MESSAGE
| DATE | 2002-10-13 |
| FROM | Ruben I Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [hangout] Much interesting news today in the Times
|
NEWS ALERT - 16 year olds hate Toffue!
Prefer Big Mac's
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/13/national/13LUNC.html
Health Food Fails Test at School in Berkeley
By PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN
BERKELEY, Calif., Oct. 12 ? Vincent Trahan, owner of Doggie High, a hot
dog joint across the street from Berkeley High School, has a theory
about why a school lunch program featuring organic chicken, stir-fried
tofu and pesticide-free produce wilted like two-day-old lettuce.
"It's good for them, but they're not going to eat it," Mr. Trahan said
of the students who clamor for fries, hot dogs, sausages and the
occasional vegan burger. "You don't see Carl's Jr. and McDonald's
advertising veggie dogs."
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In this politically fractious city where cuisine is king, an experiment
that offered fresh, nutritious, locally grown food at Berkeley High is
defunct. Parents and drafters of a Board of Education policy recognizing
the sharing of food as "a fundamental experience for all peoples" are
reeling and trying to figure out what went wrong.
The program began almost two years ago, when Alice Waters, the
beret-wearing owner of the celebrated Chez Panisse here, went to school
to cook Niman Ranch organic pork tacos with fresh tortillas.
"There is so much organic stuff in Berkeley it wasn't a novelty," said
Andrew Kyle, 16, whose favorite lunch is a Three Musketeers bar and a
Cherry Coke.
Lynn O'Shaughnessy, 16, said: "They made a really big deal to make it
healthy. But microwave burritos are much more appealing to teenagers."
In a sphere generally dominated by the "airline food model," as Eric
Weaver, a parent and lawyer, put it, the idea of serving fresh food,
organic when possible, to the 3,000 teenagers seemed to dovetail with
the city's self-image. The school, long plagued by budget shortfalls,
was left without a cafeteria after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
In a now-cherished ritual, the students made a beeline for fast-food
places of Shattuck Avenue ? the gourmet ghetto for the under-18 set.
Two years ago, after local business owners complained about hundreds of
students' descending in the 40-minute lunch period, Mayor Shirley Dean
suggested bringing fast food to the school. The school board's Child
Nutrition Advisory Committee, committed to "nutritious, fresh, tasty,
locally grown food that reflects Berkeley's cultural diversity," was not
amused.
Thus was born the food court, tucked into the theater building. It
featured organic barbecued chicken, tofu dishes and homemade pizzas from
the Cheese Board cooperative, with organic fruit, organic apple juice
and organic salad.
"There were chips, but they were natural New York cheddar chips," said
Joy Moore, director of nutrition for Berkeley's chronic-disease
prevention program. "There were sodas, but they were natural sodas. It
was ecological, community-driven. We had a lot of momentum."
Of the 3,000 students, 200 to 300 on average bought lunch at the food
court. "I suspect that 50 or more were staff people," said John
Selawsky, a school board member.
Why it failed is the subject of much debate. Some students and parents
cited small portions and a decline in quality. Others blamed a lack of
marketing and consistency.
"I doubt 90 percent of the kids knew about it," Zack Sultan, 17, said.
"Many thought it was an attempt by the administration to impinge on
their ability to go off campus, a tightly guarded right."
Mr. Weaver said: "It's about having the time and people to introduce
kids to this stuff. Kids don't like Shakespeare, but it's good for them.
It's the same with food."
Ms. Waters called the program "a compromise that fell flat."
"It's not possible," she added, "to change school food service without
cleaning the slate and really educating the kids. It requires a whole
different way of thinking about food. It takes commitment to feed kids
in a beautiful, civilized and important way."
Efforts elsewhere may be less fraught than at Berkeley. For five years,
a movement has been growing to link farmers directly with school
cafeterias, said Robert Gottlieb, director of the Urban and
Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College in Los Angeles, an
organizer of the first national conference on "Farm to Cafeteria:
Healthy, Farms, Healthy Students" this week in Seattle.
Since 1997, the Santa Monica and Malibu Unified School District has had
salad bars at its 15 schools, with ingredients from a local farmers'
market. Joanne Ikeda, co-director of the Center for Weight and Health at
the University of California at Berkeley, said research indicated that
when introducing foods, "most parents give up too soon." For many
children, Ms. Ikeda said, it takes up to 11 exposures to a food before a
child embraces it.
At Berkeley, a new cafeteria will offer a second chance. "We are
committed to re-establishing healthy food," said Karen Candido, director
of nutrition services for the district.
Nicole Smith, 16, was philosophical, while walking back from her lunch
of a bagel and cream cheese at Lox Stock & Bagel. "So many students are
going on health kicks and off them," she said. "The obesity rates are
going up. So eventually we'll have to eat healthier food."
Peter True, 16, said a new cafeteria would not change certain givens of
student life, even here. "No one can appreciate cuisine when you have 40
minutes to eat," he said.
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