Chicago, Denver, Jacksonville, Santa Ana, St. Louis, and Winston-Salem met with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who wished the students good luck.

The Cooking up Change Chicago team shared the importance of healthy cooking and eating in addressing childhood obesity with PBS Newshour:

 

Following the contest, the student chefs spoke at a briefing on school food with Pew Charitable Trust. Cooking up Change National co-chair Karen Duncan highlighted their leadership, creativity, and efforts to transform school food.

We’ve already shared the Santa Ana team’s excitement and hopes. Back home, they were featured in the local paper and on television. They also presented their meal with Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez and their chef mentor Katy Clark after winning the contest. The Orange County Register also blogged about their win here. Cooking Teen also focused on the winning team.

Check out some of the other exciting media features below:

• Scripps Howard Foundation Wire - “Students revamp school lunches at national competition” (5/24/2012) Coverage also appears on Infozine.
• McClatchy DC - “Students give Congress a mouthful” (5/23/12), video also available on Medill DC.
• Prevent Obesity’s blog - “"Cooking Up Change" with Student Chefs” (5/22/12)
• Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale) - Hungry? (5/22/12)
• Department of Education’s “Homeroom” blog - “National Healthy Lunch Finals Held at ED” (5/22/12)
• Associated Press - “Winston-Salem students to compete for lunch title” (5/21/12) Article also appears online at Washington Examiner, The Ledger, Press Democrat, and Herald Tribune
• WFLD-TV (FOX affiliate) - “Chicago Cooking up Change Winners Exhibit Award-Winning Recipe” (5/16/12)
• James Beard Foundation’s “Delights and Prejudices” blog - “JBF Partners with Cooking up Change in the Fight for Better School Lunch” (5/15/12)

We’d also like to thank Washington D.C.’s local news service for spotlighting the contest. 

Congratulations to the amazing student chefs who participated in Cooking up Change!

 Bonus: Check out the Department of Education’s Flickr photos from the Cooking up Change event.

Cooking up Change National Healthy Cooking Contest Winners Reflect, Look Ahead

It has been quite a whirlwind for Cooking up Change champion Santa Ana student chefs Alex, Ivan, and Ashley since they won first place in the national healthy cooking contest.

We had a chance to catch up with the Valley High School culinary students as they reflected on their national win.

“It feels really emotional, really exciting,” said team member Alex. “We worked really hard to create a dish that was under a dollar and with the nutritional processes. It was quite challenging, but overall it was amazing.”

The first-time competitors prepared lemon and spinach chicken with Tuscan bean salad and cinnamon poached pears. (Pictured left)

A tearful chef instructor Monica Aguilar described the winning moment: “I was breathless, I was so very excited, beaming with pride for my students and what they've accomplished.”

“For the last three years, I’ve seen them grow amazingly,” she added. “In this last year with Cooking up Change, its been like a growth spurt for them. To see their character, their skill level, just the people they’ve come. It’s amazing and to see the transformation, it’s incredible.”

Each team member received a scholarship to further their education. All three aspiring chefs plan to attend Orange Coast College beginning this summer. Ivan is looking forward to starting his career. His teammate Ashley said her goal is to “continue our path, become culinary artists” and to continue to “take into deep consideration how being healthy is a actually a lifestyle. I’m looking forward to doing it in the future.”

Although they’ll be graduating this year and no longer eating school lunch, they understand the impact their meal has in creating meaningful change. “It might not impact us directly because we’re about to graduate from school, but we’ve seen the changes that people are trying make,” Ashley  said. “The fact that my niece and my little sister can have different food in school is better for everyone.”

The Cooking up Change Santa Ana student chefs Alex, Ashley, and Ivan

A proud Alex expressed his hopes for the future. “I hope we get a chance to serve our meal in our community and maybe local markets, present it and tell people more about it,” he said. “Thats my vision, I want to make a change. We are going to cook up change, we are going to change how everyone eats.”

Since returning home, the students have been featured in their local paper. They have also been spotlighted on NBC Los Angeles. Check out a special segment below:

Kudos Santa Ana!

Today’s Chicago Tribune Story on Chicago Public Schools Food Service

Update (March 23, 2012): As many readers know, the initial Chicago Tribune article discussed in this post has been followed by several stories in the Tribune and one in the Chicago Sun-Times detailing select findings from the Inspector General’s report. The most recent development is a retraction from the Chicago Tribune of a number of key facts in their story about the Inspector General’s findings. In this most recent article, the Tribune reported that the value of the gifts exchanged was “far less than stated” in the original article and that they wrongly reported that certain expenses were charged on school nutrition director Louise Esaian’s CPS credit card when in fact they were on Ms. Esaian’s personal credit card.  The Inspector General’s report has not yet been made public. This story continues to unfold; we will share updates as more information is available. To read about HSC's efforts moving forward, click here.

