Article; Battle of School Cafeterias

The clash of the cafs
By CAROLINE ALPHONSO
Saturday, October 8, 2005 Posted at 1:39 AM EDT
From Saturday's Globe and Mail

Stratford, Ont. ‹ In a tiny corner of Stratford Northwestern Secondary
School, Paul Finkelstein is waging a culinary war against the mighty
French fry.

The chalkboard inside the Screaming Avocado Café ‹ the crowning
achievement of his efforts ‹ lists today's specials: Moroccan braised
lamb shanks with vegetable couscous salad, salmon in phyllo with Swiss
chard, lasagna al forno with béchamel sauce, tempeh and vegetable chili
with corn bread are among them. Each item costs $4.

Down the hallway in another cafeteria, women are preparing to drench
baskets of frozen fries into hot oil. On that specials board: garlic
fingers, pizza, chicken burgers and hamburgers, all with a choice of
fries, soup or vegetables.

Stratford Northwestern, a school of 1,200 students some 100 kilometres
west of Toronto, is believed to be unique in Canada. It houses two
cafeterias with distinct menus, both competing for students' stomachs.
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It is trying to do what many governments are starting to legislate ‹
provide healthy meals to school kids.

The British government recently decided to ban all junk food, pressured
by a high-profile campaign by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. In Canada, a
handful of provinces are pondering similar moves.

Mr. Finkelstein, a culinary arts teacher, doesn't dare set foot in the
³junk-food² cafeteria. The women who work here don't like him, he says
as he pokes his head through the door.

³The battle is on,² he said.

The clash between the nutritious fare and the greasy food has rarely
played out so intensely as it is here at this one school. And never has
it been so urgent.

Calling it a growing public health crisis, the Ontario Medical
Association warned this week that an epidemic of childhood obesity may
lead to the first generation of children who will not live as long as
their parents.

Indeed, the growing waistlines of youngsters is troubling
policy-makers, many of whom are taking steps ‹ considered meagre by
some ‹ to control the problem.

The Ontario government has banned the sale of chocolate bars, other
candy and pop in elementary-school vending machines. Students are also
now required to do at least 20 minutes of daily physical activity in
school.

In a bid to become the healthiest jurisdiction to play host to the
Olympics, British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell has promised to ban
junk food within four years from all public schools.

Other provinces, such as Quebec and Nova Scotia, are looking at ways to
join the crusade to eliminate junk food high in fat, salt or sugar from
schools.

³Finally, people are getting the message,² said Andy Anderson, an
associate professor of physical and health education at the University
of Toronto's Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

³We have parents more conscious of this, grocery-store owners are more
conscious of this, and we've even got fast-food people more conscious
of this. We've got a much larger army now.²

In his own corner of the country, Mr. Finkelstein has become the local
Jamie Oliver.

The aroma of freshly baked bread wafts through the air as a group of
students, taking his culinary-arts class, prepare for the lunch-hour
rush. They're dicing, tossing and sautéing. Mr. Finkelstein ‹ Finkel,
to his students ‹ moves around the kitchen with lightning speed,
shouting instructions over blaring music. Wearing a T-shirt, brown
suede pants and an earring in each year, it's hard to distinguish the
42-year-old from the teens.

The former chef turned culinary-arts teacher opened the Screaming
Avocado last September in a space that used to be the school's
auto-body shop. School officials allowed him to compete head to head
against Chartwells, a division of foodservice management company
Compass Group Canada.

A classroom, cafeteria and kitchen, the Screaming Avocado is, well,
loud. There's orange, green and red paint on the walls. You won't find
any cans of pop being served in here. Same goes for chips and candy
bars.

Instead, students are cooking with Jerusalem artichokes, basil,
carrots, swiss chard, beets and tomatoes found in the school's
3,000-square-foot organic garden, the brainchild of Mr. Finkelstein.
The ground beef in the lasagna is lean. Only 1 per cent milk is used in
the béchamel sauce. On the rare occasion that French fries are served,
the students cut up potatoes, and then oven roast them with olive oil.

To finance the program, the café sells take-home meals to teachers and
plays host to dinners for community groups. The culinary students even
catered a wedding for 200 recently.

