![\"Food](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/foodfight.jpg\" "\\"foodfight\\"")
<\/a> As food services director for the San Diego Unified School District, Petill oversees the 25 million meals the system serves every year at 365 facilities. In his seven years with the district, he\u2019s won awards for his innovative approach to school lunches. And yes, he regularly combs stores like Whole Foods for healthy-food purveyors he might convince to do bulk packaging for the district.<\/p>\n\u201cI figure that anything that\u2019s at Whole Foods, even if it\u2019s frozen like a pot pie, we can use in our schools because the ingredients tell me it\u2019s healthy,\u201d he said, explaining that a successful contract with Amy\u2019s Kitchen to produce veggie burgers has boosted his efforts. \u201cI eat really healthy, and that\u2019s why I took this job \u2013 I thought if I could go in and try to make change in the way 135,000 kids eat during the day, it would make a difference (for the kids) at home as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
So when Chef Ann Cooper, the \u201cRenegade Lunch Lady,\u201d rolled into San Diego last month with her message \u2013 \u201cThe (school) food is so bad, it\u2019s making our kids sick\u201d \u2013 Petill said he was torn. On the one hand he agrees with Cooper\u2019s movement to improve the meals kids are served at school, but on the other he is realistic about the limits he and his staff face.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really think what she\u2019s saying is that the programs throughout the nation could be a lot better if the reimbursement rate was high so districts could put out a better product,\u201d he determined.<\/p>\n
San Diego schools receive $2.68 per meal from government funding and food commodities. Through her School Lunch Revolution campaign, Cooper is seeking an additional dollar per meal dedicated to fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains when Congress reauthorizes the Child Nutrition and WIC Act later this year. She also wants to require the USDA, which sets standards for the National School Lunch Program, to implement the Institute of Medicine guidelines, which call for more healthful calorie levels, reduced fat and increased fresh produce.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe (current) guidelines are so low that chicken nuggets, tater tots, chocolate milk, high fructose corn syrup, trans-fats and corn dogs are fed to our kids on a regular basis,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cThis is the socio-equity issue of our time. It ought to be a birthright in America that every child gets healthy, delicious food at school every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cooper \u2013 who heads up food service for Boulder, Colo., schools after three years at Berkeley schools, where she transformed the lunch program \u2013 cites Centers for Disease Control statistics for children born in 2000 that project 40 percent will develop diabetes and that the generation will be the first to die younger than their parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the math and science (education) in the world is going to do these kids no good if they\u2019re losing their toes and appendages in their 20s because they\u2019ve already had diabetes for 15 years,\u201d Cooper said.<\/p>\n
While Petill appreciates the attention Cooper is bringing to children\u2019s health, he said the answer is more complex than just additional funding. The vigorous marketing of fast food and processed food to children has influenced what they will eat, he said, and the commodity entitlements the USDA provides schools are not always the healthiest options. But he\u2019s not giving up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to take it upon ourselves to continue to improve even if things don\u2019t get better,\u201d he said. \u201cEven if we don\u2019t get much more money, even if we don\u2019t get better commodity selections, how can we still make it better for the kids and healthier?\u201d<\/p>\n
Seeking to answer that question, Petill has completely overhauled the San Diego school lunch system. In 2003 he implemented Kids Choice Caf\u00e9 for elementaries, placing salad bars in every school and offering three entr\u00e9e choices. The effort won a Golden Bell award from the California School Board Association.<\/p>\n
Last fall, Sandi Coast Caf\u00e9 was introduced at the middle and high schools (including San Diego High School \u2013 see right), providing six types of themed food carts plus salad bars. Since that launch, the district has seen a 60 percent increase in students eating at school.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven with paid kids, not just kids who eat for free,\u201d Petill points out.<\/p>\n
Sixty percent of San Diego school students qualify for free or reduced meals. Of the 202 schools in the system, about 50 supply free meals to all students due to the high percentage of those who qualify in those schools.<\/p>\n
In addition to lunch, many schools offer breakfast and snack service. San Diego\u2019s Breakfast in the Classroom program \u2013 which won a Golden Bell in 2009 \u2013 feeds 29,000 children a day at low-income elementary schools. Additional breakfast and snack items are provided at other schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve certainly seen a major decrease in nurse visits because kids aren\u2019t saying they\u2019re not feeling well because they don\u2019t have to wait \u2019til lunchtime anymore to eat their first meal of the day,\u201d Petill said.<\/p>\n
District dietician Kim Wright puts it more bluntly: \u201cWhat we need are kids to be eating. That\u2019s first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now that children do indeed appear to be eating, Petill said it\u2019s time to make the food more interesting as well as more healthful. He and his staff survey students on a monthly basis to assess likes and dislikes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are looking at a company that does Indian cuisine, that makes sauces, different types of curry and a saffron rice that we can mix in,\u201d he explains as an example. \u201cAnd good vegetarian options \u2013 that\u2019s been a growing interest for us, kids that are vegetarians.\u201d<\/p>\n
But even for those who aren\u2019t, Petill wants to see more fresh produce available. Part of Cooper\u2019s message is schools should partner with local farmers \u2013 \u201cFood doesn\u2019t always taste good when it travels 10,000 miles,\u201d she said \u2013 and that\u2019s an option Petill is exploring.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do need to be able to purchase from local farmers but it\u2019s going to take time (to arrange it). We use a distributor now. We can\u2019t slice and dice everything ourselves,\u201d he said. (There are 19 prep kitchens for the San Diego system, but the majority of schools have only refrigerators and ovens, and no stovetops or other kitchen equipment.)<\/p>\n