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by Rochelle Davis, President and CEO

This morning, readers of the Chicago Tribune found a front-page story reporting that the Inspector General for Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is investigating allegations that Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality, the company that provides food service to many CPS schools, gave gifts to a high-ranking CPS employee, in possible violation of the district’s ethics policy.  

HSC has worked closely with CPS on making improvements to their food program, and Chartwells-Thompson has been a long-time sponsor of our Cooking up Change healthy cooking contest. I’d like to share some additional background about HSC's work with both of these organizations.

The article discusses Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality’s community involvement and mentions that Healthy Schools Campaign is one of the organizations, in addition to After School Matters, that receives support from Chartwells-Thompson. As many readers  know, Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality has been a sponsor of Cooking up Change, Healthy Schools Campaign’s annual culinary competition, for many years. Through this sponsorship, Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality has donated a total of $111,500 to Healthy Schools Campaign over five years, beginning in 2007. Cooking up Change focuses on HSC’s effort to engage high school culinary students in the movement for healthy school food.

HSC has also worked closely with CPS and by extension with Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality to make improvements to the school food program in Chicago. These improvements include more fresh fruit and vegetables, more whole grains and more freshly-prepared food in school meals, a large farm-to-school program and other health-promoting changes. Through this work, we have seen leaders at CPS and at Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality make important decisions about school food that prioritize children’s health. There is still much work to be done in this area, and I hope that everyone involved -- at CPS, at Chartwells-Thompson, and at schools across the city -- will remain focused on continued progress for healthy school food.

In response to the alleged ethics violations discussed in the Tribune, we will wait until the Inspector General completes his investigation and we learn what this investigation determines before we comment. We are glad that CPS has critical systems in place to make sure that decisions made by its employees are in the best interest of the district’s students.

We are continuing our efforts to improve school food in Chicago and hope that the school, business and community leaders we work with in this effort will remain focused on improvements that are so important for children’s health.

Book Spotlight: Real Moms Love to Eat by HSC Friend Beth Aldrich

Two things we love here at HSC: great food and great voices for kids’ health. That’s why we were so excited to see that our long-time friend and supporter Beth Aldrich has written a book! Her new release, Real Moms Love to Eat, spotlights practical advice on healthy eating, tips on making healthy choices easy for busy moms and families, and a big-picture perspective on how our choices about food shape our lives and have an impact on the planet.

Beth draws on her experience as a mom and as an integrative holistic nutrition counselor to craft an approach that focuses on healthy eating for the whole family.

"I look at the foods children are eating, the environment that they're in, and how relationships influence them -- in addition to what's on their plate,” she explained in a 2007 interview with HSC. “And my suggestions might not only involve food but also looking at what's going on in their life, incorporating breathing and quiet time."

It’s this perspective that led her to lend her support to HSC over the years, as a host committee member and sponsor of Cooking up Change.

"I'm all about nutrition and trying to get nutrition into schools,” she said. “And I thought HSC would be a positive way to influence other parents about how important their children's nutrition is."

Kudos to Beth on her new book and ongoing efforts to promote healthy eating and sustainable living for kids and families. Learn more about Real Moms Love to Eat here.

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Real Moms Love to Eat features great recipes from Beth’s friends and colleagues, including HSC President and CEO Rochelle Davis. She writes:

I’m so proud to support the organization created by Rochelle Davis, executive director of the Healthy Schools Campaign, an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides a voice for people who care about our environment, our children and education. She loves to cook this favorite family recipe for her two kids, Emily and Brian. Rochelle adapted this recipe from one by Ron and Nancy Goor. It’s tailor-made for the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, of which honey and apples are symbolic foods. They represent the hope that the new year will be sweet, healthy and happy.

 

6 organic or pasture-raised boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1 tablespoon olive oil, divided

½ sweet onion (like Vidalia)

2 organic Granny Smith apples, cored and sliced

1 ½ cups organic apple juice

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the chicken in a shallow baking pan.
2. Heat half the olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 4 minutes. Add the apples and cook for about a minute. Pour over the chicken.
3. Warm the remaining olive oil in the same pan over medium heat. Stir in the apple juice, honey, and salt. Cook, scraping the bottom of the pan, for 2 minutes. Pour over the apples.
4. Bake until bubbly and the chicken is no longer pink in the center, about 45 minutes. Serve with any sauce remaining in the baking pan.

