Daily Grist: ORGANIC LUNCH PROJECT PULLED IN CHICAGO

[Guest guest]

At 12:33 PM 8/20/07, you wrote:

>Back to Mystery Meat

>Organic-lunch project pulled out of Chicago elementary school

>

>A school-lunch chef has pulled his Organic School Project out of a Chicago

>elementary school after district officials balked at his plans to expand

>the program to more schools. The first and only organic meal program in

>the nation's third-largest school district had also provided Alcott

>Elementary with a pesticide-free garden, wellness classes, and composting;

>it failed in part thanks to long-standing prepackaged-food contracts and

>labor-union rules that prevented OSP volunteers from helping prepare the

>more labor-intensive organic lunches alongside paid cafeteria workers.

>Price was also a factor: Not including labor and overhead, an OSP lunch

>cost about $2.32, compared to a traditional school lunch cost of -- gulp

>-- about 55 cents. The district claimed that school-lunch sales dropped 3

>percent during the program, but the OSP contends sales rose 8 percent.

>Says OSP founder Greg Christian of leaving Alcott, " I realized there was

>no buy-in from [the district]. They value unions and milk contracts above

>the health of our kids. "

>

>[ email | discuss | + digg | + del.icio.us ]

>

>straight to the source: Chicago Tribune, Monica Eng and Johnathon E.

>Briggs, 17 Aug 2007

>

>see also, in Grist: Maverick chef Ann Cooper aims to spark a nationwide

>school-lunch revolution

>

>see also, in Grist: Public schools starting to offer organic lunches

 

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