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The Revolution is coming! K-12 LAUSD kids, look out! Your lunches are about to get a whole hell of a lot better--and better for you.
This week it was announced that Revolution Foods, a fairly new company out of the Bay Area, is bringing their goodness southbound, and will be launching a pilot program in three local schools to bring them "fresh and healthy meals on a daily basis," according to their press release. The timing is perfect; March is National Nutrition Month, and the LAUSD is in on the action.
With the state of school lunches a dismal array of bland, unhealthy, and possibly questionable (see: Massive Beef Recall), LA's school kids are in desperate need of tasty, healthy options. To add insult to injury, perhaps, kids these days are exercising less and eating more junk food, which is contributing to a nationwide rise in obesity in our youth. Good nutrition could even mean good grades for the future minds of our city and country:
Nutrition has been shown to link directly to academic achievement. Whether a child is undernourished or eats foods high in sugar, sodium and fat, the low energy and lack of focus that come as a result have an impact on a child's ability to perform well in school.The LAUSD is trying, but kids are still tempted by tater tots and trips to Taco Bell at lunchtime.
So what's on the menu?
Per their website, today's Revolution kids are eating Spaghetti with all natural, hormone-free homemade beef marinara sauce, served with steamed broccoli, a fresh apple and 1% lowfat milk.
Revolution has a set of standards they adhere to when preparing meals, such as today's lunch. Here's how it breaks down:
* We use organic and locally produced ingredients whenever possibleIn the next year, Revolution hopes to increase their participation in feeding local school kids in LA County by serving their good eats to 10,000 students. With the LAUSD ranking as the second largest school district in the nation, they certainly have a captive audience. Maybe now more kids will participate in lunch programs...and like it. Here's hoping!
* Every lunch is served with fresh fruit and vegetables
* Our meats, baked goods, and produce meet Whole Foods Market’s stringent quality standards
* Our milk is rbST- and hormone-free and our meats are hormone- and antibiotic-free
* Our food is prepared fresh daily; we do not serve fried, processed, or re-heated food
Photo by chidorian via Flickr
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This is awesome. Wouldn't it be cheaper (and better for the environment) to not have as much meat though??
Perhaps LAUSD should focus particularly on elementary school nutrition rather than those of teenagers in middle & high school.
Good luck getting that to happen. Even with my adult friends, when I tell them I've cut most of the meat out of my diet they look at me as if I'm from Mars. (And that's with me still enjoy the occasional sausage or bacon!)
Meat's fine. More veg, smaller portions, less sugar, replacing soda and juice with water, getting them to jog their asses around the block once or twice a week... that's where this can really help them out.
Just because you don't eat meat... leave well enough alone.
#4
It's not because I personally don't eat meat, but because it would be cheaper for this company, and thus they would be able to provide higher quality meals.
For example, have chicken one day and then pasta (meat sauce=unnecessary) the next day.
Also, people need to realize that eating beef is a bit of an extravagance (sp?) with all the land it requires to raise the cattle, and thus not something that should be such a staple.
Who better to start with than little kids?
#4
It's not because I personally don't eat meat, but because it would be cheaper for this company, and thus they would be able to provide higher quality meals.
For example, have chicken one day and then pasta (meat sauce=unnecessary) the next day.
Also, people need to realize that eating beef is a bit of an extravagance (sp?) with all the land it requires to raise the cattle, and thus not something that should be such a staple.
Who better to start with than little kids?
#4
It's not because I personally don't eat meat, but because it would be cheaper for this company, and thus they would be able to provide higher quality meals.
For example, have chicken one day and then pasta (meat sauce=unnecessary) the next day.
Also, people need to realize that eating beef is a bit of an extravagance (sp?) with all the land it requires to raise the cattle, and thus not something that should be such a staple.
Who better to start with than little kids?
#4
It's not because I personally don't eat meat, but because it would be cheaper for this company, and thus they would be able to provide higher quality meals.
For example, have chicken one day and then pasta (meat sauce=unnecessary) the next day.
Also, people need to realize that eating beef is a bit of an extravagance (sp?) with all the land it requires to raise the cattle, and thus not something that should be such a staple.
Who better to start with than little kids?