Enjoy!

Media Spotlights Student Chefs of Cooking up Change Chicago

Just last month, the school lunch created by the winning Cooking up Change Chicago team from Chicago Vocational Career Academy -- a tasty, healthy meal of oven-fried chicken, leafy greens and cabbage, and sweet potato salad -- was served to more than 20,000 Chicago Public high school students across the city. We'd like to thank national publication N'Digo and local newspapers including Chicago Defender, Southeast Chicago Observer, and Chicago Citizen for spotlighting the CVCA team. We'd also like to shout out NBC 5 and Power 92's "Sam Sylk Show" for coming out to share highlights from the school.

Winning Cooking up Change Chicago meal

Last fall, the CVCA crew competed against eleven teams of students chefs challenged to create a healthy school meal on a tight budget at Cooking up Change. More than 700 supporters came to taste these delicious student-created meals. School lunch blogger Mrs. Q was among the many supporters who spoke with students about changing the future of school food. National honorary co-chair Christie Vilsack attended the event to commend students’ efforts to rewrite the recipe for school food.

CVCA accepts Cooking up Change award!

Student chef Shaenice Dishmon is interviewed by NBC news at CVCA.

The students proudly shared their stories! Check out some of the media highlights below.

• Chicago Citizen - "CVCA student chefs serve winning dish, headed to nationals"
• Chicago Defender - "Students prepare healthy lunch"
• Medill - "CPS student 'chefs' serve award-winning lunch"
• WLS-TV (ABC 7) - "Vocational students to feed 20,000 CPS students"
• True Star Magazine - "Cooking up Change"
• Fed Up With Lunch – “Cooking up Change (Parts 1, 2 and 3)”
• Our Urban Times – “Roberto Clemente placed second Cooking Up Change contest”
• WLS-TV (ABC 7) – “Chef Matt Eversman of OON Chicago” 
• Vocalo – "Are You Fed Up With Lunch?"
• Now You Know – “Cooking Up Change: Students Transforming the Future of School Food” 
• WGN-AM 720 "Extension 720" – "Fed Up with Lunch"
• Reclama – “Campana para almuerzo saludables” 
• U.S. News & World Report - Students Compete to Design Better Lunches 

 

Sam Sylk interviews David Blackmon at CVCA

Congratulations to the talented student chefs who participated in Cooking up Change!

A Look at Toxic Schools with CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta

CNN’s “CNN Presents” recently shed light on school indoor air quality during their Toxic Schools segment.

The presentation spotlights different stakeholders including parents, students, and teachers who were adversely affected by mold, dust, carcinogens, and chemicals. Parents discussed how their children experienced headaches and breathing problems as a result of their school facilities. Most alarming, the special revealed that an estimated one-third of public schools have air quality that causes respiratory problems for children.

Protection from Filth by Clark from Afton, VA

Aside from causing persistent health issues, exposure to these conditions also caused students to miss school, inhibiting their ability to learn and succeed. For instance, nine-year-old Matthew Asselin missed 53 days of school as a result of frequent hospitals visits and recovery.

Toxic Schools also highlights that while schools serve as academic institutions for students, they are work environments for faculty and staff. The segment references a 2010 National Association of School Nurse survey that estimates that health of 40 percent of students and staff are adversely affected by school environments. Joellen Lawson, a former Connecticut special education teacher spotlighted in this presentation, was diagnosed with a debilitating respiratory disease as a result of constant exposure to mold. Again, unhealthy school facilities adversely affect student learning when an educator’s ability to teach is inhibited.

Through Your Lens, a photography contest and exhibition that HSC presents in partnership with Critical Exposure and the 21st Century School Fund, creates opportunities to spotlight school facilities and the impact they have on learning. The photo submissions showcase a wide spectrum of school environments both good and bad, but the message is clear: students and teachers deserve a healthy school environment in which they can learn, work and succeed.

Broken Window by Ian from Baltimore, MD

We encourage you to raise your voice on school indoor air quality. Tell Congress to fix schools in need of repair as part of its jobs-creation effort. Learn more about the Fix America’s Schools Today (FAST) Billand send a letter to your Senators and Representative at www.fixamericasschoolstoday.org.

View Toxic Schools Part 1 and Part 2 online at CNN. 

These stories and those investigated by CNN remind us that every child deserves a healthy school environment.

Thank you to CNN for taking an in-depth look at this issue. 

Did you watch the special presentation? What are your thoughts?

 

School Indoor Air Quality in the Spotlight this Weekend with CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta

One of the most basic promises of a school building is that it will provide a safe environment where students and teachers can focus on learning. Very simply, the school environment should not put students’ health at risk. But what happens when schools fall into disrepair and no longer fulfill that promise?

