School Food in France and Bringing up Bebe Book Review

While we in America argue whether to include "pink slime" in our beef products, the French are preparing truly farm-fresh organic produce for their children with in-school chef's and a real kitchen.

They use real utensils and real plates (highly sustainable) and are served at their round tables to facilitate discussion.  And, they get adequate time to enjoy their food and socialize compared to the typical American school kids 20 minute lunch with which to scarf down whatever processed food he or she can.

I thought we were the country with the most resources?

I finished reading Pamela Druckerman's (She's a American raising her family is Paris) book, "Bringing Up Bebe", and was impressed with the level of service French parents receive when raising a child.  Particularly of interest was the three days of menu options Pamela shared in her book at the French daycare for her three-year-old.

She writes of the meals, "An in-house cook at each creche (day care)  prepares lunch from scratch each day.  A truck arrives several times a week with seasonal, fresh, sometimes even organic ingredients.  Aside from the occasional can of tomato paste, nothing is processed or precooked.  A few vegetables are frozen, but never precooked."

So here are the menus (served in four courses of salad, main meal, cheese and dessert) she observed.  And remember, this is a daycare/preschool:

Day 1 (Page 112):
Course 1:  Bright-red tomato salad in vinaigrette
Course 2:  Flaky white fish in a light butter sauce and a side dish of peas, carrots and onions
Course 3:  Crumbled blue cheese
Course 4:  Whole apples slices at the table

Day 2 (Page 112):
Course 1:  Hearts of palm and tomato salad
Course 2:  Sliced turkey with rice in a Provencal cream sauce
Course 3:  St. Nectaire cheese with a slice of fresh baguette
Course 4:  Fresh Kiwi

Day 3 (Page 204):
Course 1:  Shredded red cabbage salad and fromage blanc
Course 2:  White fish in dill sauce and a side of organic potatoes
Course 3:  Coulommiers cheese
Course 4:  Baked organic apple

The French have a commission where parents can provide meaningful input into their children's menu.  They stress visual and textural variety along with nutrition and suggest offerings such as mousse of sardines in cream sauce, duck mousse, spinach, green beans, smoked pork, monk fish, tuna fish, salmon, yogurt cake with carrots, etc.  The parent food meeting Pamela attended lasted more than two hours.

I found this documentary from CBS (below) that highlights some of the French school cooking.  They manage to do it for $2.50 per student, about what many of our schools pay for mostly processed trash.

So I wonder, what would our school lunch program look like if each school got to create its own menus with parent-driven input and the kid actually had the time to enjoy their meal and have conversation during their day?  Our kids deserve so much better than our schools are giving them.

As an additional resource, check out the movie "Food Beware:  The French Organic Revolution" on Netflix or buy at Amazon.com.

"Pink Slime" in School Lunches

Check out a school cafeteria box of beef patties and you will see USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) approved and contains 85% (or some lesser percentage than 100%) beef.  I've often wondered what was the unmentioned ingredient(s) reminding me of my high school days and jokes of it being horse meat.

Jamie Oliver exposed what many call "pink slime" in last season's Food Revolution.  It's the unwanted beef trimmings exposed to the innards of the animal that are then spun in a mixture of ammonia to kill existing bacteria, then ground and added into the final ground beef product.  Does this raise concerns for you?

The slime is produced by Beef Products, Inc. (BPI) and is added into 70% of our nations beef supply.  The USDA claims it is safe.

McDonald's recently said they would stop putting the slime in their hamburgers.  But, it now appears the USDA will purchase the newly available slime for school districts across America.

Why do we feed our kids the worst of the worst?  I hope you find this disturbing and infuriating.  I do.

UPDATE (03/29/2012) -- The USDA and a handful of Governors defend the creation and use of "lean finely textured beef".  Of course, their viewpoint is a bit skewed toward tax and campaign revenues.

UPDATE (03/29/2012) -- www.stoppinkslime.org has a lot of information and a petition to keep pink slime out of our schools and grocery stores.  Check it out.

