I can’t believe that we haven’t had this discussion in my school district yet. It’s time. I’m pissed that they are feeding our students toxic food. And even worse – the kids that get the crappy food are the ones on the reduced fee lunch program – and it may be the only food they get all day. If we could feed all of the kids REAL food, I might actually participate in the school lunch plan. At least some of the time…
Every year, there are groups of parents that get angry about the quality of our school lunches. And every year, they school district shoots them down. Let’s take advantage of the momentum of Michelle Obama and Jamie Oliver, who are paving the way for big change in child nutrition.
Here is the e-mail that I sent out to a few families in our school district. It has started to spread like fire. People are spreading it around – and I am collecting the names of people who want to speak up. I’ll document our journey. Wish us luck.
Dear Dana, Jamie, Amy and Stephanie,
I have been upset with our school lunch program for quite some time. But it is easy to avoid the issue for my family – I simply make lunches at home and send them to school with my kids. But many of the children on free and reduced lunches don’t have that option. For most of them, this may be their only meal of the day. It isn’t right that they should be eating “food” instead of food. Real food.
Please watch this video. It is done by Ann Cooper, the woman that revolutionized the school lunch program in Berkeley over the past several years. It is fair and informative and explains how hard it is to change…but how important it is to do so.
We need to gather together a group of parents (from all SR city schools) who will be willing to go to the district, speak up, and demand change. Mill Valley, Bacich and San Anselmo have all changed their food programs and serve food that I would be proud to have my own kids eat. It’s time for us to make the change. And let’s be honest – more of us would participate if the food were better, and we didn’t have to pack lunches every day.
Please pass this on (even to your friends at other SR schools). Let’s spread the word and gather a list of names of people who will speak up for change. I’ll be the list keeper, if you help me gather some interest.
In case you were curious – our principal supports better food at our school but says that parents are the ones that need to speak up.
There is school funding from the State which is 100% tied to our school districts acceptance of free lunches through the free lunch program. If we bring any other vendor on campus, in any capacity whatsoever, we lose a large amount of money. More than just lunch money. Bacich, Mill Valley, Ross etc. have been able to opt out of the state lunch programs because free lunch kids are such a small portion of their population that they can afford to subsidize them out of the money they make (or choose to subsidise) on the other kids. We simply cannot go there. It is not just lunch money. It is money for other things as well and it is tied to us accepting the national lunch program.
We have tried to go up against this before – the PTA used to get pizza delivered as a fundraiser. We had to stop because it jeopardized other funds. This is a state law not a local choice. And it is not one where we can choose to fly under the radar and do our own thing.
Wow, Michelle. Bravo to you! I support your efforts, and will forward on to my friends at Sun Valley and Coleman.
Thanks for reviving a very important topic.
-Dana
Here is another comment, from a mom at our school. I asked if I could share her perspective…I think that there are many people in her situation and I am grateful for her honesty!
Another mom from school forwarded me some info and a video about school lunches. I am super-busy (in school full-time right now) but if there’s ever some small thing I can do to help change the school lunches in San Rafael, I’d like to help you. This is something that concerns me since both of my children get lunches and I’ve been aware of how processed they are. I usually send snacks with them, but it’s hard for me knowing that they are eating stuff that I wouldn’t normally give them. I just don’t have the time or money to send them full lunches every day and I really wish the school lunches were healthier. Let me know if there’s any way I can support you.
I’ve heard this argument before about not being able to “opt out” and do our own thing so we don’t jeopardize federal funding…
Could there be another option besides bringing in local restaurants and parents to handle lunches (like Bacich, Neil Cummins do) Why must we fly under the radar and do our own thing? Perhaps SR Schools should do a better job at providing healthy lunches. All kids, especially recipients of the free lunch program deserve wholesome, healthy food for lunch. The SR School District is doing a mediocre job of providing it. What if we were to demand an overhaul of the School District lunch program rather than having to solve the problem on our own?
I work in the Kindergarten lunch yard weekly and cannot believe what the school district is offering our children for lunch especially when they are expecting parents to follow a “wellness policy” for birthday treats for our kids. Certainly they can come up with something better than than microwaved burritos in a plastic bag and fritos or Smuckers Crustables on white bread?
