The Philadelphia School District is pulling all beef items off the menu after the District learned today it had received shipments from Westland/Hallmark Meat Company. Last month, the Humane Society released a video showing Westland/Hallmark employees using forklifts and electric shocks to forcibly bring diseased and sick cows to slaughter. Westland/Hallmark provides meat to the national school lunch program. As a result of the video, the USDA issued a recall – the nation’s largest – of over 140 million pounds of the company’s beef products.
Interestingly enough, I had called the PA Dept. of Agriculture Monday to inquire about Philadelphia’s status. The told me know more than 170 school districts across the state had received Westland/Hallmark meat shipments and he would get back to me about Philadelphia.
Although the Humane Society video is nauseating, what’s worse is the fact that the national school lunch program is less about delivering quality nutrition and food to millions of children nationwide, than it is about economics – subsidizing the national beef and dairy industry for the cheapest amount possible for our kids to consume. It’s shocking that in a country where obsesity, diabetes, and numerous health problems abound, that a program like the school lunch, which has the possibility of shaping children’s food habits from pre-school through high school – their most formative years – has often served to reinforce poor food choices rather than expand them.
Other school districts and cities around the nation have taken the initiative to revamp and revolutionize what and how children eat. New York City for example, has implemented a farm to school program with the help of state legislation backed by the departments of agriculture and education. Farm to school programs, raw/fresh/local menu additions, sustainably raised products, and a simplified procurement process so we can track our food are just some of the areas to start.
Parents United statement on the meat recall in Phila. schools
February 19, 2008
Parents United is deeply upset about the revelation that Philadelphia public schools may have been serving recalled beef from the Westland/Hallmark Meat Company. Although news reports about the company surfaced weeks ago, we are concerned that the PA Dept. of Agriculture only informed the School District today that Westland/Hallmark meat was used in our schools.
Parents United had contacted the state department yesterday about whether Westland/Hallmark products were served in Philadelphia.
The shocking situation at Westland/Hallmark underscores the deep concerns parents have with the overall quality of food served in our public schools. Since November, Parents United has developed a parent-driven Healthy Foods Initiative to review our school lunch program and request that fresh, local foods and vegetarian options be added to school menus. We ask the District to use this opportunity to reassess its food program and work with parents to provide the best quality of food to our children, rather than seek the cheapest options. In addition we ask for the District to be as transparent as possible about its food program and provide an annual report on the state of our school lunch program.
We hope that this fiasco will lead to an improved school nutrition program and look forward to partnering with the District on this effort.
Parents United for Public Education is an independent group of citywide parents working for fiscal transparency, public process, and a school budget that places kids and classrooms first. For more information, please contact Aissia Richardson at 215-236-2100 or write us at parentsunitedphila@gmail.com. Visit us online at http://parentsunitedphila.googlepages.com/.
School food
When you said school food is just a prop for the ag industry it really struck a chord. I've always thought back on the bajillion school lunches I ate and how calorie rich and nutrient thin they were. I'm health-conscious right now, but back then I used to make a game of talking people out of their uneaten brownies. I ate so much crap. Granted, it was very inexpensive, but we were all just paying the price later.
It's very good to start using the forum of the lunch rooms to give kids an idea of what a balanced meal can look like. The trouble is, healthy eating really is more expensive. Of course, if the lunch rooms of America started demanding healthy food that would most likely cause a supply shift from crap to wholesomeness that would make the prices for healthy alternatives for all of us less Whole Foods'y and a little more ACME.
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This Too Will Pass, treating grave matters lightly and light matters gravely, since 2001.
I remember those packaged brownies
I used to think that decent affordable school food might have been impossible except that numerous districts have found a way to do it. Locally, at the Folk Arts Cultural Treasures Charter School, they are serving fresh crisp salad, whole fruits and vegetables, at every meal, sandwiches with tomatoes -- all for $2/meal. Additionally, the school has turned lunch, from what's typically a horrible rushed time -- my daughter used to complain she had just sit down when she was told to clean up -- not to mention kids who have 9:30 a.m. lunches -- into a communal meal system where teachers will join students for lunch, open every meal with a common song -- it's a different way of looking at food and reinforcing a sense of community for children who sometimes lack the opportunity of a family meal.