This weekend, CNN will bring much-needed attention to the issue of indoor air quality in schools, exploring the ways this widespread and often overlooked problem affects kids’ health and their long-term academic success. In this segment, CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta will visit schools across the country to examine the impact of poor indoor air quality.

Check out this behind-the-scenes preview:

For the past several years, HSC has partnered with Critical Exposure and the 21st Century School Fund to present Through Your Lens, a photo contest and exhibit in which students and teachers share photos of their school buildings. One of the most striking impressions from the photos is that so many schools need so many basic repairs to address issues -- from leaky roofs to moldy walls -- that affect the quality of the air students and staff breathe every day.

While this is a massive issue, it’s one that is often overlooked -- especially at budget time. The national backlog for this type of school repair is estimated to be in the range of $200 billion, a number that’s expected to grow as states and school districts face shrinking budgets and postpone facility repairs rather than cut classroom budgets.

What can you do? We encourage you to join us in leveraging this opportunity to make a difference in the air children breathe in our nation’s schools:

• Watch CNN’s segment this weekend and join the conversation online. It will air this Saturday, January 14 at 8 p.m., 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. EST, and again this Sunday, January 15 at  8 p.m., 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. EST.  Then raise your voice to tell CNN and the online community how important this issue is. You can share your reactions via Twitter (to @cnnpresents or @sanjayguptacnn) or online at www.CNN.com. 

• Tell Congress to fix schools in need of repair as part of its jobs-creation effort. The Fix America’s Schools Today (FAST) Bill would provide funding for much-needed school repairs while creating jobs in sectors especially hard-hit by the economy. Learn more and send a letter to your Senators and Representative at www.fixamericasschoolstoday.org.

• Check out student and teacher photos in Through Your Lens. This striking collection of images shows the reality of schools in need of repair; it also shows the potential of safe, healthy schools that support learning, including many older buildings that have simply been well-maintained over the years. See the photos at www.throughyourlens.org.

Safe, healthy indoor air is a simple and fundamental part of a good learning environment. We’re looking forward to the segment this weekend and applaud CNN and advocates across the nation who are working to bring attention to this critical issue.

Chicken in Chicago Cafeterias and in the News!

Chicago Public Schools recently began serving scratch-cooked chicken, purchased unprocessed from the USDA and an Amish farm in nearby Indiana where the poultry is raised without antibiotics. Earlier this month, HSC took part in a teleconference with the Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming, School Food FOCUS, Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality and Whole Foods to announce the purchase of unprocessed chicken raised without antibiotics.

This effort marks a significant milestone for school lunch and adds to a track record of innovative initiatives for improving school food in one the nation’s third-largest school district. 

Shoesmith students enjoy a healthy school meal! 

We were happy to see local and national press bring attention to this milestone! 

WIRED writer Mary McKenna said, “the Chicago schools’ announcement of their willingness to buy antibiotic-free meat isn’t just newsworthy; it’s a major step in protecting their students, students’ families, and the rest of society as well.”

The Hill commended the announcement as “a major win for public health advocates who have been warning about the rising threat of antibiotic resistance.”

Chicago Tribune’s Monica Eng said the effort “represents an important step toward meeting upcoming government guidelines calling for a reduction of processed foods and sodium in school meals.” 

Medill News observes that “the new menu offering marks a major step in the campaign to improve lunchtime options for students throughout the country.”

Check out ABC 7’s coverage of the announcement below.

First Lady Michelle Obama Recognizes Cooking up Change National Winners

This week, the winners of HSC’s national Cooking up Change healthy cooking contest, the student team from Jacksonville, Fl., received a visit and big congratulations from First Lady Michelle Obama! 

The First Lady met Frank H. Peterson Academies of Technology high school culinary students during a trip to Florida yesterday. She commended their efforts to promote healthy eating and create a healthy, great-tasting lunch that appeals to students nationwide. We are so proud of these young chefs for elevating student voices in the national dialogue on school food. 

First Lady Michelle Obama with the Cooking up Change Jacksonville team. Image from First Coast News.

Student chefs Alexus Baldwin, Leoniqua Jackson and Denver Singletary’s Caribbean-inspired beef rib salad with Moroccan rice and a sweet potato corn bread muffin received top honors at the national Cooking up Change contest.

The teammates spoke about their experience in the healthy cooking contest. Alexus told local news affiliates that, “it was so life-changing to me.”

Check out news coverage of the Cooking up Change students meeting the First Lady.

