Yesterday I noted that the most exciting efforts to improve school food are occurring locally, not nationally. A tip-top example is the goings-on in Washington, D.C., where a fresh D.C. Public Schools food services director, Jeff Mills (a former Big Apple restaurateur, who briefly appeared in an episode of Sex and the City), has had the job for not yet a year but has already made noteworthy changes. Earlier this month, for instance, Mills's office awarded contracts for two pilot programs at fourteen local elementary schools; one program will provide pupils with prepackaged lunches (their schools are currently being renovated and have no cafeteria) and the other will produce made-from-scratch meals. What's more, the rations must meet newly beefed-up nutritional standards: no artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, or sweeteners; no high-fructose corn syrup or trans fats; no flavored milk; no fried food (the D.C. Healthy Schools Act, passed by the city council in May, put in place many of these requirements). And just north of the nation's capital, Tony Geraci is renovating school fare in Baltimore. Among his exploits is convincing the city to remake 33 acres of vacant land as a working farm where students can pass time learning about and growing?food.
?Liam Julian