In This Issue

• HSC News: Changing the Future of School Lunch; Cooking up Change; Through Your Lens; Meet the HSC Marathon Team
• Recent Blog Entries: Vilsack Connects Healthy Eating & Health Care; Green Schools Coalition; Welcome, HSC Worms; Dinnertime Doesn't Always Go the Way You Planned . . . and more!

HSC News

HSC, Local Leaders & Chef Ann Cooper Speak Up for School Lunch at Whole Foods Market
"Renegade Lunch Lady" Highlights Federal Policy

"Renegade Lunch Lady" Chef Ann Cooper speaks to the crowd at Whole Foods Market on Sept. 16. L-R: Rochelle Davis, Ann Cooper, LaDonna Redmond and Jean Saunders

Imagine a future where the school cafeteria offers a lesson in healthy eating.

Chef Ann Cooper, the "Renegade Lunch Lady," joined Healthy Schools Campaign and Chicago leaders in the movement for healthy school food for a special event on Sept. 16 at Whole Foods Market. The group raised a collective voice for healthy school meals, calling out the value of local produce, scratch cooking and food education while drawing attention to the great need for increased federal funding to make this type of school meal a reality.

The speakers especially called on everyone in the school community to speak up for a strong, well-funded reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, the federal legislation that provides resources and guidelines for school meals. (To add your voice to this action, visit HSC’s online action center.)

HSC founding executive director Rochelle Davis moderated a dynamic panel featuring:

• Abraham Dueñas, a community leader from Parents United for Healthy Schools, who spoke about the valuable role community can play in shaping children’s access to healthy school food
• LaDonna Redmond, president and CEO of the Institute for Community Resource Development, who shared her personal story of seeking healthy food for a son with severe food allergies and how it led to her current work to increase access to healthy food in urban minority communities
• Jean Saunders of Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality, who discussed innovative efforts in Chicago and beyond to bring locally-grown produce into school cafeterias.
• Chef Ann Cooper, who has sparked a revolution in the way our country thinks about school food

This event was presented as part of the School Lunch Revolution project by Chef Ann Cooper and Whole Foods Markets.

Plus: Whole Foods Markets donated five percent of the day’s sales in Chicago stores on Sept. 22 to HSC! We shared samples of healthy, student-designed school meals and gathered signatures in support of a well-funded reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act! Check out the photos »

Cooking up Change 2009
HSC Welcomes New Sponsors & Judges, Student Chefs Begin Preparations for Healthy Cooking Contest

HSC is pleased to announce that 17 teams of high school students studying culinary arts at public schools in Chicago will have a chance to show the world just how tasty — and how healthy — a student-designed menu can be when they compete in the healthy cooking contest at Cooking up Change 2009.

The young chefs will compete to create a healthy school meal on a tight budget, meeting standards for nutrition, taste, presentation and originality. The winning school meal will be served for lunch in high schools nationwide!

HSC is pleased to welcome a growing team of generous sponsors for Cooking up Change, including Platinum sponsor Applegate Farms, Gold sponsor Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality and our new Cookie-preneur sponsor, Little Miss Muffin bakery.

We’re also thrilled to welcome our growing team of fabulous judges and mentors for the 2009 contest. Judges include Lyle Allen, president of the Green City Market; Mark Mendez, executive chef of Carnivale; Audarshia Townsend of 312DiningDiva.com and many more.

Stay posted for more details and to meet the teams behind the contest!

Learn more and get your tickets online at www.cookinupchange.org.

Judges Review Through Your Lens Photos & Essays

When you go to school, what do you see?

HSC thrilled to announce that more than 300 students, teachers and community advocates shared photos and stories about their school buildings in the Through Your Lens photo and essay contest, showing the world what our schools really look like.

The images and essays will inform a national debate as Congress considers legislation for school building repair, modernization and construction.

Photos and stories will be shown at a special exhibition in the US Capitol and many more entries will be published in a Through Your Lens book and online gallery. Five student winners will also receive a Vado pocket camcorder from Creative Labs.

Contest judges are currently reviewing the many remarkable entries! Judges include:

• Avijit Halder, student from Born into Brothels
• Ed Kashi, award-winning photojournalist & filmmaker
• Jonathan Kozol, author of Savage Inequalities
• Kari Lydersen, author and journalist
• Wendy Puriefoy, executive director of the Public Education Network
• Stephen Voss, photographer

Stay posted for updates on the winners -- and be sure to check out the contest entries in the online gallery!

Covering the mistakes, Wendy from Chicago

Run for Healthy Schools!
HSC Team Prepares for Bank of America Chicago Marathon

HSC's charity athletics team is gearing up for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Oct. 11! As part of the team, runners make a difference for children’s health and well-being while competing in a world-class athletic event.

To learn more, be sure to visit HSC’s marathon website or contact Alicea Miller at 312-419-1810.

