School Food Gratitude: a 2014 Retrospective

Those of you who regularly read my blog know I've been fighting mad all year, angry at lobbyists, pundits and politicians who've been sabotaging children's health for political points and corporate interests. But throughout all the heated debates, it's easy to lose sight of the heroes who -- whether they are in the public eye or quietly working in the trenches -- have championed healthier school food in 2014. I'd like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for them.

Sam Kass, White House Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition and Executive Director of Let's Move!

Sam Kass, who is stepping down this month, served the White House since President Obama took office. The impact he's had on national food policy and nutrition awareness extends far beyond school food; he is responsible for a wide range of food and agricultural reforms.

Kass, the chief architect for First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative, championed Chefs Move to Schools, a program that helps schools and chefs partner to educate kids about food and healthier eating. As importantly, Kass was a vocal leader in Washington, ceaselessly advocating for the continued reforms of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act and inspiring and energizing school food advocates across the nation.

At the announcement of Kass's departure from the White House, Michelle Obama said: "Sam leaves an extraordinary legacy of progress, including healthier food options in grocery store aisles, more nutritious school lunches and new efforts that have improved how healthy food is marketed to our kids. I wish Sam success in all his future endeavors, and I know he will continue to be a leader in the vitally important work to build a healthier country."

First Lady Michelle Obama

In November, misplaced adolescent anger against the First Lady reared its head with the viral #ThanksMichelleObama meme. Kids from across the country posted photos of unappealing school lunches and insinuated that "Michelle Obama school food" is worse than prison food.

I'm the first to admit that school food is difficult, even after 16 years in the field, but Michelle Obama is not to blame. Imagine trying to create delicious lunches day after day for hundreds of kids with approximately $1.25 for food per meal. Sometimes school lunch professional make mistakes, especially when trying new ingredients and recipes. We learn from them and move on.

Michelle Obama's advocacy for healthier school food is a great example of "no good deed goes unpunished." In her critical fight against childhood obesity, Obama stood up for science-based standards that simply ensure all school meals meet minimal nutritional requirements. Those standards were developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture based on recommendations from the Institute of Medicine -- not politicians, not lobbyists and not corporate purveyors of junk food that trade kids' health for profits.

The First Lady has been unwavering of her support not only of the evidence-based standards, but of the schools working hard to create yummy meals that kids love. She advocates for and supports programs and organizations that are helping schools meet the standards with delicious fare. She won't let baseless criticism and political spin weaken her stance, because she knows who she's standing up for: our nation's children.

The USDA

Speaking of the USDA, the federal agency has had the thankless and embattled job of rolling out the new standards over a period of five years, and despite the obstacles and pitfalls, they have made the standards work. It wasn't easy, and it wasn't perfect. It's hard to ask schools to change without sufficient support and training, but the USDA listened and expanded support programs to help schools transition to healthier cooking methods and whole, fresh, local food.

Two programs are especially impactful. Earlier this year, the Farm to School program announced $5 million in grants to help schools connect with -- and buy from -- local food producers. The USDA also increased a school kitchen equipment grant program from $11 million to $25 million so schools can actually cook real food instead of reheating packaged, processed food.

Still, many schools struggled, and the USDA made reasonable modifications to the standards -- such as delaying the whole grains requirement or lifting the protein limit for lunches -- to make it easier for school food service professionals to transition to the new standards. And they keep on creating solutions. On December 8, they announced a pilot program that will allow school districts in eight states to use their USDA Foods allocation to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables directly from local producers.

Rep. Sam Farr (D-California)

When the House Appropriations Committee passed a bill that would allow schools a one-year waiver in meeting the new standards if they could show financial hardship, Rep. Sam Farr, a member of the committee, wasn't buying it. He said, "We don't allow kids to opt out of math or opt out of science because it's tough. Changing the American diet is fundamental to bringing down health care costs."

Rep. Farr sponsored an amendment that would remove the waiver from the bill, but it was defeated. Though Farr wasn't successful in removing the waiver, he did raise his voice -- and raise awareness -- in support of healthy school food. The bill, passed in May, remains tabled in the House, partly due to public outcry about the waiver. I'm grateful for Farr's voice of reason in Congress, and I hope he remains an advocate for the school children's health.

School Food Professionals Across the Country

Of course, the real heroes of the school food fight this past year (and every year) are the school food professionals who have the nearly Sisyphean task of feeding hundreds of school children healthy food on impossibly tight budgets. The job is made even harder by the fact that, between the food and beverage industry and fast food restaurants, children are bombarded by $6.6 billion worth of ads each year encouraging them to eat junk food. Kids who live on a steady diet of pizza and chocolate milk have a difficult time adjusting to healthy salads, whole grain pasta, unflavored milk and oven-baked chicken.

For the future of our country, however, helping kids learn to love healthy, fresh food is one of the most important jobs of our time, and school food professionals are our first line of defense. I could fill pages with the names of individuals for whom I'm grateful, but I'd like to end with a call to action:

The next time you're at your children's schools, go to the cafeteria and thank the lunch lady. If you don't have kids in school, contact your district to get the name of the school food service director and send them a holiday card thanking them for feeding the children in your district.

It's a small gesture, but an expression of gratitude can make all the difference to those whose work often seems thankless. School food professionals are heroes. Let's make sure they know it this holiday season.

Chef Ann Cooper is a celebrated author, chef, educator and enduring advocate for better food for all children. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Ann has been a chef for more than 30 years, over 15 of those in school food programs. Known as the Renegade Lunch Lady, Ann has been honored by The National Resources Defense Council, selected as a Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellow and awarded an honorary doctorate from SUNY Cobleskill for her work on sustainable agriculture. In 2009, Ann founded Food Family Farming Foundation (F3) as a nonprofit focusing on solutions to the school food crisis. On the foundation's fifth anniversary, F3 transitioned to the Chef Ann Foundation (CAF), in honor of the woman who did not give up and did not give in. CAF's pivotal project is The Lunch Box -- a web portal that provides free and accessible tools, recipes and community connections to support school food reform.