 

In Chicago, we are excited to kick off the 2011-12 Cooking up Change season with our Chicago flagship contest and benefit on November 3. The winners from this contest will be invited to compete in the national finals in May 2012. Contests in more cities around the country will follow this winter! 
If you’re in the Chicago area, we invite you to join us at Cooking up Change! You can learn more and purchase tickets here. 

Not in Chicago, but would like to support Cooking up Change? You can purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win a wine country getaway, culinary experience, or game system.

Be sure to check back for stories from Cooking up Change alums, chef mentors, sponsors and students!

Chicago Student Introduces First Lady Michelle Obama at White House Ceremony for Health and Wellness

On Monday, more than 1,200 schools from across the country were honored at the White House for meeting the HealthierUS School Challenge.

Walsh Elementary sixth-grade student Alex Roman had the opportunity to introduce First Lady Michelle Obama at the event, where she praised him in her speech! Alex's school met the HealthierUS School Challenge through Go for the Gold, a partnership of HSC and Chicago Public Schools with the USDA and Illinois State Board of Education to support schools in meeting the challenge. Alex has graciously shared his speech with HSC.

Alex Roman speaks during the Go for the Gold celebration

Read about his journey to a healthier lifestyle below: 

  Good afternoon everyone.

My name is Alex Roman. I am 12 years old and in sixth grade. At Walsh Elementary School, I have taken part in several programs that have helped me make healthier choices. For example, I have completed 10 5Ks and two 8Ks, improving my time with every race I complete. I work on following the "5-4-3-2-1" rules: five fruits and vegetables, four serveings of water, three servings of low-fat dairy, two hours or less of screen time, and one hour of phyiscal activity every day. I also play soccer and tennis and have enjoyed learning new sports to stay active and build my strength. I have also learned to make better food choices. I have changed my eating habits -- instead of eating junk food, I eat fruits like apples, bananas, and grapes.

Walsh has provided me with opportunities to improve my health and make better choices for myself. I have a new view of what I put in my body, after partcipating in various programs at Walsh. I am happy to be here today with someone who is helping other kids like me to stay active and be healthy. It is my pleasure to introduce First Lady Michelle Obama.Walsh Elementary has also taken steps to encourage good eatng habits by removing chocolate milk from the menu and adding a salad bar. We also participate in physical activity on a daily basis and have gym class at least twice a week. I also have soccer practice twice a week and a game every Friday.

Mrs. Obama remarked, "we can affect who they will be forever. Alex is not going to forget what he's learned and he's going to pass that on to his kids. You’re affecting not just how these kids feed themselves, but how they’re going to feed their own children. So the beauty is, is that you’re not just making this generation of kids healthier, but the next generation as well."

Earlier this summer, Walsh and 18 other Chicago Public Schools met the high standards of the HealthierUS School Challenge through Go for the Gold. (Since then, four more schools have met the challenge and dozens more are in the process of completing the application.) CPS chief Jean-Claude Brizard applauded these schools' efforts as a local embodiment of the first lady's Let's Move campaign.

Check out the Chicago Tribune's article spotlighting Alex's once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to speak at the White House ceremony and his efforts to live a healthier lifestyle.

We're so proud to see Alex and the Go for the Gold schools receive well-deserved recognition for their efforts to move school food and fitness forward!

Congratulations to all of the schools that were honored at the White House this week!

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To learn more about Go for the Gold, visit the Go for the Gold site or check out blog updates.

Bonus! Learn what message Chicago students are sending to First Lady Michelle Obama!

Chicken Takes Center Tray in Chicago Public School Cafeterias

by Mark Bishop, Vice President of Policy and Communcations

The headline reads “Celebrity TV Chef Creates Meal For CPS Students” and while Rachael Ray deserves a huge kudos for her work around school food, the real story here is the chicken!

The chicken? Yes, the chicken. 

Last week Chicago Public Schools served, for the first time in recent memory, fresh baked chicken in schools throughout the district. The chicken was prepared with a recipe created by celebrity chef Rachael Ray, and reports are that students loved the flavor. 

According to NBC, the student feedback was great: “I really like it.” “It tastes like heaven.” “I am ecstatic... I absolutely love it!” “It has more flavor than the average school lunch.”

While the celebrity chef brings star power to this story, I think the real star is the chicken. The district recently began ordering fresh chicken through the USDA’s commodity foods program. This is a big step in the world of school food, where most chicken is pre-cooked and heated rather than freshly baked. Fresh chicken will of course taste better, but it’s also better for you. With an ingredient label that reads just “chicken,” it has no sodium, no preservatives, no artificial additives -- just like the chicken you’d make at home.

