Category Archives: School Lunches

Sep 21What is Gleaning and how does it improve School ...

Gotta love buzz words. "School lunch reform" is all the rage these days. And you may have even heard about something called "gleaning." But really, what the heck is it...and most importantly, how does it help your kids? Check out the efforts of Marin Organic and how gleaning not only benefits our students but our local organic farms, as well. Is there anything like this in your community? If so, we'd love to hear your local success stories.

Sep 17New Salad Bars: We Have a Lot to Learn

I suppose the best way to learn how to have a salad bar at your school is simply to jump in with two feet. We prepared as much as we could, of course, by reading about other schools and programs that have been successful and by talking to kids and parents about ingredients that they would like to see included. The food service department for our school district purchased salad bars for 7 of our elementary schools, the kids, their parents, and even the teachers are excited - so it was time to...

Sep 153 Food Storage Jars go Head to Head

With all of the talk on Twitter about cool and crisp weather, it seemed like a good time for me to put our food storage containers to the test. When I talked to representatives of Kids Konserve and Klean Kanteen at the Natural Products Expo last year, both told me that their insulated jars would keep food hot. I have heard that song and dance before, so I decided that I'd put them head to head with the Thermos jar that I already had at home. Here is where you will see my checkered history as...

Sep 10New Salad Bars for Elementary Schools - Feedback...

I am sorry! I had to take down the video for this post until we get permission from the parents of the children involved and the school district. I was too excited and published too early. Coming soon: What we learned from our first day with the salad bar, complete with tips to make it run smoothly for your school. Are there salad bars offered at your school? Do you have any advice, tips or tricks that you can share?

Sep 8I’m Just a Mom, Not the School Food Police

Houston, we have a problem. Parents approach me all the time, thanking me up and down for working so hard to improve our school food. They are tickled pink about our new salad bar (launching this week) and they love that we are bringing in more freshly prepared foods and less processed junk. But then there are other parents who see me approach, and say "Michelle - turn away. You won't want to see what so-in-so is eating." Or, "Don't look - the kids are eating cupcakes in the...

Sep 1The Salad Bars Have Landed - School Lunch Reform...

Welcome to the 2010-2011 school year! Just like last year, you can count on me for updates on San Rafael's efforts towards school lunch reform. We'll also chat about other food issues facing our students, including the largely ignored wellness policy at our schools. As usual, I am all for transparency, and will openly share our challenges and success stories in the hope that we can inspire you to help your community make improvements of your own. Tuck in your napkin and get ready to dive...

Jul 23Project Lunch - When eco-nuts and foodies collab...

Just because I haven’t posted about our efforts at local school lunch reform lately doesn’t mean that we haven’t been busy. In fact, things are hopping! I recently joined Project Lunch, a new project sponsored by an incredible organization called Teens Turning Green. How could I resist joining when the invitation started like this… My name is Carly Wertheim and I am a 2009 Redwood High School graduate. For the last four years I have been involved in the non profit organization Teens...

May 7San Rafael School Lunch Reform: Real Change is H...

Each year that I have been at our school, I have heard about the struggles of those before me who have failed in their attempts to change the food served in our district. Needless to say, it wasn't very motivating. Perhaps our timing was perfect - the buzz surrounding Michelle Obama and Jamie Oliver was too great to ignore. Maybe our team was too persistent to brush off. Regardless, it is clear that Elena, our food service director, was also ready to improve our program. Before I tell you...

Apr 14School Lunch Reform: Central Kitchen Renovation

This is part 2 of our second task force meeting on school lunch reform in the San Rafael City Schools. I’ll start this post with an apology. It isn’t going to be funny. Not even a little bit. And that makes me sad. Given the horrible financial state-of-affairs in our local school district, it is hard to believe that they are about to spend $300,000 on a renovation of our central kitchen. Apparently the money came from some equipment grants, stimulus funds, the high school district (the...

Mar 27School Lunch Reform – Our second meeting

As we walked into our second school lunch advisory meeting last night, we were met with trays of breakfast items that are currently being served in our school district. In my eagerness to capture our entire journey of school food reform, I snapped a few photos, so that you can see the sugary, package-laden place that we are starting from. I wondered if I should have hidden some boxing gloves in my purse, in case the battle over whether or not we would continue serving “Honey Buns” got heated…...