Searching for a New School District and School Lunch

Americans move -- a lot!  Almost 15% of the entire population moves annually and families are the most likely to move a long distance.

Sometimes people have a choice where they live, sometimes they are looking in a narrower handful of miles.  But if you have kids, you probably will ask a realtor or employer where the best schools are for your children.  Best is usually defined by standardized test scores or education philosophy.  But what about food?

Most schools offer their lunch choices online.  As I have perused our area schools, I have noticed a wide variance in the quality of food within each district -- and really, none of them in our immediate area are spectacular.  I have even found a school who contracted with Arby's and Pizza Hut to weekly supply a lunch!

In just a little research, I was able to uncover two school districts that are doing well in nourishing their children and educating them.  Both happen to be from California school districts, but there are many across the country -- seemingly most existing on the East and West coasts.

1. The first example is from the Novato Unified School District in Marin County, California.  Their lunch menu looks a bit better than in our area.  They feature a vegetable and fruit every month, offer salads daily and partner with Marin Organic to supply their food needs with local organic produce.
2. The second example is Oceanside Unified School District in San Diego County, California.  The menu and healthy lifestyle promotion is prevalent throughout their web site.  The also feature daily salads, meatless Mondays, vegetarian options, and fresh fruit.  They also serve their food on biodegradable trays and use biodegradable utensils.  They have partnered with www.leanandgreenkids.org to enhance their food program.

What kids eat is as important as what they learn.  When looking for a great school district for your kids, you may want to consider visiting the cafeteria too.

Do you live in a great school district that offers nutritious meals?  Tell us about it!

Most Important Book for Parents

School lunches are often overlooked by parents.  Perhaps some parents really don't care, but for many others, school lunch is something never seen.

Our kids are not yet of an age where school lunch is an option, but it is a worry.  And it should be for anyone with OR without kids.  Kids fed well have better test scores and school attendance -- a major plus for society in the long-term.

A year ago I received an empty school hamburger patty box for moving some household stuff.  I was grateful for the box, but was mortified that the ingredients said 80-some-percent beef.  What!?  Why isn't a hamburger patty 100% beef and what was the mysterious unstated filler?  McDonald's patties are 100% beef.  Not quality beef, but 100%.

The USDA determines what is acceptable for our kids to eat for lunch and private companies help fulfill those requirements through awkward pairings like pizza sauce being classified as a vegetable or a flavored ice-pop being classified as a fruit.

In a word. the food our kids get at school is pure junk or "rubbish" as Jamie Oliver says.

I read (in one night) a book titled "Fed Up with Lunch".  It is written from a Chicago school teacher who, for one year, ate school cafeteria food and blogged about it each day.  I think for many, the food selection will shock them.  I certainly think it will spur some people to action to try and find solutions for the woefully inadequate nutrition our kids receive.

If you really dig into how school lunches and the infamous food pyramid are developed, you will find a money-trail that leads from Congress back to the manufacturers/growers of certain types of food.  I find this disturbing.  Our health -- our kids health -- traded for profits and campaign contributions.

Solutions are not easy and regulations make many options unsuitable.  But, solutions start by being aware and I encourage everyone to read this book followed by Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma and help find solutions to better feed our kids.

Additional Resources:

www.ecoliteracy.org
www.commonthreads.org
www.edibleschoolyard.org
www.farmtoschool.org
www.food-corps.org
www.growingpower.org
www.healthyschoolscampaign.org
www.thelunchbox.org
www.healthyschoolfood.org
www.organicschoolproject.org
www.healthyschoollunches.org
www.purpleasparagus.com
www.reapfoodgroup.org
www.schoolfoodfocus.org
www.schoollunchinitiative.org
www.schoolnutrition.org
www.veggiecation.com
www.betterschoolfood.blogspot.com
www.betterschoolfood.org
www.bravenewlunch.blogspot.com
www.jackiesschoolfoodblog.blogspot.com
www.thelunchtray.com
www.nhschoolfood.blogspot.com