CPS recently set in place an order for more than one million pounds of fresh chicken leg quarters for use this school year. That’s enough chicken for CPS to serve twice a month for the rest of the year. It’s an important step for what it is: hundreds of thousands of healthy fresh whole meals. It’s also important for what it represents: a major step in overcoming barriers to fresh cooking for the school cafeteria. 

And in the school my son attends, the school dining manager told me that the kids loved it. While she said it requires more work than the pre-cooked chicken, she assured me that “the kids like it more, so it’s worth it.” 

Check out this story from NBC to see the kids’ reactions for yourself. 

 

HSC's Perspective: Mrs. Q and School Food in Chicago and Beyond

by Rochelle Davis, President and CEO

The school food world was abuzz last week with the news that Mrs. Q, the previously anonymous teacher who ate school lunch every day for one year and blogged about it at Fed Up with Lunch, has revealed herself as Sarah Wu, a speech pathologist in Chicago Public Schools. She has released a book about her experience and is conducting media interviews to discuss her work and her new book.

Because HSC worked closely with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) on making changes to their school meal program, I’d like to share our perspective on Mrs. Q’s work. We’ve followed Mrs. Q’s efforts from the beginning, re-posting some of her early reflections on school funding and her reaction to breakfast in the classroom.

First of all, I’ve been impressed by Mrs. Q’s efforts to raise awareness of why and how much healthy school food matters. She discusses the importance of school food and physical activity to student health and shares her observations as a teacher about how food and fitness have an impact on learning.

Her observations and personal reflections also speak poignantly to school food as a social justice issue: she points out how healthy school food is especially important to the students she serves, who come to school at increased risk of both hunger and obesity.

Since beginning her blog in January 2010, Mrs. Q posted a photo of her lunch with a brief description almost every day. Though she discusses her personal preferences (including a love of "comfort food" casseroles), much of her commentary focuses on how processed the food is and how this is a result of systems beyond her specific school. She praises the food service staff at her school and their effort to provide the best food possible with extremely limited resources.

The time period she covers in her blog and book -- January through December 2010 -- includes the launch of the new school food program in CPS. In the fall of 2010, Mrs. Q reported that she began noticing changes to the food at her school. She comments on her pleasant surprise at receiving fresh broccoli, for example, and whole fruit. In recent interviews, she mentioned that she has noticed continued improvements since she stopped eating daily school lunch last year.

HSC supported the district in developing the new nutrition standards for this program and has closely followed its implementation. With this new program, the school food at CPS meets the nutrition guidelines of the gold standard of the HealthierUS School Challenge.

Specifically, the meals now have more (and more variety of) fruits and vegetables; more whole grains; lower sodium; and even a preference for locally-grown produce. (CPS actually has one of the largest farm-to-school program I’m aware of, bringing more than $2 million worth of regionally-grown fruit and vegetables to school cafeterias in the last year.)

I’m particularly encouraged, though, by the changes to school food in CPS that aren’t as easily described in quick bullet points. One of the main concerns Mrs. Q emphasizes is that the food served in schools today seems removed from the type of food many of us would prepare at home. As she explains, this is a result of many factors -- including inadequate funding and lack of kitchen facilities for cooking -- that result in more processed food being served in schools. I believe the changes we see in the works at CPS will move the district even further in the right direction with regard to this issue. 

Mrs. Q also speaks highly of breakfast in the classroom, a program that CPS brought to all elementary schools this year. HSC has championed this program as a way to support student health and learning. (To learn more, check out HSC’s site BreakfastMatters.org.)  Mrs. Q describes it as an easy and effective way to get healthy food to kids who need it and notes that it starts the day on a positive note for students and teachers.

That said, Mrs. Q also highlights many problems in the school food she eats; much of the recent media coverage has focused on the meals that she described with shock or dismay.

The reality is that CPS school food -- even the new program with so many healthy changes -- exists within the broader context of a national system that presents many challenges to serving fresh, healthy meals at school. Mrs. Q discusses many of the challenges that HSC recognizes in our advocacy work for better school food. These include the need for more money for better school food, schools’ lack of infrastructure for cooking and lack of funding to improve kitchen facilities,the fact that many students do not have enough time for lunch, and the need to bring back recess.

No matter how much progress the leaders at any one school or district make to improve school food, these factors pose very real challenges to the types of broad changes we’d all like to see for lunch at school.

We commend Mrs. Q for drawing attention to these system-level challenges and hope that her work will engage more teachers, parents and advocates across the nation in the effort to create a new future for school food.

