Aramark Takes a Bow

I don’t know why the administration has been so quiet about the new lunch choices. They should follow the lead of the Aramark Representative who stepped up to take a bow in this  Akron Beacon Journal article. He deserves good press for his work with the district improving the menu. Although I think the superintendent and the business director should get even more credit for the improved lunches because, well, they’re the ones who pushed Aramark to do the right thing by the kiddies.

Here are some of the changes I’ve observed, in case you need a refresher after the long summer.

The first choice lunches have remained hot lunches and are pretty much the same- with some good stuff, some OK stuff and some weird frito-inspired chili dishes, but enough on that. The second choice lunches are the big story. If you remember, second choice was what I called “county fair food”, or did I call it “carnival chow” either way you get the idea. It was usually fried things on sticks, fried things not on sticks, and some other things that maybe weren’t so fried.  NOW the second choice lunches are something you would recognize from the brown bags you brought from home. The second choice changes every day (instead of weekly) and includes cold cut sandwiches, tuna/egg/chicken salad sandwiches, cheddar cheese on wheat, chef salads, and fruits and veggies. In other words they are the same kind of lunches healthy active people eat. Yeah!

And there’s a third choice (offered every day) which is peanut butter and jelly with fruit and veggies.  Pretty great improvement, I’d say. Who ever came up with the bagged lunch second choice is a total genius. She’s probably beautiful too. Now all the kids who get packed lunches and all the kids who get free/subsidized lunches can have the same healthy variety of fruits veggies and sandwiches. The schools can now actually encourage the kids to eat good stuff and Aramark is no longer a corporate bad guy. (Even though they never wrote me back, neither did George Will, Oprah or the USDA by the way.)

I’ve noticed some changes in the breakfast menu as well. That darn super donut is still hanging on served up once a month, but I haven’t seen the Cutey Pie Fruit Pie anywhere. I was hoping to mount a super donut on a plaque as my first “kill” in the school lunch hunt, but no such luck. However, the s’mores pop tart appears to be history, which is a step in the right direction. I never did understand how chocolate and marshmallow wrapped in pie crust could ever be considered breakfast. Now the menu says “fruited” pop tart instead.

These changes to the school food are a fantastic example of the administration’s response to parental involvement and a demonstrate a real dedication to our kids health and well being. Thanks!

PS. While I may be packing up my cape and super hero costume – don’t fret that you don’t have any blogs to read. Check out the superintendent’s blog!

Kent City Schools Serves Up Some First Class Second Choices!

Today is the first day of school in Kent and over the summer there were lots of exciting changes in the cafeteria- and I’m not just talking about what might have rolled under the deep freeze last March. The whole menu was completely overhauled! Gone are the crispy brown second choice menu options and in their place- real food choices. Turkey bologna, ham sandwiches, tuna salad! Holy carrots sticks and skim milk! These look like that kind of lunch healthy, active people eat everyday. What a fantastic and speedy response by the Superintendent, Business Director and Aramark Service Representative. The Kent City School District should be applauded for a remarkable turnaround in breakfast and lunch options. I might just swing by for lunch myself.

Does Gourmet Magazine have any recipes for e-coli burgers?

I  know I said I was done (at least until next February) but I was pleased to see that Gourmet Magazine published a letter I wrote to the editor regarding an excellent article they had done on school lunches. The city of Kent has been working steadily on improving the food available to the kids in the district. The second choice lunch for the last week of May is a turkey sandwich. To those of you who have never written, called, met to discuss, emailed and blogged about school food you may not realize the tremendous achievement of serving something that is not brown and fried for lunch. Trust me it’s a big deal. Kent schools deserve a round of applause for making progress in this area. I’m hoping to put a hit on the Super Donut and fruit pies next fall.

