The lunch at the School Food Rocks conference last weekend featured the healthiest, greenest recipes that School Food can make. Vegetable stir-fries, Pasta Bolognese, a salad bar with sesame noodles served in the Department of Education's more environmentally friendly new “trayless” paper boats, and vegetarian and Cuban paninis.

In addition to its new, greener menus, School Food was pushing a host of opt-in programs, available to any school that wants them.

One page in the conference program, from the Brooklyn School Food Coalition, was called “Food Changes You Can Make At Your Own School Today.” It featured ideas that cost nothing to the school, such as salad bars, meatless Mondays,  and a fresh fruit and vegetable program.  Many of these changes can be made just by working with your school food manager, with the support of your principal. Some, like salad bars or scratch cooking, create extra work for the cafeteria staff.

Other programs, like school gardens, require TLC from a teacher, parent or group of students.  The city organization Green Thumb was at the conference promoting edible schoolyards. The organization will provide supplies and training; schools have to come up with the enthusiasm and commitment.<!--more-->

Another opt-in program that principals can request from the DOE is Breakfast in the Classroom, a “grab-and-go”cold breakfast in a bag:  juice, muffin, and  yogurt, that one parent complimented as looking “just like something from a deli.” Keith Graham, who manages the program, says the breakfasts promote health and learning, but agrees that the program is a little hard to find on the School Food website. Interested schools, with support of their principals, can call Keith at 718-707-4523.

Schools that can raise $1,000 were invited to request that School Food install a Water Jet in their cafeteria. This is an anti-obesity initiative (apparently unfunded except for installation labor) designed to get students to drink chilled, filtered water instead of high-calorie drinks.

The conference, organized by City Council member and public school parent Brad Lander, was filled with parents, teachers, and organizations that are providing healthier food, growing crops, recycling food scraps, educating kids about food. They believe that we can make  healthy and green cafeteria changes with these new, available options.

This is not to say all problems are solved, or even solvable in the near future. Budget for the federal School Food program is less than $9 billion a YEAR around the country. The charismatic Chef Ann Cooper pointed out that the U.S. spends $3 billion a WEEK on the war in Afghanistan, and $5 billion a WEEK on diabetes and obesity. Legislation to increase funding for school food nationwide is still pending, and activists are still organizing in support of the Child Nutrition Act.

Knowing your options for greener healthier food is a good first step. What greener school lunch initiatives does your school have?