The Slowcook at Spydog Farm The Slowcook at Spydog Farm

We’re a Hit at Grist

January 26th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Posted in Blog

The Slow Cook is featured here

The Slow Cook is featured here

Posts from our recent series Tales from a D.C. School Kitchen, detailing how food is prepared at our local elementary school here in the nation’s capitol, currently occupy two of the top five spots as “most viewed” articles at Grist, the online environmental magazine.

We’re just behind Michelle Obama’s vow to take on childhood obesity, Robert F. Kennedy on mountaintop removal, and libertarian right-wingers defending a dysfunctional food system. Fourth on the “most viewed” list is the introductory post from the Kitchen Tales series, and the second post, detailing some of the stranger foods–along with their frightening ingredients–that appear on kids plates in D.C. schools. (Or should I say, Styrofoam tray/plates?)

To say the least, readership here at The Slow Cook has also spiked since the series first started appearing a week ago. Yesterday we hit an all-time record number of daily visitors, 2,177. That’s about four times our usual volume. Okay, so we aren’t exactly swamped with readers here every day.

People interested in healthier school food have been tweeting about the series all over the country. And behind the raw numbers, we’ve noticed lots of eyeballs in influential places, like Congress, USDA, various school food associations, the D.C. government, D.C. Public Schools, and of course the producers of all that frozen convenience food we learned so much about, such as food giant Cargill. Yes, we know you’re watching us.

Thanks, everyone, for tuning in. And if you want to read tons of interesting comments about the series, take a look over at La Vida Locavore, where readers really get into all dirty details.

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  • folkways notebook

    I’m not a grand cook — just a very simple one. However, I do feel strongly abut the food I put in my mouth. Many others choose junk food but why train our children to go down that path? Isn’t schooling a holistic education — school teaches from the time children enter the school doors in the morning until the bell rings to go home. If a parent cared they would pack a healthy lunch for them and advocate for a healthy lunch program. Your series could provide the foundation for such a battle.

  • Sylvie

    Congrat, Ed. I have following the series with interest – if sadness, and unfortunately not much surprise. But wouldn’t it be great if that series were to be the catalyst for real changes in how and what we feed our children?