NYU’s Institute of Public Knowledge is hosting the launch of Practicing Food Studies, edited by Amy Bentley, Fabio Parasecoli, and Krishnendu Ray. I wrote the Foreword. We will all provide brief perspectives on our quarter century of teaching food studies. For information and registration, click here. For 30% off on the book, click here.
by Marion Nestle
May
7
2014
What’s up with school meals and standards?
USDA deserves a thank-you note: the agency announced it is awarding $25 million in grants to help schools buy kitchen equipment. Yes!
The grants are a response to a report by the Kids’ Safe and Healthful Foods Project – a collaboration with The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The report found that 88% of school districts nationwide need at least one piece of equipment, and 55% need infrastructure upgrades.
You can send a quick note of thanks to the USDA Office of Communications at oc.news@usda.gov.
Thanks are needed because nutrition standards for school meals are under intense pressure from:
- Lobbyists for foods that will be excluded under the new standards
- The School Nutrition Association which is heavily supported by companies sellling foods to school meals programs
- A Congress that loves to micromanage federal food programs (see yesterday’s post).
School meals need help, but not that kind.