Berkeley school district addressed this problem internally, they didn’t make their parents fly under the radar. They overhauled the system and became national leaders on this issue. Free lunch or paid lunch, every child should be provided with a healthy lunch…
Michelle, do you know anything about this company which provides meals for many bay area school district programs? I just happened to stumble upon them… https://www.choicelunch.com
Thank you for sharing your enthusiasm, Rosemary. I am getting knee deep in this, whether I like it or not There is also a fantastic group of parents at Coleman who are working on this issue, so we can do it together!
On Friday, I had a good talk with Revolution Foods in Oakland – they say that they are reimbursable from state funding (for free/reduced lunch programs) and 80% of their students are on the free/reduced lunch program. So, I know that they are a viable option. He told me that schools are in jeopardy of losing funding if they bring in outside vendors, such as local restaurants. I think that’s what Mill Valley has opted to do – and they simply have the fully-paying parents subsidize their few low income families. I am waiting to hear back from Revolution Foods – he said he would send me an email with lots of information – I’ll share some of the information here, or I can email it to you directly. They have special pricing for districts with more than 50% low income families. Between Bahia, San Pedro, Venetia Valley and some of Coleman, we may be in that bracket.
I also asked him about the staff that currently serves our “food,” and if they would be at risk of losing their jobs if his company came on board. He says that Revolution Foods delivers the lunches daily and that our existing support people could serve it. I am very excited about this option – Their food is fantastic and our district would be blind if they didn’t recognize that it is a much better option than the sad excuse for lunch that they are currently serving.
Thank you so much for your support on this. We will need it…
All,
Glenwood principal Bob Marcucci has kept me abreast of this topic and the expressed concerns from the time he became aware if the matter. I know that our Director of Nutritional Services, Elena Dibble, our Chief Business Official Chris Thomas are also part of the communication loop. I have also alerted all members of the Board of Education to the expressed concerns. Thanks to Bob, your voices were heard prior to setting up this blog.
Ms. Dibble is in the process of establishing an Advisory Committee of parents, staff, students, and other interested parties to address specific concerns; to learn about State and Federal guidelines, to receive factual information specific to our current meal choices, and to provide historical information specific to the results of a Federal audit of the food services programs in San Rafael City Schools that occurred several years ago, which included a series if non- negotiable terms. Such audits are now occuring in other Marin districts, where it us expected similar remedies will be outlined.
Your enthusiasm, interest, passion, and commitment to enhance our meal programs is greatly appreciated. I know that Ms. Dibble shares in your interest to provide the best possible meal choices that meet Federal dietary guidelines, and are within the budgetary parameters to keep our meal programs in the black.
My two children participate in our school lunch program most everyday. I have first hand experience and feedback on a daily basis from two regular consumers at Coleman.
We look forward to working in collaboration with Glenwood families, as well as other reps from all our other schools.
Please continue to work in collaboration with Bob. Until the sub-committee is “officially” formed, Bob will be your “go to guy”.
Hi Mike,
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to this issue. I feel honored that you visited the blog and that you are giving this issue the attention that it deserves. I am really looking forward to participating in the Advisory Committee, learning more about our current program, and trying to see if we can come up with some improvements for our children.
A parent who attended the school board meeting last night called to share the story about the high school boy who offered his opinions about the school lunches at Madrone. Seems to me that his timing couldn’t have been better! And I am thrilled that you were all able to address the issue in front of the school board.
Thanks again, and I look forward to collaborating with you on these issues!
Michelle
As a Sun Valley parent, I’m also very interested in exploring options for a better lunch program, especially if we can work within the state’s regulations. Could you provide some more information on the lunch program’s task force meeting on March 4th? I’d love to join.
Our children deserve healthy lunches, especially those children whose families cannot afford healthy meals at home. I allowed my son to have the pizza once a week until I actually saw it in its plastic bag! Yuck. The video is exciting and makes the possibility of healthy foods for our kids a reality.
I heard Justin Gagnon, CEO of Children’s Choice, speak as Children’s Choice received the highest award from Sustainable Alameda. It would be great to have that kind of environmental and healthy thinking over here.