FTC Releases Guidelines for Food Marketing to Children: Show Your Support by July 14

by Sarah Rosenberg, HSC intern

Marketing food to children is big business: the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimated that corporations spend some $1.6 billion annually on it. Print, TV and other electronic media comprise a big part of that, but less obviously, advertisers are reaching kids during the school day with nearly $200 million of the total sum going to in-school marketing. These things are still fresh in my memory from high school: the brightly labeled vending machines, colorful posters in the cafeteria with cereal mascots grinning about balanced breakfasts, and brand foods for snacks and fundraisers. I also remember that I never thought much of it.

With childhood obesity continuing its upward trend [pdf, see p. 7] through much of the country, many people, including myself, are coming to realize that it is essential to address marketing. Adults may be able to tune it out, but children can be strongly influenced by advertising. Until now, there has been no regulation of marketing food to children, whether inside or outside of schools. However, the FTC, in partnership with several other agencies, recently released new voluntary guidelines for such marketing, to be implemented later this year.

The guidelines provide a framework for corporations to bring their marketing in line with the most recent dietary guidelines for children and are “designed to encourage children, through advertising and marketing, to choose foods that make a meaningful contribution to a healthful diet.” Thus, much of the recommendations focus on what constitutes allowable ingredients and proportions for foods targeted to kids.

Significantly, the recommendations also cover in-school marketing, which includes “advertising or promotional activities in or around” schools; “payments to schools or school systems pursuant to food and beverage contracts;” and philanthropic donations.

We at HSC welcome these new guidelines and hope that food marketers will take them to heart in developing their marketing policies. HSC is signing on to a letter of support for the new guidelines, written by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. As they have written:

[M]arketing to children influences their food preferences, purchases, and ultimately what they eat. Right now, their environment is filled with marketing for unhealthy foods. We hope our nation’s food marketers will make children’s health a priority and adopt these voluntary principles.

We encourage you to show your support for the new FTC guidelines by submitting comments here. The FTC is accepting comments until July 14, 2011. You can check out suggested langauge to adapt and use for your comments here [.doc].

Funding School Health Services as Students Move from Hospitals to Schools

by Rochlle Davis, HSC president & CEO

This week, I read with great interest the letter to the editor in Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, submitted by HSC board member Dr. Martha Bergren. The letter was in response to a recent study published in Pediatrics which conducted an important analysis of the resources needed to support children who have been discharged from hospitals, but still need machines to help them breathe. The article found that the number of children requiring long-term assistance with breathing has significantly increased in the last decade and that increased resources are needed to provide care for this group of children.

In her letter to the editor, Dr. Bergren raised the important point that we must consider the impact that this group of children has on the U.S. public education system and the important role that schools can play in providing care to this vulnerable population. Dr. Bergren points out:

“With states drastically decreasing funds for Pre-K - 12 education, it is imperative that funding of school health services be re-examined. As the numbers of children with Complex Chronic Conditions and children who require health services in schools increase at an alarming rate, a sustainable funding solution must be created that ensures the skilled care in the school setting without absorbing greater and greater amounts of tax dollars intended for learning and instruction, the mission of K - 12 education. The cost shifting from the healthcare system to the educational system for children with chronic conditions upon hospital discharge has not been addressed in a meaningful way.”

We are glad that Dr. Bergren submitted this thoughtful letter to the editor and fully support the important role that school health services have in health prevention and promotion, especially for children who suffer from chronic illnesses.

This letter also comes at important time given the recent release of the National Prevention Strategy by the National Prevention Council, a group of 17 federal departments and agencies charged with planning and coordinating prevention efforts around the country. The goal of this strategy is to develop recommendations for “working together to improve the health and quality of life for individuals, families and communities by moving the nation from a focus on sickness and disease to one based on wellness and prevention.”

With the federal government’s new focus on prevention, we hope that the important issue of funding for school health will be recognized and addressed.

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You can find the original article in Pediatrics and read the Dr. Bergren’s full letter to the editor.

You can also read the National Prevention Council's National Prevention Stategy here.

"All the Food Looks Like Food!" Making Changes in New York City Schools

There is so much exciting work for health and wellness going on in schools across the country and I love seeing press coverage highlighting these changes. Our friends in New York City and partners in School Food Focus have been working to implement a great lunch program; a recent story in The New York Times highlights their efforts. It’s worth taking a look.

My favorite quote from the the reporter was “all the food looks like... food!”

I’d like to offer a specific congratulations to Chef Jorge Collazo, the head of the NYC school food program. Last October we highlighted his efforts to bring grass fed beef into the NYC school lunch program. Congratulations to Chef Jorge and the NYC school nutrition team on a great story and an impressive, ongoing effort to bring healthy food to the city’s children.

