I'm Fed Up. What if South Walton could be the model for the nation?

[Zebraspots]

Back when I was in school, we had home ec class. If this still exists, it would be an excellent way to have local chefs and food producers do a cooking class or demonstration about healthy food and how to prepare it.

And perhaps the prisoners growing veggies for the jail could also grow it for the school.

Fixing school lunch is a massive undertaking, but promoting good food and growing food is something fun that can happen in a short time frame.

 

[Jill Tanner]

The problem is, the sort of free range, hormone meat you are describing...Is ABSURDLY expensive. It's going to be very difficult to convince a school to go that direction with current funding limitations. Also, you have to keep in mind that this isn't like just cooking dinner for a family of 4 to 6 people. This is cooking food for several dozen children at a time, and it has to be food that can be prepared efficiently with those sorts of time constraints.

I have an idea for you. If you want to make this your cause, maybe you could approach some of our area schools about community garden programs that the kids themselves can plant and care for during some sort of elective/horticulture type of class, and what they grow could be used in the cafeteria lunches. You could volunteer to spearhead and chaperon such a program at one of the schools closest to you, and see what comes of it. While it doesn't address the concerns you have with process meats, it is a start.

Again, I appreciate your advice. I have already spoken to an area chef who buys only from local farms. This chef explains that it's expensive in the grocery store because of the high demand and miles it travels. If you buy local and have contracts with providers, then you save big. Basically, let's say Bay Elementary would have a contact with Farm A for chicken, Farm B for pork, Farm C for beef, Farm D for some produce and Farm E for the rest. That farm would then know their demand and could produce. The contract would give the farmer relief that their product is sold and the school would get a low price because of the travel time and bulk ordered. So, it's actually nothing like feeding a family at home, but I can see how one might perceive it that way. If you would like to be a part of this, please let me know. My email is jilletanner@gmail.com. I am a very open person always looking for a way to give back. There should be nothing negative on this feed. Also, there's no reason to speculate on a price or outcome. Let's all do a little digging and see what we can come up with. The children are the future of the nation. I encourage you to watch the film and then send me an email and let's have a talk about it. Thanks!

 

[TeaPartyingHard]

My comment about it not being the same as cooking for a family at home was more about time and less about cost. My point was, it is a lot harder to prepare 50 meals that have to be ready before 10:30 or 11 AM every day, versus cooking for 4 to 6 people at home. Cooking good food is a lot more time consuming than reheating pre-cooked meals. It could require an increase in cooking staff, or an increase in the hours cooking staff works, because they might need to do "prep" of fresh foods like pre-chopping produce the day before, because it's not going to be very efficient to be chopping the morning of. Sort of like how restaurants often have to do prep service the night before, or come in extra early to do it, so all ingredients are already chopped and laid out and then all they have to do is combine them when an order is made.

 

[Jill Tanner]

My comment about it not being the same as cooking for a family at home was more about time and less about cost. My point was, it is a lot harder to prepare 50 meals that have to be ready before 10:30 or 11 AM every day, versus cooking for 4 to 6 people at home. Cooking good food is a lot more time consuming than reheating pre-cooked meals. It could require an increase in cooking staff, or an increase in the hours cooking staff works, because they might need to do "prep" of fresh foods like pre-chopping produce the day before, because it's not going to be very efficient to be chopping the morning of. Sort of like how restaurants often have to do prep service the night before, or come in extra early to do it, so all ingredients are already chopped and laid out and then all they have to do is combine them when an order is made.

Ok. This is getting a little argumentative, which was not my intent. BUT, what you said is exactly right. It would be like a restaurant. Employees would be given prep tasks and jobs would be created. With all of the money saved from getting rid of the garbage food, it would work out. I'm not sure of why you are trying to find something negative here. I am aware of people that must battle instead of stand beside, but of all things it seems like this is one worth at least looking into. I guess you don't want to talk, as I've given you my email address before. You could help if you like, but otherwise, I'll just do it on my own and find out. I have already had ten people email me excited to help! Unless you have some hard evidence to share that the way they do it now is somehow better and cheaper and good for our children, then I guess we will just have to agree to disagree.

 

[bentley williams]

What's expensive is not good food but rather the health issues caused by foods that are bad for you. We should have real food and real education about food.

Our failure at nutrition and education about nutrition is reflective of the failure of our education system overall and our problems with prioritizing what's important in our society.

Education and nutrition go hand in hand. We know that. We just don't follow through.

I am glad that most of our kids have something to eat at school whether they can afford it or not, but there's no reason why ALL of our kids can't eat well.

 

[Jill Tanner]

What's expensive is not good food but rather the health issues caused by foods that are bad for you. We should have real food and real education about food.

Our failure at nutrition and education about nutrition is reflective of the failure of our education system overall and our problems with prioritizing what's important in our society.