Elsewhere in the Cleveland area, a seven year old girl died from e-coli hanging around in a hamburger patty- or so investigators think. There has been a voluntary recall of about a zillion pounds of ground beef processed since March. Have you eaten any? Good luck trying to find out. I was interviewed by Julie Grant of NPR about my opinion of the FDA’s role in food safety particularly regarding the nasty peanut butter we have all probably been eating. My personal opinion is that any federal agency that is given the task of supervising food safety is irrelevant without the power to force recalls. I have to take off my shoes at the damn airport for pete’s sake- they can’t force companies who kill little girls with hamburgers to remove them from restaurants and cafeterias? I hope that other news outlets, magazines and school superintendents decide that food is important. In this country, food should neither harm immediately, like the tainted burgers, or harm cumulatively like salty fried lunches.

I Made the Headlines, This Blog is Over- Let’s Celebrate

The best advice I was ever given came from a position with the federal government about ten years ago. It was a job that required lots of quick judgment calls and the training I received could not have prepared me for every possible outcome. The advice was that whenever I was in the field pondering some decision or approaching a problem, I should envision the my actions as they would appear written in a headline on the front page of the Chicago Tribune (I was living in Chicago at the time). I still consider this advice when I’m making a decision.

Here are some of the headlines that could have been:

Stay at Home Mom Complains Endlessly About School Food; Does Nothing

Due to Parental Silence, School District Never Realized How Lame the Food Was

Parents Frustrated With School Food Say Nothing to Avoid Reputation as ‘Food Cop’

Kent Schools Face Unforeseen Obesity Epidemic: No One Knew Super Donuts Made Kids Overweight

Kent City Schools Finally Dragged Into Altering School Food By Order of Congress, National Guard Hauls Away Fryers

Here are some headlines that could be:

Kent School District Unveils New Healthy Menu in Response to Parental Feedback

Other Districts Imitate Kent’s Health Success Through Food, Education and Programs

Kent Elementary School Plants Apple Orchard to Study Science and Nutrition

Berkeley, CA Green With Envy Over Kent’s Healthy Kids and Wants an Orchard Too

Kent Schools Exceed New Government Guidelines for Healthy Eating

Aramark Apologizes for Delay: “Whoops Our Bad.” Gives Parents Nutrition Information Online

Kent Schools Eliminate Fryers in the Cafeteria, other Districts to Follow Lead

Local Mom Now Has More Time to Play With Dog; Poodle Thrilled Blog is Finished

Here’s some headlines I wish I could have been responsible for:

Super Donut Loses Super Status, Now Just a Crappy Donut

Nachos Grande: Demasiada grasa, calorías y Soduim

Elementary School Trash Dumpster Named in Honor of Gwen Rosenberg

Oprah Winfrey and George Will Share a Pitcher at Ray’s Place to Celebrate End of Letters about School Food

Aramark Requests Local Mom’s Recipe for Vegetarian Chili

I thought it would be fun if I invited the entire school district to meet me at Ray’s Place for a celebratory end of the blog drink tonight, May 1st. I plan on heading up there around 7:30 or so, and hanging around for a while. When I do get a sitter, I tend to stay out as late as I possibly can before she phones in a missing persons report. If I ever wrote you a letter, or mentioned you in this blog, stop by and let me buy you a beer or some other beverage. We can share some nachos, grande or not.

Private schools, home schools, and magnet schools

When you walk your kids to school you invariably get the inside scoop on what other parents are gabbing, complaining and griping about. Sometimes it’s the absence policy, the volunteering positions that need filled, the mean teacher, or some perceived safety threat. In general these things are resolved, or are displaced with some new topic. Occasionally, parents react by opting out completely. They decide to home school or move to another district with a bigger reputation and higher tax bracket. Sometimes they convince themselves that their child needs placement in a uber private school, 40 minutes away, that has a higher rate of ivy league acceptance letters. Everyone has their own reasons for choosing one school over another. I suppose I could have home schooled my kids and fed them bean sprout sandwiches on spelt and flaxseed bread. (Ok, seriously, there’s no way I’m home schooling anyone, and spelt sounds dry.)

