Feeding Kids Better Food and Teaching Them About Food
Helps Them Make Better Food Choices!
For four years I was the Nutrition Services Director for Berkeley Unified School District. The four years was a roller coaster ride of changing the food from a menu of highly processed chicken nuggets, corn dogs, Extremo burritos, pizza pockets and grilled cheese sandwiches, all of which came to us frozen and prepackaged, to fresh food made from scratch. When I first started in Berkeley these pre-packaged items, which were served in the packaging, with sides of canned vegetables and canned fruit, with nary a serving of fresh produce in sight, were the mainstay of the menus.
Five years later the program looks very different. All of the food is cooked from scratch in the Central Kitchen at King Middle School by a team of trained chefs and cooks. Much of the food is procured regionally and seasonally, there are gardens in every school and cooking classes in most of the schools. Berkeley serves Universal Breakfast to every student, there are salad bars in every school, there is no vending, almost no ala carte and fresh fruit and vegetables are served every day.
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