Jamie Oliver’s food revolution victory with Los Angeles Unified School District sets a national example

From  Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution is transforming the food security scene in Los Angeles and by extension the rest of the nation and the world.

Tuesday June 14, 2011, the Los Angeles Unified School District Board voted in favor of eliminating flavored milk from the city’s public schools. This school food policy goes into effect July 1 to improve the nutrition of the 680,000 students in the second largest school district in the nation. LA students will be drinking real unflavored milk with their meals from now on.

This change is in response to Jamie’s Food Revolution efforts that currently have LA in the spotlight and his Milk Day of Action campaign that inspired food revolutionaries across the nation to demand only fresh wholesome food for schools, starting with real milk.

In Jamie Oliver’s TED award speech given February 2010 in Long Beach, California, Jamie highlighted flavored milks in schools as an issue “epitomizing the trouble that we’re in." He said,

“School food is something that most kids, 31 million a day actually, have twice a day, more than often, breakfast and lunch, 190 days of the year, so you could say that school food is quite important,really, judging the circumstances."

After dumping a wheelbarrow of sugar, the amount consumed by a single child during 5 years of elementary school, just from milk, Jamie said,

“Judging the circumstances, any judge in the whole  world would look at the statistics and the evidence and they would find any government involved guilty of child abuse, that’s my belief.”

In response to his recent LAUSD victory, Jamie said,

“With flavored milk, kids are getting loads of sugar and other food additives they simply don’t need to grow and learn. In the Food Revolution the little battles set us up for the next win. All these little battles count; they matter. It’s not just milk. It’s caring about what we feed kids 180 days a year.”

Perhaps your school district did not get on the Milk Day bandwagon this year. That’s OK. You can use your summer away from school to organize your school food policy campaign. It’s never too late to make our schools accountable for the good or bad food choices they offer our children.

More Information


Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution milk factsheet

Jamie Oliver Foundation website

Join the Food Revolution Community on facebook

Watch Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, season 2, Fridays at 9PM/8C on ABC. This Friday’s episode is “Feed them healthy food with 77 cents,” June 17, 2011.

Books by Jamie Oliver


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You might also be interested in Donna’s other work as National Food Security Examiner, Long Beach Urban Agriculture Examiner, Long Beach Restaurant Examiner, National Science News Examiner and founder and executive director of Long Beach Grows.

Copyright © 2011 Donna Marykwas; All rights reserved.

Join the Long Beach Grows™ real food security coalition to help fight hunger in Long Beach

Long Beach Grows™ is a grassroots organization that promotes food security through urban agriculture. The current food system in Long Beach, particularly as it pertains to local food and real food, really caters to the wealthy of our residents. Long Beach Grows plans to change this.

We are in the midst of one of the worst recessions ever. A recent report prepared by LAANE for the Coalition for Good Jobs and a Healthy Community indicates that one in five Long Beach residents are living in economic hardship and over 50% of our children are living in poverty. HealthyCity.org, an authoritative source of demographic data, indicates that 62.3% - 66.19% of LA county residents cannot afford enough food to eat. The remaining 33.81% - 37.7% remain hungry.

Long Beach Grows recently established the LBGROWS™ Real Food Security Coalition to advocate for a just and equitable food system in Long Beach, and to empower the low income Long Beach communities to establish their own food security, independence and freedom from hunger. The Coalition will work to identify Long Beach’s populations at greatest risk of food insecurity, the reasons for this, the strengths and weaknesses in our food system, and long term solutions to create a future of food security for all. While the main focus of the Coalition is community organizing, outreach may influence positive change on regional, state and national policy and will include reporting and documenting on food issues.

The Coalition will attempt to connect all sectors of the community and local food system.   All Long Beach residents are encouraged to join. Low-income residents who need access to better food are especially welcome. So whoever you are, whether you are rich or poor, an adult or youth, an individual with only personal interests or a community organizer leading a group with a mission, your input and help is wanted. Local growers, environmentalists, non-profit food distributors, grocers, restauranteurs, dieticians,  artisanal food crafters, city employees, big consumers such as Long Beach Unified School District or Long Beach Memorial, all are invited.

The Coalition will assemble at least once a month and is currently scheduled to meet the first Thursday of each month from 6 - 8 PM at the Catalyst space at 430 East 1st Street in the arts district of downtown Long Beach. Mark your calendars. As the Coalition grows, so will the venue.

Spread the word. Join the Coalition today.

Enjoy this? Please share the link and comment below, even if only to say "Hi!"
 
You might also be interested in Donna’s other work as Long Beach Urban Agriculture Examiner, Long Beach Restaurant Examiner, National Food Policy Examiner, National Science News Examiner, and founder and director of Long Beach Grows™.

Copyright © 2011 Donna Marykwas; All rights reserved.

New City Public Schools Farm in Long Beach celebrates urban agriculture and education at Farm Festival this Saturday

Saturday June 4, 2011, New City Public Schools Farm in Long Beach presents their Inaugural Farm Festival and fundraiser this Saturday, June 4, 2011 starting at noon.

Just one year ago, on June 10, 2010, was the first New City Schools Farm Build Day. Volunteers from throughout the city, including Mayor Bob Foster and 1st District Councilman Robert Garcia, came to help build an urban farm on a quarter-acre lot in the heart of the city at 15th Street and Long Beach Boulevard. This location is within walking distance of both campuses of the progressive New City Public Schools charter school. This also appears to be part of the same location where the former Long Beach Ostrich Farm was located circa 1907-1910.

Kathleen Irvine is the energetic Farm Manager who understands the challenges of gardening with children and has used her insight to create the kid-friendly farm that the site has become. For example, the planting beds are narrower than usual to allow the children’s short arms to reach what is being planted and later harvested. In addition, to minimize hurt feelings, no one is allowed to eat a crop unless there is enough for every student.

The garden is visited by two to three classes of students three days a week. Fridays are also busy with field trips. It serves as a living laboratory where the students learn all about plants, what is necessary to keep them alive and to make them thrive, and where their food comes from. Kathleen said that prior to this opportunity to grow an urban farm, some of her students mistook a yellow squash (still on the plant) for a banana. Now they know better.

School gardens and farms can make a big difference in our kids’ appreciation of nature, their understanding of where real food comes from, and their present and future healthy diet and lifestyle decision.

Come celebrate the success of this urban school farm this Saturday beginning at noon. Entertainment will include music, dancing, a drum circle, crafts, and face painting. Green vendors and information booths will also be available for you to enjoy.

Be sure to return to this article to view the slideshow of the event.

New City Public Schools Farm Fundraiser
Date: 06/04/2011
Time: 12:00 - 4:00 P.M.
Location: 225 East 15th St., Long Beach, CA  90813
Contact: Kathleen Irvine, Farm Manager (818) 470-0005

More Information

Long Beach School Gardens & Farms, Long Beach Grows website

New City Public Schools website

Enjoy this? Please share the link and comment below, even if only to say "Hi!"

You might also be interested in Donna’s other work as Long Beach Urban Agriculture Examiner, Long Beach Restaurant Examiner, National Food Policy Examiner, National Science News Examiner, and founder and director of Long Beach Grows.

Copyright © 2011 Donna Marykwas; All rights reserved.