GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

A serious grassroots movement to improve school food and reverse the trend of childhood obesity is afoot in our city. That message was immediately apparent when we attended the School Food Rocks Conference organized by Brooklyn City Councilman Brad Lander last month. Also apparent at the conference: Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein are conspicuously absent from the discussion. Since no fundamental change can happen without their support, we thought we’d let them know about the conference and some of the organizations working to stem the tide of disease in our city’s children.

The conference began with introductory speeches by Chef Jorge Collazo, the Department of Education’s first executive chef, and Chef Ann Cooper, widely known as the “Renegade Lunch Lady,” who currently heads the school nutrition program in Boulder, Colo. Both chefs went to the Culinary Institute of America and both spent time living and cooking in Vermont. But the similarities pretty much end there. Chef Collazo oversees the largest school district in the country with 1,600 schools serving over 1 million students. The Boulder Valley School District, on the other hand, comprises just 55 schools with 23,000 students. The sizes of the bureaucracies in which they work might help to explain Chef Cooper’s visionary program for improving school food, which includes getting regionally produced organic milk into every school, versus Chef Collazo’s more modest achievements, such as getting Barilla whole grain pasta served in city schools.

Despite the unruly size of the New York City public school system, pockets of change are happening thanks to parents, educators, non-profit organizations, and the DOE’s Office of School Food. Here’s a list of just some of the organizations that participated in the conference and the programs they offer to provide healthier meals to city schoolchildren and to raise awareness about good nutrition. (If you’re interested in a program for your school, contact the organization at their website.) (more…)

We New Yorkers create approximately 26,000 tons of garbage a day, enough to fill the entire Empire State Building in a week. Like the rest of the city, all New York City schools, both public and private, are required by law to recycle. Schools in Manhattan’s District 3 have taken the lead in enacting extensive recycling programs and reducing waste in their schools.

Last year Jennifer Freeman, an environmental writer whose child attended PS 166, invited schools in District 3 to share ideas and information about going green. Her initiative gave rise to “D3 Green Schools,” a group that meets monthly to discuss how to make the district’s schools more sustainable. As Jennifer explains, “Everything the D3 Green Schools did last year was low-cost, with minimal time required from school staffs. We hope all schools will soon have recycling programs, cut their energy use, and find other ways to build green communities.”

Before highlighting the many accomplishments of D3 Green Schools, we’d like to clarify what schools are supposed to be doing to reduce their waste. Chancellor’s Regulation A-850 requires principals to appoint a “sustainability coordinator” at their schools from their administrative or teaching staffs. The principal and sustainability coordinator are responsible for creating and implementing a recycling and waste reduction plan for their school. This year, principals must submit their recycling plans to the Department of Education by Nov. 12. (more…)

Budget cuts are reducing bus service and meal choices, but they’re not cutting down on the waste in our schools.

Schools such as PS 333 (The Manhattan School for Children) want to change that by starting composting programs to teach their students that food waste does not have to end up in a landfill. Instead, the schools are teaching, food waste can be used to create rich black soil that will nourish plants students can eat in the future. Students learn the invaluable lesson of decay, regrowth, and the cycles of life.

The voluntary composting program the Manhattan School for Children is initiating could one day be mandatory, not just for our schools but our entire city. That’s because composting is an environmentally superior alternative to landfilling organics that eliminates methane production and substantially reduces greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, ton for ton, composting reduces greenhouse gas emissions from organics management over any other management option. Citywide composting is already in place in cities like Seattle and Berkeley, Calif.

The Manhattan School for Children, a K-8 school with both a Wellness Committee and a Green Team, has made sustainability issues a top priority. (more…)

Students in some city schools get to eat mountains of fresh produce straight from local farms. In others, ketchup counts as a serving of vegetables.

The disparity is in some ways a product of increased attention to food quality in schools, from Jamie Oliver’s Emmy-Award-winning reality show “Food Revolution” to First Lady Michele Obama’s calls for better school food to combat childhood obesity. You’d think that in such a climate, with a mayor committed to public health issues, we’d start to see some genuine improvements to the food in city’s public schools. Unfortunately, in many ways we’re seeing just the opposite.

A $24 million budget cut to the Department of Education’s Office of SchoolFood is not only limiting meal choices at lunch time and decreasing the hours of kitchen staff, but also reducing the number of schools participating in the Universal Free Meals Program. (more…)

Earlier this summer District of Columbia school officials decided to ban chocolate milk from their schools. Proponents of flavored milk argue it’s the only way to get students to drink milk, which provides the calcium, protein and vitamin D that children need. But as Colorado school chef Ann Cooper has pointed out, “Saying we need to add sugar and flavoring to milk to get kids to drink it is like saying we need to feed kids apple pie if they don’t like apples.”

NYC Green Schools has proposed that New York City schools also get rid of chocolate milk as the daily consumption of sweetened drinks has no place in a child’s diet. Here’s the truth about the chocolate milk served daily to New York City’s schoolchildren: It contains 22 grams of sugar, which is more sugar than half a can of coke, and it is sweetened with high-fructose corn-syrup, which is listed as the second ingredient.

With 40 percent of city children either overweight or obese, why does the Department of Education’s Office of SchoolFood still insist on chocolate milk? The question is especially vexing because the city decided recently to eliminate sugary drinks from school vending machines, citing irrefutable evidence linking the increased consumption of sugary drinks with the rising rates of childhood obesity.

One SchoolFood official told us that the SchoolFood office is “in the business of food” and that chocolate milk sells. (more…)

Each day we come across inspiring people and organizations doing their part to stem the stream of waste in our public school system. Getting Tools to City Schools is one of these exceptional organizations that is trying to not only make our schools more sustainable, but also ensure that all students in New York City’s public schools have the tools they need to succeed.

