School Facility Workshops

[Peggy Adams <padams@oxy.edu>]

Visionaries,

Recently received a note from Tom Lamar that Moscow is conducting school
facilty workshops.  Thought I'd add my 2 cents.

When talking about schools you might want to ensure that schools maintain
their kitchen and food service facilities.  Without them schools are more
likely to contract out food service to fast food vendors or produce food in
a central location, cool it, distribute it, then re-heat it on site.  With
kitchens in place there is a chance that cooking, and nutrition can be
integrated into learning and  that nutrition education can be augmented by
example. With kitchens in schools local farmers can provide fresh food to
the schools, and the links between farming and food can be maintained.  You
also have a better chance to influence the quality of food provided to your
children.  Food prepared and served at school can provide part time
employment for parents, ensuring their participation in their children's
education and it provides more highly skilled positions than fast food
vendors do.  A nutritious, healthy, freshly made lunch can be a strong
contribution to a child's ability to learn.  

While you're at it you might want to develop policies which get soft drink
machines off campus.  There are good subsitutes.  Juice, water, and milk
can be sold in vending machines but not if coke or pepsi have exclusive
contracts.  If you are counting on those exclusive contracts to provide
money for school band or sports, you might want to think about the
trade-offs.  There is currently an epidemic of child obesity and early
onset diabetes.  This can be traced to the increased consumption of soft
drinks and fast food.  Is it really worth sacrificing the health of every
child on campus so a few can participate in a program which could be funded
through an increase in budget?

Think, too, about finding an alternative to selling candy bars to raise
money.  Bottled water has been a good fundraiser in some areas.  Good
quality, local, fresh, apples (WSU produces some very good, very unusual
varieties) can work.  




Peggy Adams
Project Director
Farm to School Program
UEPI
1600 Campus Road
Los Angeles, CA  90041
323.341.5085
323.258.2917 (fax)