Let’s do it!
What you are doing is wonderful. I used to teach in a school where 95% of the students were getting free or reduced cost lunches. There was always a feeling of panic on Fridays as many of them knew they wouldn’t be eating a lot during the weekend. School breakfast and lunch were their main nutritional outlets. And what did they receive in the cafeteria? Pre-packaged food! Nothing was made on-site. To cut costs, the district had moved all of their food production to one central site and supplemented with pre-packaged food for the rest. I am so glad to see you getting involved and making a difference.
Here is news the Coleman Team got today:The district is asking for 2 representatives from each school site for a committee “In an effort to identify ways to enhance our District Food Service to students and to provide updated information on the present Federal, State and local guidelines they are forming a committee. The first meeting is Thursday March 4 from 3:30 to 5:30 pm at the District Office.
Yes, we all look forward to collaborating with Mike and the district on these issues. As far as the task force meeting next Thursday, I am certain we have representation for Glenwood, SV and Coleman–how about Venetia Valley, Bahia Vista, San Pedro, Laurel Dell and Davidson? I will contact parents I know at VV and LD. Does anyone have connections at any of the other schools? We should meet the request of 2 people from each school.
Things are definitely getting interesting! I just found out that the director of food service in our district is attending the School Nutrition Association conference next week, just prior to our task force meeting. Here is what she says (reprinted with permission):
I will be attending the SNA (School Nutrition Association) annual conference in Washington D.C. This is an annual conference that I try to attend every year. There are always good speakers, and as you know, this year The First Lady will be speaking to our group. A good website to go to for background on School Meal Programs is calsna.org. This website is the California School Nutrition Association, which can give you some background and information and School Meals. This site also has a ink to the American School Nutrition Association which is the organization that sponsors this legislative conference in Washington D.C. You can get a wealth of information from both sites.
I look forward to meeting you next week at the first District Food Service Advisory Committee.
Elena C.Dibble
Director of Food and Nutritional Services
As some of you know, we were discussing Revolution Foods as a potential alternative to the food currently provided by our school district. But in yesterday’s mail, there was a letter announcing a new system where our students can pay online for school meals. Bad news, folks – I can’t imagine that the district would implement an entire new web interface and payment system if they had any intention of using different food vendors (who have their own payment system, I believe.) Hmmm. I can’t wait to tune in and see what will happen next week at our meeting.
Glad to see the energy coming together about this issue. Getting our children better, fresh, whole food (from local vendors?) should be a big part of our focus. It will be good to learn what some of the obstacles are for doing that and see how we can help make that change.
see many of you Thursday
Hello! I'm Michelle Stern, owner of What's Cooking with Kids, a certified green mobile cooking school for children, and author of The Whole Family Cookbook - Celebrating the Goodness of Locally Grown Foods. I am excited to be back in the classroom, teaching high school biology in the Bay Area.
Our mission is to inspire families to spend quality time together in the kitchen, eat healthy ingredients, and pay attention to the environmental impact of their food choices. As a certified Green Business, we are proud to support local and organic farmers whenever possible, to use our love of cooking and community to reach out to the less fortunate, consider the environment, and to do our part to improve children’s health nationwide.
Coleman’s Green Team is on board!
There is school funding from the State which is 100% tied to our school districts acceptance of free lunches through the free lunch program. If we bring any other vendor on campus, in any capacity whatsoever, we lose a large amount of money. More than just lunch money. Bacich, Mill Valley, Ross etc. have been able to opt out of the state lunch programs because free lunch kids are such a small portion of their population that they can afford to subsidize them out of the money they make (or choose to subsidise) on the other kids. We simply cannot go there. It is not just lunch money. It is money for other things as well and it is tied to us accepting the national lunch program.
We have tried to go up against this before – the PTA used to get pizza delivered as a fundraiser. We had to stop because it jeopardized other funds. This is a state law not a local choice. And it is not one where we can choose to fly under the radar and do our own thing.
Wow, Michelle. Bravo to you! I support your efforts, and will forward on to my friends at Sun Valley and Coleman.
Thanks for reviving a very important topic.
