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Listen now | 18 minutes, 54 seconds
Lunchables or tater tots? Most kids eat lunch at school, and over 80% of Chicago's students qualify for federally subsidized meals. That adds up to thousands of styrofoam trays, truckloads of juice boxes, and food that's far from the farm. The Eco Chicks bring in Maureen George of the Organic School Project to talk innovative lunch programs, from bureaucratic battles to harvesting the playground.
Published on Sept. 24, 2008 at noon, as part of the The Little Green People Show.
T. S. commented, on September 29, 2008 at 10:36 a.m.:
Schools have to be invested in this for a long period of time. At my kid's school, they started serving pizza with whole wheat crust, it lasted six months, sales dropped off, then they abandoned it. It takes time for tastes to evolve! I'm worried this "healthy lunch stuff" is going to seem like a fad that got tried and didn't work.
the green mama commented, on September 29, 2008 at 11:30 a.m.:
The USDA has many bad policies (not just not allowing uneaten food to leave the school lunch). It also buys up milk that consumers have found not to be "safe," such as rGBH milk, irradiated meats, (and very possibly in the future cloned meats). Almost 1/3 of the recently recalled meat went to schools and public nutrition programs.
The USDA is in charge of the school lunch program and our school lunch program doesn't just offer too few vegetables and too little healthy food, it is also feeding our children some of the most questionable foods on the US market.
It is so great to see Chicago taking strides to improve the situation. Let's hope these models will soon be the norm.
Jill commented, on September 30, 2008 at 3:47 p.m.:
I'd love to pretend that packing my children's lunches for school is something I do with a smile on my face each morning. I'd like to say that I gently furrow my brow as I open the refrigerator and decide which of the many healthy options I have on hand will I bestow upon them today.
But mostly I'm just glad if I have something, anything on hand that I think they will eat.
I've been thinking about this school lunch issue a lot since doing the show and since reading Manda's blog on this subject -- there is so much more on this to explore, and so much room for activism on all fronts.
Anyone have a school lunch success story they'd like to report? A worry they would like to voice? A bill we should all support?
S.P.B. commented, on October 11, 2008 at 10 a.m.:
I looked up and liked the "wrap-n-mats" you suggested on the podcast. They're kind of expensive, though, at $7 a pop. I ordered two anyway, 'cause I feel like I should support businesses trying to do eco-friendly things.
I haven't received them yet, but am hoping that will count as a success!
Serious Guy commented, on October 21, 2008 at 8:05 a.m.:
The idea that I should have a "success" with lunch makes me tired.
Ecologymam commented, on November 10, 2008 at 5:54 p.m.:
My goal this year is to reduce waste. For school lunch, our family sends somewhat healthy and sustainable food in only reusable containers with regular home silverware. All of the food that isn't eaten at school, comes back home to be eaten later or composted if no longer desirable. Surprisingly, there has been a good rate of return on the containers and silverware.
The school lunchroom waste from the hot lunch program is staggering. Fully closed packages (gosh I wish I would see whole fruit like you mentioned), styrofoam trays, plastic utensils dumped into the garbage. It is too bad to hear that the school cannot re-offer (for free the second time around) the fully closed packaged items. I know that the district's study of styrofoam trays v. washable/reusable had the outcome that the styrofoam trays were less damaging.
I'd like to hear more about how you were able to encourage your school to compost. That may be the next best step to reduce some of the wastefulness.