Dennis Kitchen

Founded and directed by Dennis Kitchen, Getting Tools to City Schools sells eco-friendly 3-ring binders as a way to fund its charitable mission of providing free, basic school supplies to students in New York City’s low-income public schools. About two-thirds of the students enrolled in the city’s elementary and middle schools can’t afford lunch, much less basic school supplies. In fact, city teachers spend hundreds and even thousands of their own dollars each year to buy basic supplies for their students. So Dennis decided to start a charitable organization that would give these students the necessary supplies they need to perform well in school: a brand new three-ring binder, lined paper, pencil, pens, pocket divider folders and a pencil pouch.

As a way to fund the needed school supplies, Getting Tools to City Schools started selling eco-friendly 3-ring binders. The binders are made of 100 percent recycled paperboard, which is FDA-approved and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)-certified. (more…)

When we joined the wellness committee at our schools, we were concerned parents with the simple agenda of wanting to improve the food in our school cafeteria. We never dreamed we’d become ardent food activists meeting with PTA presidents, community boards, nonprofit organizations, and other impassioned food mamas about how to change the food system in our public schools. But thanks to Chancellor’s Regulation A-812 banning the sale of home-cooked foods in our schools while allowing highly-processed foods, like Doritos and Pop-Tarts, to be sold instead, that is what we’ve quickly become.

Since our bake-in rally protesting the regulation in March, NYC Green Schools has been on the ground advocating for a repeal of the ban on the sale of home-cooked food in our schools at meetings of PTA presidents councils, community boards, and community education councils. We are happy to report that a resolution urging the Department of Education to repeal the ban  has been passed by several community boards in Manhattan and will be voted on by all Manhattan community boards at their Borough Board Meeting in July. Community Board 6 in Brooklyn has also passed a resolution asking the city to repeal the ban, and we are working on having the resolution introduced at Brooklyn’s borough meeting as well.

What is the role of community boards in the political process? That was our question when Community Board 2 in Manhattan invited us to speak about Regulation A-812. (more…)

In the last couple of weeks, we have been reporting about our conversation with Michele Israel, a parent at PS 107 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, about how to grow an edible school garden. Michele has guided us through the planning stage and has generously shared with us possible sources of funding. The next step, finally, is to plant and reap the benefits of all your hard work.

The inspiration to grow an edible school garden originates with the children, of course, and the desire to see them learn firsthand about where food comes from and to literally enjoy the fruits — and veggies — of their labor. As soon as you have funding and your garden is a go, you will want to find ways to bring the children and teachers of your school into the process. What the garden committee at PS 107 did first to capture the children’s imagination was hold a garden-naming contest. Out of 140 entries the name “The Sunshine Garden”, submitted by a first grader, was selected. Having a naming contest gave the students a sense of ownership; it signaled to them that the garden was theirs to learn from and enjoy.

PS 107′s science teacher was instrumental in ensuring that the children were involved in the planting of the garden and that the garden became integrated into the curriculum. “We believe that the parents should provide foundational support and continued resources,” Michelle says. “But to really make the garden part of the school, it should be in the teachers’ hands.” This past year Michele decided to approach other teachers at her school about gardening and was able to recruit 12 more in different capacities. As Michele explains, “When I say different capacities, I mean that some just did hydroponic gardening in the classroom using AeroGrow Gardens, others started seeds in the classroom using grow lights. …  And several used the garden to address a mandated inquiry project they had to do.” The point is gardening doesn’t just have to take place outside, it can happen in the classroom as well. (more…)

Our last post featured Michele Israel, a parent at PS 107 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, who was instrumental in starting an edible garden at her school: We spoke with Michele about the planning stage and how crucial it is to win the support of your principal, custodial engineer, PTA board, parents and teachers. This week Michele will help us identify start-up costs and sources for funding.

Working on PS 107's school garden

Michele’s first recommendation is to “start small,” with maybe just a couple of beds to see how much work is involved and how enthusiastically the garden is received by the school community. Michele estimates it will take anywhere from six months to a year to research the materials you will need for your garden and find capital. In the case of PS 107, members of their volunteer garden committee were assigned different tasks, such as fundraising, grant research, community outreach, and vendor solicitation. Keep in mind that your start-up costs will be where you spend most of your money as they will include lumber for the beds, soil, seeds and tools. Once you have those materials, the costs for your garden dramatically decrease (unless you decide to expand the garden, which should be part of your consideration when putting together a budget).

The start-up costs for PS 107′s garden were approximately $4,000 and included recycled plastic lumber for their beds, which is significantly more expensive than untreated lumber. If you start small, your costs will probably be closer to $2,000, according to Michele. (more…)

Planting a garden at your school can be as simple or elaborate as your ambitions, financial resources, stamina, and the support of your principal, custodial engineer, and science teacher.

The garden at PS 107

Recently we spoke with Michele Israel, a parent at PS 107 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, to find out how she started a garden at her school. We won’t lie to you: The process takes planning, diplomatic skills, research, creativity, resourcefulness and — did we mention this already? — stamina. But if you’re willing to dive in and spearhead a garden at your school, you could be rewarded with the sight of your child joyfully eating the lettuce, peas, and purple basil she herself planted in the school’s courtyard while learning firsthand about growing fresh food and healthy eating.

Because there are so many facets to getting a school garden started, we’ve decided to break down the process into three phases: development/planning, materials/financing, and planting/harvesting. Today we’ll look at the development/planning stage.  Over the next two weeks we’ll cover the other phases.

There can be no garden at your school unless you win people’s support, particularly that of your principal, custodial engineer, PTA board, and teachers. (more…)