-Dana
Here is another comment, from a mom at our school. I asked if I could share her perspective…I think that there are many people in her situation and I am grateful for her honesty!
Another mom from school forwarded me some info and a video about school lunches. I am super-busy (in school full-time right now) but if there’s ever some small thing I can do to help change the school lunches in San Rafael, I’d like to help you. This is something that concerns me since both of my children get lunches and I’ve been aware of how processed they are. I usually send snacks with them, but it’s hard for me knowing that they are eating stuff that I wouldn’t normally give them. I just don’t have the time or money to send them full lunches every day and I really wish the school lunches were healthier. Let me know if there’s any way I can support you.
I’ve heard this argument before about not being able to “opt out” and do our own thing so we don’t jeopardize federal funding…
Could there be another option besides bringing in local restaurants and parents to handle lunches (like Bacich, Neil Cummins do) Why must we fly under the radar and do our own thing? Perhaps SR Schools should do a better job at providing healthy lunches. All kids, especially recipients of the free lunch program deserve wholesome, healthy food for lunch. The SR School District is doing a mediocre job of providing it. What if we were to demand an overhaul of the School District lunch program rather than having to solve the problem on our own?
I work in the Kindergarten lunch yard weekly and cannot believe what the school district is offering our children for lunch especially when they are expecting parents to follow a “wellness policy” for birthday treats for our kids. Certainly they can come up with something better than than microwaved burritos in a plastic bag and fritos or Smuckers Crustables on white bread?
Berkeley school district addressed this problem internally, they didn’t make their parents fly under the radar. They overhauled the system and became national leaders on this issue. Free lunch or paid lunch, every child should be provided with a healthy lunch…
Michelle, do you know anything about this company which provides meals for many bay area school district programs? I just happened to stumble upon them… https://www.choicelunch.com
Thank you for sharing your enthusiasm, Rosemary. I am getting knee deep in this, whether I like it or not
There is also a fantastic group of parents at Coleman who are working on this issue, so we can do it together!
On Friday, I had a good talk with Revolution Foods in Oakland – they say that they are reimbursable from state funding (for free/reduced lunch programs) and 80% of their students are on the free/reduced lunch program. So, I know that they are a viable option. He told me that schools are in jeopardy of losing funding if they bring in outside vendors, such as local restaurants. I think that’s what Mill Valley has opted to do – and they simply have the fully-paying parents subsidize their few low income families. I am waiting to hear back from Revolution Foods – he said he would send me an email with lots of information – I’ll share some of the information here, or I can email it to you directly. They have special pricing for districts with more than 50% low income families. Between Bahia, San Pedro, Venetia Valley and some of Coleman, we may be in that bracket.
I also asked him about the staff that currently serves our “food,” and if they would be at risk of losing their jobs if his company came on board. He says that Revolution Foods delivers the lunches daily and that our existing support people could serve it. I am very excited about this option – Their food is fantastic and our district would be blind if they didn’t recognize that it is a much better option than the sad excuse for lunch that they are currently serving.
Thank you so much for your support on this. We will need it…
All,
Glenwood principal Bob Marcucci has kept me abreast of this topic and the expressed concerns from the time he became aware if the matter. I know that our Director of Nutritional Services, Elena Dibble, our Chief Business Official Chris Thomas are also part of the communication loop. I have also alerted all members of the Board of Education to the expressed concerns. Thanks to Bob, your voices were heard prior to setting up this blog.
Ms. Dibble is in the process of establishing an Advisory Committee of parents, staff, students, and other interested parties to address specific concerns; to learn about State and Federal guidelines, to receive factual information specific to our current meal choices, and to provide historical information specific to the results of a Federal audit of the food services programs in San Rafael City Schools that occurred several years ago, which included a series if non- negotiable terms. Such audits are now occuring in other Marin districts, where it us expected similar remedies will be outlined.
Your enthusiasm, interest, passion, and commitment to enhance our meal programs is greatly appreciated. I know that Ms. Dibble shares in your interest to provide the best possible meal choices that meet Federal dietary guidelines, and are within the budgetary parameters to keep our meal programs in the black.