Some schools only need to look in their backyards to find healthy eating. At the Albert Einstein Academy, a K-8 charter school in South Park, for example, students can take advantage of a garden on the school grounds.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many kids today don\u2019t really know how produce comes to land on their plate,\u201d said Jeanette Vaughn, Einstein\u2019s elementary principal. \u201cWith our garden, they plant, watch, harvest and eat what they grow.\u201d<\/p>\n
When vegetables are ripe, she said, the students pick and eat them \u2013 sometimes with comical results.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey get so excited that they just pull it from the ground and chomp away, which is hilarious to watch depending on what it is and their reaction,\u201d Vaughn said.<\/p>\n
It was this passion for healthy eating that won Einstein students a visit from Cooper. A group of third-grade students and parents created a video called \u201cWhere Did All the Good Food Go?\u201d (to the tune of Jack Johnson\u2019s \u201cGood People\u201d) for Whole Foods\u2019 Lunch Room Makeover contest. When Einstein officials found out they had won, they not only planned for Cooper but they created a two-day \u201cHealthy Meals, Healthy Kids Expo\u201d Feb. 18-19, which featured seminars, food samples and an open forum.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt took the district, the school, parents and a whole team of people to make it happen,\u201d Vaughn said.<\/p>\n
Whole Foods also declared a \u201c5% Day\u201d on Feb. 10, donating that percentage of sales to Einstein and to Florence Elementary in Hillcrest, resulting in about $2500 for each school.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat probably wouldn\u2019t have happened\u201d without the national award and expo, Vaughn said. Her school will use the gift for teacher development and new curriculum in health and nutrition.<\/p>\n
While Cooper said San Diego schools\u2019 food \u201cwasn\u2019t as good as it could be,\u201d she acknowledges she has seen progress here and in other districts she visits.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re starting to see people start to make the change that we need them to make,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Petill has made some of those changes, but he said he is nowhere near finished.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still am frustrated,\u201d he said. \u201cI have this personal goal of always trying to make it better. We\u2019re never going to sit around and say we\u2019re satisfied with where we are. That\u2019s why we\u2019ve done many things that other districts haven\u2019t taken on.\u201d<\/p>\n
SIDEBAR<\/p>\n
San Diego High School\u2019s 3000 students eat lunch during the same 30-minute period every school day. When the bell rings, a previously serene courtyard suddenly fills with teenagers who choose from one of 10 Sandi Coast Caf\u00e9 carts to pick up a free lunch.<\/p>\n
As part of the Caf\u00e9 changeover last fall, SDHS was declared an all-free school due to the high percentage of students eligible for free and reduced lunches. Previously, students receiving subsidized meals had to wait in dedicated lines at a dark, partially underground serving stand.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no stigma now,\u201d said Kirk Ankeney, principal of SDHS\u2019 School of International Studies about the lack of division. \u201cNobody is too cool not to eat.\u201d<\/p>\n
SDHS has no cafeteria \u2013 the students eat outside on benches, picnic tables and stairways. The Caf\u00e9 carts are placed throughout the ample quad area. A four-cart salad bar is temporarily located inside a classroom but is slated to be moved to better quarters soon.<\/p>\n
Every SDHS student is eating within 15 minutes after arriving for lunch. The district\u2019s food services has the operation down to such a science that they estimate there is less than 5 percent waste overall in uneaten food.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly I think it was such a drastic change when we put carts out with the beautiful signage,\u201d Gary Petill said, \u201cthat they thought maybe the people who were serving food the last year had gone away and a new company had come in. That was OK \u2013 the image we wanted to give them was a change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each cart has a thematic name \u2013 \u201cWok n\u2019Bowl,\u201d \u201cRiga Tony\u2019s,\u201d \u201cBaja Beach\u201d \u2013 and students know from menus they can access online what to expect at each cart. The entr\u00e9es change daily but range from grilled-onsite turkey burgers and chicken fajitas to tamales to beef and broccoli with rice. A piece of fruit and a carton of milk are included.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never used to eat here but now my parents joke they\u2019re going to come to school and eat lunch with me because it\u2019s so good,\u201d said Alyssa Salter, a SDHS senior.<\/p>\n
Her friend Margot Bothwell, also a senior, is a fan, too. \u201cBefore, there was no variety and it was gross and greasy,\u201d she said. \u201cNow I actually enjoy eating instead of freaking out in the morning if I didn\u2019t have time to make my lunch.\u201d<\/p>\n
SDHS students can also take advantage of free breakfast from carts before school and a mid-morning \u201cnutrition break\u201d such as a muffin and milk.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt tells you something when kids are hungry for breakfast, the nutrition break and lunch,\u201d Ankeney said. \u201cI really wouldn\u2019t be surprised if our (standardized) test scores go up this spring. We had kids here before who weren\u2019t eating all day. Who could concentrate like that?\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Food Fight Renegade Lunch Lady says school meals make kids sick but San Diego\u2019s food chief finds that hard to swallow By Christy Scannell SDUN Editor If you saw Gary Petill walking the aisles of Whole Foods, you might assume he\u2019s looking to buy healthy food for his kids. And you\u2019d be right \u2013 all […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":243239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Food Fight: Renegade Lunch Lady's comments hard to swallow","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}