Purple Asparagus Founder Melissa Graham Wins Good Eating Award!

 
 
Melissa Graham reads to students during Chef in Classroom Day in Oct. 2010.

Melissa Graham, founder of Purple Asparagus and Monogramme Events and Catering, has been recognized by the Chicago Tribune with a 2011 Good Eating Award!

Graham founded Purple Asparagus in 2005 to teach Chicago students about eating food that is good for both the body and the planet. Purple Asparagus plays an important role in Go for the Gold, HSC’s partnership with Chicago Public Schools to support schools in meeting the high standards for school food, nutrition education and physical activity set by the HealthierUS School Challenge. Purple Asparagus provides nutrition education to schools and was instrumental in shaping our exciting Chef in the Classroom Day.  

With this award, Graham is honored for working to spread knowledge about healthy eating to schools around the city.

"It's sometimes shocking, Graham says, how limited kids' experience with food has been. She recalls one student who approached her after a class on citrus and said she'd never tried an orange before. 'It's so easy to go to the grocery store and buy something that's quick and processed,' said Graham, who also founded Monogramme Events and Catering, which specializes in seasonal and sustainable cuisine. 'There's not enough knowledge about how to work with things that are whole.'"

Congratulations, Melissa! To learn more about the Chicago Tribune’s Good Eating Award and see the other winners, click here!

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Plus! Purple Asparagus is a great nutrition education resource. To read a Healthy Schools Campaign spotlight, click here!

Student Reactions to New, Healthy Menus: Behind the Headlines

by Rochelle Davis, HSC President and CEO

The Chicago Tribune recently featured an article, “You can lead kids to broccoli, but you can't make them eat,” discussing the challenges that Chicago Public Schools (CPS) faces in student reactions to the new, healthier school lunch menus the district debuted this year. As the article notes, CPS has established new nutrition guidelines for school food that exceed existing national standards and include many similarities to the improved national standards recently proposed by the USDA for all schools.

Helping students adjust to the new menus is a real challenge; CPS and its partners must continue the effort to ensure that students adjust to the new, healthy options. The lessons CPS learns from this ongoing effort will have implications nationwide. In committing to provide students with healthier school food today, CPS is serving as a national leader, taking on challenges -- and pioneering solutions -- to prioritize student health. This leadership is commendable, and is especially critical in light of the childhood obesity epidemic and the significant health disparities that the district’s low-income and minority students face.

Research backs up what parents know about healthy eating: that kids don’t always immediately embrace healthy options. But we also know that a multi-faceted approach of presenting new foods and engaging students in lessons about healthy eating can make a tremendous difference for kids’ health in the long term. This means modeling healthy behaviors in the classroom, creating multiple opportunities for students to try new foods, adjusting recipes based on feedback and making nutrition education a normal part of the school experience.

At Healthy Schools Campaign, we are thrilled to see that CPS is taking steps to ensure that its new, healthy menus are ultimately successful. We see CPS adjusting menus based on student input, and making student-designed meals from the Cooking up Change healthy cooking contest a regular part of the menu. We see school nutrition staff attending training to develop culinary skills that weren’t necessary with more processed food. To address the need for kitchen equipment that supports the new menus, CPS received a one-time grant from the federal government.

This year, we partnered with CPS to launch Go for the Gold, a citywide effort to support schools in meeting high standards for nutrition education and physical activity as well as school food. This effort has brought chefs, parents, principals and many others together to begin creating a culture of wellness and healthy eating in schools. Go for the Gold offers opportunities for leaders across our communities to get involved: we encourage you to join the effort.

On a specific note, Eng points out the challenges of serving appealing meals while dramatically reducing sodium content. According to the Institute of Medicine, excessive sodium consumption leads to nearly 100,000 deaths every year. This is why the new proposed nutrition standards from the USDA call for a significant reduction in sodium levels in school lunches over the next 10 years. CPS has started reducing its use of sodium now, before the USDA requires it and before food manufacturers are formulating new products that would make this transition easier. We have seen CPS introduce a number of non-salt seasonings to provide flavor without compromising student health. Yet having students adjust to lunch items with less sodium remains a real challenge, one that will require creative, ongoing effort from CPS and its partners. The lessons that CPS learns from this transition will have valuable implications for schools across the U.S. as we all adjust to eating less salt.

Launching a healthy new school food program is an incredibly challenging yet incredibly important undertaking, one that will not be complete in a single school year. We applaud CPS for its national leadership in providing a school environment that prioritizes children’s health.

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Plus: Check out HSC's letter to the editor on the Chicago Tribune website.