I could have stewed about the food privately, and openly trashed the district among friends, and we could have all been in agreement that something should be done. I could decide that the problems reflect a failing on the part of the administration and the school board. I could say and think all these things without ever asking questions or raising issues that I felt were weakening quality of the education. I think that would make me kind of a jerk. It’s unfair to deride a school district or abandon it without attempting to draw attention to what you see as a legitimate problem.

Oh sure, we’re all supposed to be afraid of being the squeaky wheel, that people will know that you gave a hoot about the peeling paint or the outdated playground equipment. (Oh the horrors- they could call me an “activist!”) The alternative, however, to speaking up is to do nothing, improve nothing, and then what?

You realize, of course, that this is a two way street. The administration, staff and school board have a responsibility to address the concerns raised by parents. It’s like sorta their job. Anyone in a position that feels no duty to consider issues raised by parents is in the wrong line of work. Government functions best with a influx of ideas and concerns, and a genuine interest to put the ideas into action. We have an appropriate mix of both in our school district- look at the improved menu, the serious consideration being given to the apple orchard, and the great response to the food survey.

Although tomorrow may be my last post on this blog about the school food, it will not be the last time I make a suggestion or raise a concern. It is my responsibility, otherwise I’m guilty of abandoning my community and my school district. And seriously, there’s no way I’m home schooling anyone.

Books for the School (and Mother Nature’s little attitude problem)

I called the library over at the elementary school today because if the orchard gets approval I promised to make a “donation of several beekeeping books to the Davey library.” According to the librarian, the best way to make a contribution to the shelves is to submit the titles or topic, and let the pros do the shopping. Libraries have specially hardbound books that can withstand the abuses of a thousand little hands, and feet probably. I was told that nonfiction generally runs about $20 per book and fiction a little less.

Ok, that sounds easy enough. I think maybe I should expand the topics to include honeybees, fruit trees or gardening. My favorite garden book for kids is The Gardener by Sarah Stewart and David Small. It gets me just a little choked up at the end. Another good one is The Bee Tree by Patricia Polacco. It’s a good one about bees and reading. I’m willing to bet the children’s librarian may have some additional titles he would like, so I’ll just leave it up to him.

Speaking of trees and nature, I planted four of my own fruit trees the other day, actually on earth day. I was feeling all warm and earthy-do-gooder for myself when I realized that Mother Nature (that psycho) had inexplicably and without provocation attacked me with poison ivy- on my face! What a jerk, thanks Mother Nature. Just for that when I went to the grocery store to fill my prescription for massive doses of cortizone, I “forgot” my eco-friendly shopping bags. Hey you wanna play hardball MN? Bring it. (I’m sure there’s no way at all, that I’ll regret writing that.) Is it supposed to thunderstorm today? Anyway, I’ll be all the easier to recognize at Ray’s place with the itchy and slightly disfiguring effects of poison ivy on my chin, neck and nose.

Another Stinkin’ Letter…

Below is a letter I mailed to each member of the school board. It’s not a particularly exciting letter- just an especially polite request that the board ask a little more of Aramark than we are currently being given. At some point in May, the board is going to reconsider the Aramark contract, and I think that in granting the renewal of this fabulous prize, the district has the right to nutrition info, a fried food exit strategy, and more fruits and vegetables. No biggie. This is a business contract, right? What’s the fun of reviewing a contract if you aren’t going to tweak it to get what you want.

I have heard from an excellent source that Aramark is really working closely with the school district to make improvements to our breakfast and lunch menus. (Note that during the last week of May the second choice lunch is a turkey and cheese on a whole wheat bun!) That’s great, but since this is a business contract, the district should still make it perfectly clear what is expected as we move into the next school year and beyond. Aramark negotiates contracts all over the country to provide school lunches, and guess what? They are willing to respond to reasonable requests to keep these contracts. It’s good business for them, and good for us (literally). It is a tremendous asset to any city to have a district that cares about all aspects of childhood education, including school food. We have such a district.

