time.com
June 16, 2014

It was the French philosopher Brillat-Savarin who wrote, “The destiny of nations depends on how they nourish themselves.” And it is this, his most famous idea, that is now never far from my mind when it comes to the discussion of school lunch in this country. When I read last week that there are those in Washington who would dismantle the recent positive gains that have been made in improving the way children are fed at school, I was appalled—yet sadly not surprised. Like many institutions and universal ideas in this nation in recent years, it seems that even something as right and as basic as feeding children food that is good for them has become politicized.

Right now we all need to pause, step back and look at the bigger picture. The costs associated with not investing in real food are too great, and we need to acknowledge honestly the far-reaching consequences that the current program has had in every area of American life. By allowing fast food culture into the cafeteria, we have effectively endorsed that industry’s values, helped facilitate the obesity epidemic, widened the achievement gap and aided an addiction to junk. Even in the short term these costs, both tangible and intangible, dwarf the budget for a universal—and real—school food program. The idea of school lunch as an egalitarian mechanism to nourish our nation’s potential has long been discarded and devalued. We are faced with an enormous crisis of health, education and inequality.

We need to have the courage and conviction to establish a nutritious, sustainable, free school lunch program for all.

The incremental steps the First Lady has fought for, as valuable as they are, are never going to address the challenges we are facing. Lunch must become integrated into the daily lessons. Like physical education, we need Edible Education. Until the time when lunch becomes about learning and is central to school life, children and lunch ladies are bound to reject changes. A plan of this scope and scale may not be realistic in the current Congress, but it is where we must go. I truly believe that decision makers on both sides of politics will come to realize this is the most logical place to reach every child and have the most lasting impact. The public school system is our last truly democratic institution.

Having worked in it—and in this field—for more than 20 years at the Edible Schoolyard Project, I have seen that by engaging all children at the table with a delicious meal made from real ingredients transforms their attitudes and behavior for life. By making lunch an interactive part of the curriculum, we empower children to make their own informed decisions.

When children learn about where their food comes from, their eyes open to the billion-dollar marketing campaigns that target them. They are also freed from the prison of fast food addiction. It is my experience—and that of many other educators in the United States—that once there is a real alternative, they do not throw out their healthier options. In fact, they embrace those healthy foods and never look back.

I know that many in government on both sides of politics now realize that in food we find the root problem of many of our nation’s ills: diet-related disease, hunger, environmental devastation. And I am sure that by redirecting ourselves to real food, we find also the solution. We need to start at school. By radically changing the way we think about feeding our children, we not only change the individual nutrition of children and the diet of all Americans in a generation, we also restore the health of the land—and the essential values of this country.

From the Huffington Post Blog, posted 12/10/2013, written by Chelsey Simpson, communications associate for the National Farm to School Network.

For those of us interested in food system reform, there are now (thankfully!) hundreds of worthy organizations and causes competing for our time and resources. Should you volunteer to help launch a new CSA in your community? What about donating to a campaign to legalize backyard chickens? Worthwhile pursuits for sure, but if you are a big-picture thinker, I’ve got just the cause for you: farm to school. Farm to school is the practice of sourcing local food for schools or preschools and providing students agriculture, health, and nutrition education opportunities, such as school gardens, field trips to farms, and cooking lessons. Here’s why farm to school is positioned to be the biggest game-changer since canned food:

1. Sheer Numbers

If you’re going to change the food system, you need to think big, and farm to school is big. The National School Lunch Program feeds approximately 31 million students every day, and over the course of a year, schools spend billions of dollars on food. Imagine the impact schools could have if they sourced even 50 percent of the food they serve from local farmers. This might seem like a tall order, but data from the first ever Farm to School Census recently released by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows that 43 percent of schools are already engaged in some level of farm-to-school activity and another 13 percent plan to be in the future.

2. Niche Markets

In order for food-system reform to take hold, farming needs to be a genuinely profitable enterprise so that new farmers will be attracted to the profession and existing farmers can afford to stay on their land. Not only does farm to school represent a large market, but it’s also hits an important niche market: Schools are perfectly positioned to make use of “kid-friendly” products that are less desirable to mainstream consumers, such as small apples and chicken drumsticks. Also, schools do much of their purchasing during the coldest months of the year when many farmer’s markets are closed. These extra sales can really help a farm’s bottom line.

3. A Catalyst for Infrastructure

In some school districts, Farmer Jane can back her truck up to the lunchroom door and deliver a week’s worth of carrots and cabbage that school nutrition professionals are ready and able to chop into slaws and stews. But that isn’t the norm. In many cases, both schools and farmers benefit from working with local distributors, processors, food hubs, and co-ops to more efficiently move food from the farm to cafeteria trays. Farm-to-school programs are often the catalysts that help build, expand, or improve these crucial components of local food infrastructure, which can be key to a community’s overall food security by enabling restaurants, food banks, and grocery stores to more easily buy local food.

4. Young Minds, Growing Bodies

Imagine a time 20 years from now when today’s kindergarteners are buying their own groceries, cooking dinner, and making decisions about how to feed their growing families. Now imagine that each of those young people received 13-plus years of education (why 13-plus? We can’t forget about preschool!) in a setting that included farm-to-school practices. By investing in farm to school today, not only will the next generation be healthier, but they will also be more informed consumers who value farmers and support local food systems, not as a novelty, but as a way of life.

If this is a future you want to be part of, there are two things you can do to make a difference:

1. Work with your local school or preschool to implement or expand farm-to-school practices.

Many people don’t realize that all farm-to-school programs are started on the local level by parents, teachers, school nutrition professionals, farmers, and other concerned community members. For ideas, download this short “getting started” guide produced by the National Farm to School Network.

2. Donate to the National Farm to School Network

Since it was founded in 2007, the National Farm to School Network (NFSN) has provided resources and information to thousands of individuals looking to make change in their own communities. NFSN has also been the primary advocate for groundbreaking farm to school legislation, including the creation of the Farm to School Grants program and the Farm to School Census, both administered by USDA. NFSN also maintains a network of 51 state leads and 8 regional lead agencies who offer on-the-ground support and information to school employees, farmers, and other farm-to-school practitioners across the country. By supporting the National Farm to School Network, you support the farm-to-school movement and the future of local food systems as a whole!

Chelsey Simpson, an Oklahoman living in South Brooklyn, manages communications for the National Farm to School Network. Her side project is a campaign called Just Ask, aimed at increasing local food in restaurants. Her side, side project is the search for a better whole-wheat lard biscuit.