My two children participate in our school lunch program most everyday. I have first hand experience and feedback on a daily basis from two regular consumers at Coleman.
We look forward to working in collaboration with Glenwood families, as well as other reps from all our other schools.
Please continue to work in collaboration with Bob. Until the sub-committee is “officially” formed, Bob will be your “go to guy”.
Thanks again for your intrest.
Mike
Hi Mike,
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to this issue. I feel honored that you visited the blog and that you are giving this issue the attention that it deserves. I am really looking forward to participating in the Advisory Committee, learning more about our current program, and trying to see if we can come up with some improvements for our children.
A parent who attended the school board meeting last night called to share the story about the high school boy who offered his opinions about the school lunches at Madrone. Seems to me that his timing couldn’t have been better! And I am thrilled that you were all able to address the issue in front of the school board.
Thanks again, and I look forward to collaborating with you on these issues!
Michelle
As a Sun Valley parent, I’m also very interested in exploring options for a better lunch program, especially if we can work within the state’s regulations. Could you provide some more information on the lunch program’s task force meeting on March 4th? I’d love to join.
Our children deserve healthy lunches, especially those children whose families cannot afford healthy meals at home. I allowed my son to have the pizza once a week until I actually saw it in its plastic bag! Yuck. The video is exciting and makes the possibility of healthy foods for our kids a reality.
I heard Justin Gagnon, CEO of Children’s Choice, speak as Children’s Choice received the highest award from Sustainable Alameda. It would be great to have that kind of environmental and healthy thinking over here.
Let’s do it!
What you are doing is wonderful. I used to teach in a school where 95% of the students were getting free or reduced cost lunches. There was always a feeling of panic on Fridays as many of them knew they wouldn’t be eating a lot during the weekend. School breakfast and lunch were their main nutritional outlets. And what did they receive in the cafeteria? Pre-packaged food! Nothing was made on-site. To cut costs, the district had moved all of their food production to one central site and supplemented with pre-packaged food for the rest. I am so glad to see you getting involved and making a difference.
I support healthy school lunch!! Let me know what do to.. I am in!!!
Thanks for the initiative!!
Silke
Here is news the Coleman Team got today:The district is asking for 2 representatives from each school site for a committee “In an effort to identify ways to enhance our District Food Service to students and to provide updated information on the present Federal, State and local guidelines they are forming a committee. The first meeting is Thursday March 4 from 3:30 to 5:30 pm at the District Office.
Yes, we all look forward to collaborating with Mike and the district on these issues. As far as the task force meeting next Thursday, I am certain we have representation for Glenwood, SV and Coleman–how about Venetia Valley, Bahia Vista, San Pedro, Laurel Dell and Davidson? I will contact parents I know at VV and LD. Does anyone have connections at any of the other schools? We should meet the request of 2 people from each school.
Things are definitely getting interesting! I just found out that the director of food service in our district is attending the School Nutrition Association conference next week, just prior to our task force meeting. Here is what she says (reprinted with permission):
I will be attending the SNA (School Nutrition Association) annual conference in Washington D.C. This is an annual conference that I try to attend every year. There are always good speakers, and as you know, this year The First Lady will be speaking to our group. A good website to go to for background on School Meal Programs is calsna.org. This website is the California School Nutrition Association, which can give you some background and information and School Meals. This site also has a ink to the American School Nutrition Association which is the organization that sponsors this legislative conference in Washington D.C. You can get a wealth of information from both sites.
I look forward to meeting you next week at the first District Food Service Advisory Committee.
Elena C.Dibble
Director of Food and Nutritional Services
As some of you know, we were discussing Revolution Foods as a potential alternative to the food currently provided by our school district. But in yesterday’s mail, there was a letter announcing a new system where our students can pay online for school meals. Bad news, folks – I can’t imagine that the district would implement an entire new web interface and payment system if they had any intention of using different food vendors (who have their own payment system, I believe.) Hmmm. I can’t wait to tune in and see what will happen next week at our meeting.
Glad to see the energy coming together about this issue. Getting our children better, fresh, whole food (from local vendors?) should be a big part of our focus. It will be good to learn what some of the obstacles are for doing that and see how we can help make that change.
see many of you Thursday