I tried to think of a way to invite the board members to Ray’s so that I could buy them a drink (Line up those babysitters, I’m completely serious about going to Ray’s this Friday) but I couldn’t think of how to phrase that in this letter without sounding stalker-ish. “Hey, board member, lemme buy you a drink?” Hopefully, they’ll hear about my offer and come on down so I can introduce myself.

Here’s the letter.

Dear Kent City School Board:

From what I understand, the school board will be considering the renewal of the Aramark Food Service contract at some point this month. As a parent with three school age children, I would like to respectfully submit some of my comments for your consideration during the contract discussions. I will most likely be unable to attend the school board meeting and would appreciate your representing my concerns. I know that Aramark has had a good working relationship with our district, and would assume that the contract will be renewed as a result. As the terms of the contract are discussed, I request that you please address the following:

• It would be a great benefit to have access to the nutritional information for the lunch and breakfast items sold in the cafeteria. Aramark has related that they are in the process of making this information available online, perhaps you could discover approximately when that information will be made available, and how best to provide the information in the interim.
• Parents besides myself have expressed a concern over the number of fried foods served in the school, as I am sure the recent food survey will demonstrate. It would be appropriate if Aramark and the school district could create a time table for the withdrawal of fried foods from the cafeteria, an exit strategy of sorts. Due to the prevalent trend towards healthy eating nationwide, Aramark should have several reasonable alternatives to fried food available through Sysco.
• With all due consideration of our budgetary constraints, it is to the advantage of our children to have more fresh fruits and vegetables available during meal times. Unfortunately, many of the current choices and commodity items have added sweeteners and artificial colors. A greater selection of fresh fruits and vegetables coupled with a reduction of processed foods would greatly improve the overall health of meals, and prove worthy of the investment.

Aramark should be commended for the introduction of whole grain breads into the cafeteria and it’s general responsive attitude toward the district officials. Going forward, it would be an asset to the school district to establish some plan to increase healthy food choices. Children are better able to concentrate and learn after a healthful meal. The school board members have an opportunity with the renewal of this contract to set the district on a path toward better eating, which in turn will equate to better learning and a more healthful environment. Thank you very much for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,
Gwen Rosenberg

My Orchard Rocks

In all my enthusiasm over the apple orchard proposal for Davey, I got online and ordered four fruit trees for my own backyard. One cherry, one peach and two apple. I spent all day yesterday planting them. I figure that this orchard I’ll go ahead and dedicate to myself. Maybe I’ll have the marker say something like: “For your three months of service to the Kent City School District pestering officials to serve more fruit and fewer corndogs.” Either that or “Gwen, You Rock.”

Which brings me to consider what kind of marker should grace the new orchards, mine, and and the one at the elementary school- should it become a reality. Over in Medina, there is beautiful park that was donated to the park system by the Allard family. The park is called Allardale and it’s on Remsen Rd. by N. Medina Line. There’s a winding path through the old farm property which leads to a bench on a hillside looking out over the wooded hills and stream. There they chose to inscribe the dedication of the park on a huge granite rock. I really like that idea, and I would suggest that the school district engrave some medium to small sized stone (not too big or the kids will climb on it, not to small or they’ll roll it away) with Mrs. Walker’s name and the inscription “She who plants trees loves others besides herself.” (I just love that saying, it really seems to grasp the dedication it takes to teach our kids to grow up to be good people.) A natural rock looks better than the WWII bronze markers on some of the trees at Davey. Even more importantly, we don’t want the kids thinking that we buried the Principal under the apple orchard, so I think a medium-small natural rock would look appropriate.

After a couple of phone calls, it turns out that rocks are not especially expensive, but carving tidy little letters into rocks can be pricey. I called Kotecki Monuments and American Monument and Granite (Now I owe them both a beer on Friday) and the price for inscription ranges from $200 to $800. That’s a 62 character inscription with the Principal’s name, the English-y proverb and the date.

