School Lunches

Big fish, little fish

A parable on the National School Lunch Program 3
Posted 5 days, 6 hours ago By Ann Cooper, Kate Adamick The National School Lunch program, with all of its intricacies, can seem extremely complicated. But take a step back and look at it with clear eyes, and it's really pretty simple.
White House loads policy initiatives into a few hours of fun at Healthy Kids Fair 0
Posted 4 weeks, 1 day ago The autumn sunshine was very bright, the weather unseasonably warm, and there was a party atmosphere at the White House for Wednesday’s Healthy Kids Fair. The fun side of the the Healthy Kids Fair was reported by mainstream media. But the event couldn’t have been more serious.
Gimme your lunch money

Is privatization the answer to the school lunch mess? 13
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago A blogger challenged my hastily formed opinion of privatization and school lunches. Here's my more nuanced take.
Choice nuggets

Two takes on school lunches, plus other tasty morsels from around the web 2
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Grist's food editor serves up a brief rundown of interesting food/agriculture journalism from around the web.
TRAY CHIC

Ask Umbra’s video advice on making lunch matter 0
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago Common wisdom tells us there’s no free lunch. But you can have a guilt-free lunch, thanks to Umbra Fisk’s recipe for midday munchers everywhere. You won’t have to swallow your pride -- you can eat well, save money, and help this juicy planet we call home.
Ask Umbra’s video advice on making lunch matter 8
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Stirring the pot

Nationwide “eat-ins” show way to a revived National School Lunch Program 1
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago
Across the nation on Labor Day, more than 20,000 people turned up at picnics to rally support for healthy school lunches.
Hope, damn it!

In dark times, back to the garden 1
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago
While climate change rages ahead, the climate bill is flat on its back and the political system seems stuck in the mud of right-wing faux-populism. Tom Philpott finds hope in a different kind of dirt.
Fork in the road

Let’s (re)do school lunch 18
Posted 3 months ago
It's time to get active in the campaign to improve school lunches, says Chef Kurt Michael Friese.
Bubble-gum apples and pre-fab cheeseburgers

What’s become of school lunch 2
Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago
Pop quiz: what are school cafeteria managers getting excited about for fall lunch menus?
Choice nuggets

Obama garden drama, and other choice morsels from around the Web 2
Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago
From a food fight over the White House garden to year-round veggies in Minnesota, Tom Phlipott serves up tasty morsels from around the Web.
Lunch-hour follies

As GOP politicians take the school-lunch debate to new lows, perk up with berry ice cream 2
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago
School lunches are notoriously dismal--warmed over processed dreck. How depressing that state-level GOP politicians are rallying round the lunch-room status quo. Kurt Michael Friese cheers up with homemade berry ice cream.
Philly Phights Back

Philly’s universal school lunch program lives on—for now 3
Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago
Sometimes sanity prevails. Philly's Universal Feeding school lunch program--whose announced cancellation caused an uproar the other week--just got a reprieve, at least until 2010.
Lunch drunk

Why the USDA’s squashing of Philly’s universal school lunch plan bites 0
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago
The outcry over the USDA's announced end to Philly's excellent Universal Feeding program--a program that automatically enrolls poor children in the federal free school meal program--is getting louder. And the ironies are coming faster, as well.
Reheat and serve

Obama’s school-lunch chief not much of a reformer 1
Posted 7 months, 1 week ago
Prominent school lunch reformer Ann Cooper, self-described "renegade lunch lady," weighs in on USDA chief Tom Vilsack's choice to lead the agency's child-nutrition efforts.
Lunch money

Vilsack makes an industry-friendly pick to head the school lunch program 5
Posted 7 months, 1 week ago
USDA chief Tom Vilsack has repeatedly said that improving child nutrition will be one of his priorities. His pick to oversee the National School Lunch Priogram raises doubts.
Think Outside the Lunchbox

For a quick fix to school-lunch woes, pack an appealing salad and dip 5
Posted 9 months ago