Education and nutrition go hand in hand. We know that. We just don't follow through.

I am glad that most of our kids have something to eat at school whether they can afford it or not, but there's no reason why ALL of our kids can't eat well.

Thank you, Bentley! Maybe I'll call on you when I get started!

 

[carson]

Thank you, Bentley! Maybe I'll call on you when I get started![/QUOTE]

Good luck with this. There are so many issues when it comes to schools, state and County wise. Vendors have to be approved by the state most of the time. There is a ridiculously low budget for school lunches, so it becomes commodity items. The idea of teaching kids through activities like urban gardening, health related contests etc..is the way to go. I know because we supply lunches to private schools with Wok Box in some markets. Rice boxes with fresh vegetables and lean proteins, kids love them. They are not a profit center for us, but we are supported by the school and parents..win-win.

 

[Jill Tanner]

Good luck with this. There are so many issues when it comes to schools, state and County wise. Vendors have to be approved by the state most of the time. There is a ridiculously low budget for school lunches, so it becomes commodity items. The idea of teaching kids through activities like urban gardening, health related contests etc..is the way to go. I know because we supply lunches to private schools with Wok Box in some markets. Rice boxes with fresh vegetables and lean proteins, kids love them. They are not a profit center for us, but we are supported by the school and parents..win-win.

Great. Thank you, Carson. I hope to get the schools to add some education and gardening as well. That's the goal.

 

[TeaPartyingHard]

I'm not trying to be argumentative, and I am not sure what gave you that impression. You misconstrued how I said something, and I was trying to clarify what I meant. I am also not being negative...I am pointing out the obvious hurdles you will have to cross to make this a reality. I am sorry if my lack of an email to you offended you. I do not have kids, nor do I ever intend to have kids. I also work full time, and have other things on my plate. I was throwing out some brainstorming ideas for you. Maybe if I had kids, or if I were retired and had lots of free time, I'd do more, but alas, I don't.

I think your heart is in the right place, and I think you could do some good in the community if you started small and gradually tried to turn this into something bigger. I think a community garden hosted on school grounds could be a good jumping off point.

I have never made the argument that what they are doing right now is better for the children in our county. In fact, I haven't even made any sort of argument that shoots you down or disagrees with you. All of my posts were about the logistics of doing something like this, and considering the various angles people are going to try to counter you with.

I'm sorry if you've some how gotten the wrong idea. You should try to be a bit more diplomatic and not bristle when someone points out logistical hurdles. It's not like you are going to be able to walk into the school cafeteria and tell them "This is how it's going to be!" and have everybody fall in line. There is going to be pushback. There are going to be budgetary concerns, and the people you bring this idea to who actually wield the power to make it a reality are going to want hard numbers and facts. There are also likely food companies with current contracts with the school district who will not be happy to be pushed out and lose those contracts. They will fight to continue to have that source of income. If you try to get a plan rolling to push them out, they will almost certainly come back with counter points to try to maintain how things currently operate.

In conclusion, dial back the martyrdom back a little. I wish you luck, and I do hope you get something accomplished. It's a nice idea that will take a TON of work to turn into a reality, but it definitely can be done.

 

[TeaPartyingHard]

http://www.walton.k12.fl.us/food-services-department Here is contact info for the food services department for our county.

With Florida's very broad public records laws, I think you should be able to shoot that person an email or a phone call and very easily be able to obtain the name of what company supplies the food to the schools. They might even be willing to discuss prices with you. There is no reason that information should be confidential. If it were me, my first course of action would be to find out what the school district is currently paying for these supplies. Then, as you had said earlier, you had already spoken with some local food suppliers. You should take the price information to them, and see if it's anything they can match. You will also want data in regards to volume. Pricing will vary depending on how large an order is, in most cases, so pricing will probably get more flexible the larger the order is. Then you could relay the pricing information you acquire back to the food services manager, or maybe bring it up at a school board meeting. I think hard data on prices and order volume will have the greatest impact on inspiring the people in charge to consider changing where school lunches come from.

Another factor you might not have considered is expiration dates. Fresh food without preservatives spoils faster than the sort of items they are currently offering. How the food will be stored and how long it will keep is going to impact costs. Spoilage can end up costing a lot. Hopefully though, if the goal is to deal with local providers, food can just be delivered in smaller batches with more frequent deliveries to try to escape this potential problem.

I'm glad that you want to do something good for the kids of Walton county, and I don't at all doubt your dedication. I think it is important that you consider points that your potential opposition could bring up, though. If you consider these issues now, you can come up with a solution for them before someone who might oppose you even brings it up. I don't want you to construe the points I am making as an attempt to dissuade you from pursuing your idea. I want you to see them for what they are....valid logistical concerns that require solutions to make successful changes in the school lunch program. Honestly, I wish you luck, and I genuinely mean that.