The guy at American Monument says that I should go with a granite, or other similarly hard boulder, and look for one at one of the small gravel quarries around Portage County. I have already stated on the proposal that I would secure the funds needed for the orchard and marker without an appeal to parents or the school district. I’m pretty sure I know someone up in Cleveland who can do the engraving for less than either of my quotes, perhaps someone has a nice granite rock in their yard they would consider donating.

Get a Sitter for the Kids and Meet Me For a Beer

The surveys are being collected and calculated, the powers that be are debating the merits of an apple orchard, and I think I may have sealed my reputation for being a loudmouth buttinsky. There’s only so long I can continue to beat this horse, or super donut as the case may be, before I have to either run for the job myself, or leave it to the professionals.

Back in February when this all started, my intention was only to draw attention to the seldom noticed school food, and hopefully convince someone to make some needed improvements. There was a time when my family was eligible for subsidized lunches, but because of the unacceptable, to me anyway, menu choices we chose to pack instead. There are families in this district who cannot pack lunches and our community should provide those kids with something healthy to eat. Something on par with what the rest of the kids and adults are eating each day. Something that won’t shorten their life expectancy, for example.

Now that the entire district has had an opportunity to weigh in on this issue, it’s time that I get a life, as one supporter has so helpfully suggested. I still have a couple of loose ends I’d like to wrap up in the coming week, but I wanted to give everyone notice that May 1st would be my last post. Yes, it’s true. I’m dismissing the entire staff at Februarysfood headquarters, but not before I have a little party to celebrate.

On Friday May 1st, I’m inviting the entire Kent City School District to meet me for a beer at Ray’s Place. I figured most of us would need to line up a sitter so that’s why I’m giving the advanced notice. Here’s the deal, if I ever wrote you a letter, called you up, mentioned your position, or said anything at all that could be construed as being about something you do, I want to buy you a beer (or soda, or seltzer if you really want to be health food extremist). If I never wrote to you, or specifically mentioned your title or position, come on down and have a drink with me (but bring your own cash) and we’ll share a plate of nachos. (Afterward we can demand to know the nutrition information just for fun.)

As for Oprah, George Will, the USDA Secretary, Aramark and Kelloggs CEOs, assorted national and regional nutritionists, and the baseball stats guy, I can provide you a ride from the airport should you need it, but you’ll have to secure your own overnight lodging.

The Heart Association and Bill Clinton Want to Fill Out a Food Survey

My sister sent me the information on this link, thanks Deb.

The American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation (you may remember him as not exactly being major pillar of willpower- because he ate a lot of fast food, I mean) have partnered to create The Alliance for a Healthier Generation. This alliance with an unfortunate logo, if I can say such a thing, has the goal of reducing or eliminating childhood obesity.

There are resources here for schools, parents and industry. I don’t know if our district or wellness group has signed up to join the Healthy Schools Program, but they are currently accepting nominations of school wellness committee members to win the title of School Champion. We have some pretty good contenders in case anyone is inspired to sign up our district.

If you look at the “industry” page, it looks as though this organization is working to bring in some big names in food manufacturing. The alliance has created some food standards that companies can voluntarily adopt to become part of this solution to obesity. There’s even a school food calculator-thing to determine if your school food meets the criteria or not. Granted, I didn’t snoop around the site very long, but I couldn’t find nachos grande anywhere.

If the USDA isn’t going to take nutrition guidelines seriously, then maybe this organization can persuade food manufacturer’s and distributors to offer some healthier options based on their guidelines. Maybe there is something in this alliance that the Kent schools can use to help determine a path towards healthier food in our cafeterias. I don’t believe we have to reinvent the wheel, and debate the merits of one food over another every time the district wants to improve the nutrition of students. The guidelines of the Healthy Schools Program may be just the ticket to improve what the kids eat with the endorsement of the American Heart Association.