Student Chefs Bring School Lunch to Congress, at Capitol Hill Briefing & House of Representatives Cafeteria
Students at Heart of Child Nutrition Act Day of Action
Student chefs Lashonda Livingston, Aljibri Reed, Henry Walton, Cari Smith and Jakaia Franklin prepare to present the healthy school lunch they designed at a briefing on Capitol Hill. March 2, 2010. Photos by Stacey Vaeth.
"I learned that change really can happen if we all help it along," said Cari Smith, a junior at Chicago's Tilden Career Community High School who traveled to Washington, DC this week to bring a healthy, great-tasting school lunch she and her team mates designed to Congress.
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The students won first place in HSC's Cooking up Change healthy cooking contest with their meal of chicken-vegetable jambalaya, jalapeno cornbread and cucumber salad, a lunch that not only exceeds standards for nutrition but also impressed judges with its great taste, visual presentation and appeal to students.
On March 2, Cari and her classmate Aljibri Reed spoke at a Capitol Hill briefing on the future of school food alongside HSC founding executive director Rochelle Davis, Cooking up Change National Honorary Co-Chairs Karen Duncan (wife of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan) and Christie Vilsack (wife of Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack), and Louise Esaian, logistics officer and head of school nutrition programs for Chicago Public Schools. Students chefs Jakaia Franklin, Lashonda Livingston and Henry Walton also fielded questions. The whole team presented the meal at the briefing, which was organized by Healthy Schools Campaign and sponsored by the offices of Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Jan Schakowsky.
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The briefing and the award-winning lunch were the focus of a day of action urging Congress to authorize increased funding for better school food.
Nearly a hundred people crowded into the briefing room to get a taste of the students' tasty lunch and hear about the national movement for school food reform.
The award-winning lunch was served the same day in the House of Representatives Longworth cafeteria, where it was a huge hit: the cafeteria sold out of jambalaya, cornbread and cucumber salad. (When the lunch was served in Chicago public high schools on Jan. 29, it was so popular that the Tilden school cafeteria also ran out!)
"I learned that I can help change what we eat in schools -- at my school and across the country," Cari told advocates, members of Congress, staffers and media at the briefing.
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This message is especially important as Congress begins the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, the legislation that provides funding and sets standards for school food. The House of Representatives held its first hearing on reauthorization later in the day after the briefing. (And, we hope, after representatives enjoyed some healthy jambalaya in their cafeteria!)
The outcome of this reauthorization is vitally important to the millions of children who struggle with obesity, the teachers who know well-nourished children are better learners and the growing number of families who rely on the National School Lunch Program to provide nutritious meals to children.
Please join HSC and the student chefs of Tilden high school in speaking up for a robust and adequately funded Child Nutrition Act. Click here to take action.
Stay posted for more photos and video of the student chefs in DC!
HSC Welcomes Karen Duncan & Christie Vilsack, National Honorary Co-Chairs of Cooking up Change
L-R Christie Vilsack, Rochelle Davis and Karen Duncan at briefing on school food
HSC is pleased to welcome Karen Duncan, wife of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and Christie Vilsack, wife of Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, as National Honorary Co-Chairs of Cooking up Change 2010.
Read Karen Duncan’s guest blog, "Speaking Up for Student Health & Learning" »
Read Christie Vilsack's guest blog, "Empowering Students to Play a Key Role in School Food Reform" » |
Attention, Students! Cooking up Change National Healthy Cooking Contest Opens to High School & College Teams
HSC is proud to announce that we´re teaming up with the National Farm to School Network to create a national version of our signature event, Cooking Up Change!
Teams of high school and college students are invited to design their own versions of a healthy school lunch: a meal that tastes great, meets high nutrition standards, and incorporates at least one locally-produced item.
Teams will enter online in a qualifying round of competition, and six teams chosen from this national pool of applicants will compete in the finals in May 2010 at Taking Root, the 5th National Farm to Cafeteria conference in Detroit, Michigan.
Please join us in making this exciting new event a success! To learn more about forming a team or helping spread the word about the contest, click here or contact HSC's Sara Klinzing.
HSC will host our annual flagship Cooking up Change culinary competition in Chicago on Nov. 4, 2010. Save the date!
To learn more and get involved in Cooking up Change, visit www.cookingupchange.org.
Registration Open for HSC's 2010 Chicago Marathon Team
Registration is now open for the 2010 Bank of America Chicago Marathon!
This world-class athletic event – to be held this year on 10-10-10 – brings together more than 45,000 runners and 1.5 million cheering spectators from across the globe. HSC invites you to be part of the Healthy Schools marathon team! All runners who raise $500 receive:
- A personal fundraising website
- A Healthy Schools Campaign Team singlet
- An indoor race day friends and family meeting space near the start line, with breakfast and lunch provided and secure storage for your belongings
- Fundraising packet with materials and ongoing support leading up to the event
- A team blog to share training tips and motivational stories with others on the team
- Motivation from the HSC cheering section, encouraging and cheering you on at the race
- A special award from HSC for completion of the marathon
To learn more or join the team, click here or contact HSC’s Alicea Miller at 312-419-1810.
PS: Check out "26.2 Miles of Motivation: Why I’m Running a Marathon for Healthy Schools Campaign" by HSC 2008 marathon team member Anne Honzel.
Help HSC Meet the $25,000 Challenge
HSC is excited to announce a $25,000 challenge grant from an anonymous donor! To meet the challenge, we must raise $25,000 in gifts from new donors, or gifts in higher amounts from previous donors. This is an amazing opportunity to leverage $50,000 in crucial support for our work. Please consider making a first-time gift to support HSC, increasing your annual gift, making a personal gift if you usually give through your company, and asking your friends, family and colleagues to support the organization.
Your gift will help us do the important work of making schools healthier places in which to learn and work.
HSC Welcomes New Staff & Interns
HSC is pleased to welcome new colleagues to our team!
Stephen Deeran brings experience in green cleaning policy and social media outreach to his new role as green cleaning consultant working on version three of HSC's Quick & Easy Guide to Green Cleaning in Schools.
Laura Fillenwarth brings a strong policy background and experience working with two national health organizations to her new role as HSC's writer and policy analyst. Laura received her master’s degree from the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration.
Rosa Ramirez, a former youth organizer in Chicago's Little Village community, joins HSC's staff as our new policy and outreach coordinator. She recently completed her master's degree in Community and Regional Development at the University of California-Davis and has brings experience in national resource and action campaigns.
Cassie Yarbrough, an intern who is pursuing her master's degree at the University of Chicago, brings a strong academic background in public policy to her work tracking legislation and assisting with legislative outreach around the Child Nutrition Act.
We’re thrilled to welcome our talented new colleagues!
We’d also like to express our appreciation to Drago Petrusic, who is leaving HSC's staff to pursue student teaching full-time as he completes his master's degree in education. Drago has served as an administrative assistant and as a policy intern at HSC. We thank Drago for his valuable contributions to HSC's work!
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