Who is running for HSC? Runners from around the country are making a difference for healthy schools! In this newsletter, we'll introduce another member of our team:

Plus: Is running actually good for your knees? Check out HSC deputy director Mark Bishop's recent blog about new research on the benefits of running - even for your joints »

Recent Blog Entries

HSC's staff experts discuss news stories and new developments every week at the HSC Blog. Stop by and leave a question or comment. And while you're there, enter your email address for automatic delivery on days when a new blog entry has been posted. Here's a look at some of our recent posts:

Vilsack Connects Healthy Eating and Reduced Health Care Costs| by Rochelle Davis
The day after President Obama’s message to Congress and the nation, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made the connection between health care reform and healthy eating. Vilsack talked about the administration’s recognition that eating more fruits and vegetables will dramatically cut America’s health care costs and that health care reform will include encouraging Americans to eat healthier. As part of this effort, Vilsack said the USDA is focused on improving USDA-subsidized school meals. . . . Read more

The Washington Posts Supports Increased Funding for School Food | by Rochelle Davis
I could not agree more with the recent editorial in The Washington Post in which the Post comes out in support of increased funding for our nation’s federal school food program. The Post’s editorial board correctly links the issue of school food to Michelle Obama’s efforts to highlight the importance of healthy eating, and correctly links the issue of school food to the long term costs of our already strained health care systems. . . . Read more

HSC Helps Kick Off Green Schools Coalition | by Mark Bishop
I recently attended the inaugural meeting for the U.S. Green Building Council's Green Schools Coalition. I'll give three reasons why it was a great meeting: the participants were great; the main speaker was great; and the office building was the coolest build-out I've ever been in . . . Read more

Behind the Scenes of Cooking up Change 2009: Meet the Dietitians of Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality! | by Lindsay Muscato
Big news! HSC's healthy cooking contest, Cooking up Change, is right around the corner. For the third year in a row, Chicago public high school culinary students will design delicious, healthy school meals to meet high nutrition standards on a tight budget, then present their meals to a panel of judges in hopes of winning the first prize: a chance to see their meal served in schools nationwide. But long before the night of the contest, students will work to develop and perfect their recipes. . . . . Read more

Welcome, HSC Worms!| by Tara Kennon
We were thrilled to see the news that Illinois Governor Pat Quinn recently signed SB99 into law, making it legal to compost commercially in Illinois and then transport the resulting mega-nutrient-rich compost to other states nationwide. Here at HSC, we have been taking steps into the world of composting as well. To better understand what composting involves for a school, we decided to give it a try in our office. Take a look at this video of the day we welcomed our squirmy, wriggly new suite mates to the office . . . . Read more

Improving School Lunch from the Top Down: New Momentum, Significant Policy Shift| by Mark Bishop
Since HSC began working on school food programs, we've never seen such dramatic shift in policy on school nutrition -- and it's exciting to not only watch it unfold, but to be part of the movement. Straight from the top, President Obama and the First Lady are active supporters of improving school food. This is a new experience for us -- having support from the leaders of the free world, that is. But possibly even more dramatic are the changes that we're seeing at the USDA. . . . Read more

Dinnertime Doesn't Always Go The Way You Planned | by Mark Bishop
I decided to make a light veggie dinner the other night, and I needed something that Henry would eat for sure. I thought I had the greatest idea. I made spinach tacos, an item that has been can't-miss in the past, and, I thought this was ingenious, I made pepper boats. You see, when you slice off the top and bottom of a bell pepper, you end up with a ring that can be separated into small sections, each of which can be filled with something. . . Read more

“Sometimes you just eat it because it’s there and because you know by eighth period you’ll be starving.”
- Jasmine Cepeda, 15, on being assigned to the 8:57 a.m. lunch period at her over-crowded high school, as quoted in The New York Times

School Wellness Conference | Anaheim | Oct. 6 | More

International Walk to School Day | Oct. 7 | More

HSC Team Runs Chicago Marathon | Oct. 11 | More

Food for Thought: Changing the Future of School Lunch | Naperville | Oct. 14 | More

GreenTown: The Future of Community | Chicago | Oct. 15 | More

Cooking up Change | Chicago | Oct. 29 | More

Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Conference | Wash, DC | Jan. 14-16 | More

Public Policy Manager
Position includes conducting research, managing relationships with networks and partners, and communicating with stakeholders, policymakers and the public | More

Professional Development Program Manager
To assist in developing and coordinating training programs for teachers and school nurses working in the Chicago Public Schools to improve the food and fitness environment in schools | More

Tweet, tweet!

Youth Garden Grants
Deadline: Nov. 2, 2009
To help students reap rewards and vital life lessons from working in gardens and habitats | More

Dairy MAX School Breakfast Grant
Deadline: Dec. 1, 2009
Up to $1,000 per school to improve student access to nutritious breakfasts | More

Mantis Awards for Community and Youth Gardens
Deadline: March 1, 2010
For educational garden projects that enhance the quality of life in their communities | More

The Lunch Box - School Food Resource Center
Web-based portal with recipes, information and tools to make good food available for all kids in school | More

Revised Criteria for Relocatable Classrooms
Resource to help manufacturers, school districts and design teams provide healthy, high-performance relocatable classrooms | More [pdf]