Comments on: Tales from a D.C. School Kitchen: Part Two

By: pennylane

pennylane — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 23:14:13 +0000

I work for Chartwell and i can’t wait for the changes. I think what we feed the kids is crap. It upsets me every day when i see what the kids walk away with. Wanna know what the lunches cost? They choose what they choose to keep cost down. I heard my bosses boss say that they needed to keep the lunch cost under 46 cents per student to stay within budget, mostly by using as much of the commodities as we can, such as nuggets, dippers etc. The USDA says everything we feed them is within nutritional guidelines, but would they eat it? NO! WE can’t offer pickes. Too much sodium, but nuggets and pizza are fine. Not in my book. I just hope changes comes quickly. Our kids deserve alot better food.

By: ReesieKitty

ReesieKitty — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 19:44:36 +0000

Wow, again with the hostility! I am starting to wonder if at least one commenter here is hired by a giant food corporation to cruse these sites and stick up for processed food.
The point is that simply reconstituting pre-packaged processed food filled with additives and preservatives is NOT ‘fresh cooking’.

People’s personal choices about what they serve their families on their own time are one thing- but my tax dollars go to help subsidize school lunches!

I am absolutely happy to support a program to give a kid a hot meal, especially since for some, it may be the only decent meal he gets all day.

But as a taxpayer, I want those dollars to go to FRESH, minimally-processed HEALTHY food for all the kids!!

By: Ed Bruske

Ed Bruske — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:52:34 +0000

Ycats, sorry I can’t agree with you on the milk. In our house, we drink unhomogenized “creamtop” milk from a local, grassfed dairy herd. The milk served in D.C. schools is an abomination. I’d much rather see whole milk and drop the sodas posing as milk with all their high-fructose corn syrup. Strawberry milk? You’ve got to be kidding. It has seven teaspoons of sugar in it. Add just one more and you’ve got Mountain Dew. And some kids are drinking it twice a day.

By: ycats

ycats — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:56:35 +0000

This amazing! At our school, we were quite excited about “hot” meals coming because we were on of the schools that had the pre-packaged meals. The “hot” meals are full of fillers. You should see the “steriod” sized chicken pieces with 1/2 inch breading (of course the in an exaggeration). Our students tend to eat less of the “hot” food. the plus side is there does seem to be more of a variety on the menu. The milk choices are better now. I like the fact that “white” milk is fat free oor 1%, and most days children can select chocolate AND strawberry if so desired.

By: lostchef68

lostchef68 — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 07:42:46 +0000

WOW u have done it again… Another indepth report on the obivious and average ingredient listing on anything you purchased in Giant. Way to go! For your next exlusive you should find your way to the HotDogs in your fridge and read the labels out loud before bed time and tell your daughter what is “Erythorbate” that she loves so much! If you don’t know it is a simple flavor and texture preservative found in hotdogs, cured meats and other products. Don’t blame the hot dog it is just the carrier. In closing i must ask another stupid question…
If you saw a bag of frozen vegetables in the store will you curse them for being frozen?

By: Ed Bruske

Ed Bruske — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 13:31:08 +0000

DOW — I have nothing against freezing. In this context, it did seem to juxtapose with the concept of “fresh cooked.” Freezing is a perfectly acceptable food storage method. I freeze plenty of the vegetables I grow in my garden so that we can enjoy them during the dark days of winter. The issue, I think, lies in how they are handled.

By: drinkofwater

drinkofwater — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:30:00 +0000

Great series so far! But I wonder … Are you anti-frozen veggies? Seems like they are a pretty logical thing for a school cafeteria to keep in reserve, although I can understand that you prefer that they don’t rely on them. Freezing is a good alternative for farmers as well since it’s impossible to eat an entire crop immediately after harvesting. My grandma, the wife of a farmer, always kept vegetables and fruits in the freezer or “put up” in cans that she’d canned herself. I understand that the canning process drains nutrients from fresh fruits and veggies, but I was under the impression that freezing didn’t have quite the same effect.

By: Carl Rollins

Carl Rollins — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:51:35 +0000

When they are running for office politicians say that education issues are among their top priorities. The public demands as much. However, when budget crunches hit it’s often the local/state education funding that take the first hit. We saw that in DC recently when hundreds of teachers were inexplicably laid off. So it comes as no surprise that school systems are using their food budgets to squeeze every dime out of the system. Potatoes as a vegetable? My mom didn’t buy that in our house growing up. Sadly, “fresh cook” sounds like just another way for Chartwell’s to pad their bottom line. Perhaps we all need to start putting our money where are mouths are.

By: islander07

islander07 — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:07:17 +0000

I’m wondering if you will get to what the actual cost of this is, (incl labor?) does the school system track this, would they share that with you? Are there any schools in DC that do it the “old” way, where real food is cooked on site?
My daughter never buys lunch, always brings it from home, doesn’t like the food at the cafeteria.

Do you have any viable options, or examples of places that are serving 300 kids with good food for similar costs?

What should we be advocating for our local school system?

By: brynngslate

brynngslate — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:55:22 +0000

The ingredient lists and convoluted travel routes of these “fresh” foods are jaw-dropping. Thank you for looking deeper into this switch to “fresh-cooked”, which seems like it’s more a token gesture to keep up with the media attention on food instead of a genuine interest in offering wholesome meals to DC’s most vulnerable citizens–its children!