| Sept. 13, 2004
No more
mystery meat! Schools go organic for lunch By REBECCA COOK
Associated Press Writer
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) _ The tempting smell of pepperoni pizza drifted
through the air as students poured into the cafeteria.
But 11-year-old Cameron Landry walked straight past the cheesy slices
and started piling organic lettuce, pita pockets and blueberries on his
tray.
Sounds like a nutritionist's dream. But it's reality at Lincoln
Elementary. The school's organic salad bar has proven so popular - and
surprisingly economical - that all Olympia grade schools now have one.
"The
food is pretty good. And it's much better because you actually have a
choice," Landry said as he chowed down on salad. "Otherwise, it's 'eat
this or nothing!"'
While
fried chicken nuggets and cheeseburgers still reign supreme in most
cafeterias, a small but growing number of schools are turning to organic
food as a way to improve children's health and fight obesity.
The
Seattle school district recently adopted a new policy banning junk food
and encouraging organic food in school cafeterias. California school
districts in Berkeley, Santa Monica, and Palo Alto have organic food
programs. And through a program sponsored by the organic yogurt company
Stonyfield Farm, schools in Rhode Island, California, Massachusetts, New
York, New Hampshire and Connecticut have or are getting new vending
machines stocked with all-organic treats.
"This
is the beginning of the sea change," predicted Ronnie Cummins, director
of the Organic Consumers Association. "Unfortunately, it's coming at the
same time school districts all over the country are squeezed by a fiscal
crisis."
The
biggest hurdle to getting organic food in schools - especially in
schools not in liberal, crunchy-granola cities on the West Coast - is
the cost. Organic food, produced without pesticides, growth hormones or
other additives, generally costs more. That's a tough sell when schools
are struggling to pay for books and teachers.
But
Lincoln Elementary has managed to cut its lunch costs, by two cents per
meal, while offering a full organic menu. Eliminating dessert, though
initially unpopular with students, covered most of the added cost of
organic meals.
"Our
kids don't need dessert - they have all this great fruit. It's not like
kids don't get sugar," Lincoln Principal Cheryl Petra said. She's been
pleasantly surprised that students and parents across the district have
embraced the program.
"It's
about a long-term investment in the health of our children. We are the
responsible adults. We can do this," Petra said, gesturing to the crowd
of children around the organic salad bar.
Organic food accounts for less than 2 percent of U.S. food sales, but
the industry is growing like a weed. Sales of organic food increased 21
percent between 1997 and 2002, according to the Organic Trade
Association. Industry analysts expect sales to grow by about 20 percent
annually in the next few years.
School meals are getting new scrutiny in light of the obesity epidemic
among U.S. children. The latest government statistics show that about 31
percent of children ages 6 through 19 are overweight, and 16 percent are
obese.
"Organic" doesn't necessarily mean "healthy," and pigging out on natural
foods won't help your waistline. But organic programs such as the one in
Lincoln Elementary have successfully gotten children to eat more fruits
and vegetables, which will help improve their health in the long run.
For
Gary Hirshberg, the wake-up call came when he asked his teenage son what
he'd eaten at school one day.
"Pizza, chocolate milk and Skittles," was the reply. Not terribly
shocking, except that Hirshberg is president and CEO of the New
Hampshire-based Stonyfield Farm, the largest organic yogurt company in
the country.
Thus
his campaign to put organic foods in schools was born. Stonyfield Farm
stocks schools with refrigerated vending machines that sell healthy
treats such as Newman's Own Pretzels, Stretch Island Organic Fruit
Leather, Silk Soy Milk, and of course Stonyfield Farm Fruit Smoothies.
They're a hit - even in inner-city neighborhoods that don't match the
white, upper-income demographic profile of most organic devotees.
"Here
we are obsessed with low-carbs and health, and somehow we surrender to
the idea the cheese has to be orange" in school cafeterias and vending
machines, Hirshberg said.
Meanwhile, the Olympia parent who sparked Lincoln's meal makeover is
becoming something of a Johnny Appleseed for organic school lunches.
Vanessa Ruddy first proposed organic menus when her son was at Lincoln
elementary, and was pleasantly surprised to find school district
officials were receptive. She's spoken to parents and school officials
from around the country about the idea.
"The
desire is there," she said. "It's something for the whole country to
follow."
Her
son just started middle school, and when she went to a meeting at the
school last week she noticed all the teachers looking at her.
Ruddy
said, "The first thing they asked was, 'Can you do something about the
school lunch program?"'
---
On
the Net:
Lincoln Elementary: http://lincoln.osd.wednet.edu
Stonyfield Farm: http://www.stonyfield.com/MenuForChange
Organic Consumers Association: http://www.organicconsumers.org |