³We do everything from scratch. Everything is made in house,² Mr.
Finkelstein said, adding that local farmers and suppliers sell him food
at a discounted price.

When the lunch bell rings around 11:30, hundreds of high-school
students stream out of classrooms. Some of the older ones make their
way to the local fast-food restaurants.

³At least they're walking,² Mr. Finkelstein quipped.

There's a steady crowd at the Screaming Avocado. Mr. Finkelstein stands
behind the counter, holding up forkfuls of lamb to students' mouths. He
dares them to be adventurous. Many step back. A few are up for the
challenge.

He admits that he can't always compete against the French fry.

Down the hall in the other cafeteria, the line snakes right to the
door. The prices are comparable.

Not many notice a smaller board off to the side displaying a balanced
choice menu: Macaroni and cheese, skim milk and a side salad. And not
many students are buying wraps or salads, either.

Instead, most teenagers are walking out with fries, loaded with ketchup
or gravy. ³Those fries have hardly any gravy on them,² one girl said to
her friend. ³You should return it.²

Chris Wells's daily lunch diet consists of French fries and a can of
pop. He knows it's a far cry from the healthy fare, but the 17-year-old
simply shrugs his shoulders.

³I prefer the caf,² he said, as he squirts ketchup onto his fries. ³The
Avocado tries to get too fancy and make home-cooked meals.²

Donna Bottrell, a nutrition and culinary manager at Compass Group
Canada, said the company is slowly trying to introduce students across
the country to healthy foods in the form of wraps, salads and
sandwiches. In some schools, the sale of fries has dropped as kids
choose healthier options, she said.

But taking the fries out of the cafeteria is not necessarily the
answer, because students would leave school grounds to buy them, Ms.
Bottrell said.

Mr. Finkelstein shakes his head. He sees students at the vending
machines getting a can of pop and cookies for breakfast. He says it is
unfortunate cash-strapped schools have little choice but to turn to
machines and food contracts as a source of revenue. He dreams of the
day he can take over the cafeteria, and serve up nutritious meals.

But for now ³we're giving them the option, and some are taking the
option. Nobody has to come down if they don't want to,² he said.

³But we need help. We need somebody to say ŒYou can't sell that stuff,'
and then we'll definitely win that battle.²

Across the country, school principals are taking small steps to improve
the nutrition habits of their students. The challenge? There's no
federal body overseeing the changes.

John Beaton, principal at W. P. Wagner School of Science and Technology
in Edmonton, is trying to teach his students moderation. French fries
are banned, except on Fridays, he said. The revenue that comes to the
school from the cafeteria has dropped as a result, but Mr. Beaton, a
cyclist and runner, said: ³We're not in the money-making business. We
should be modelling healthier eating.²

The school is far from perfect in its efforts to eliminate junk food.
There may be no pop sold to kids, but there are still sugary fruit
drinks in the vending machines. And Mr. Beaton can't stop kids from
bringing pop into the school, or walking over to the nearby McDonald's
for lunch. His next step? Get rid of the cookies and chips.

³They won't like it,² he said.

Back at Stratford Northwestern, Mr. Finkelstein knows it's not easy to
sell greens or healthy foods to students who have grown up with sugary
and salty foods. But at least he has the chance to work with a younger
crop: Grades 7 and 8 students who are housed in this high school, and
are only allowed to eat at the Screaming Avocado. With financial
support from Ontario's health ministry, Mr. Finkelstein said these
students can get a lunch, along with a milk, juice or bottle of water,
for $3.

Around one table, 12-year-old Cody Patterson is the only one who has
opted for the salmon in phyllo with couscous. The other boys are eating
chicken sandwiches, pizzas or have packed lunches. ³I wanted to try
something new,² Cody said. He has eaten the salmon, but finds the
couscous too spicy.

Mr. Finkelstein asks him to try the Swiss chard. He takes a bite, and
shakes his head. It's not for him.

³Fear factor, boys. Give it a try,² Mr. Finkelstein said, passing the
plate of couscous around the table. One Grade 7 boy tries it and said:
³Couscous. Awesome!²

Mr. Finkelstein may not have changed the youngster's diet, but by
getting him to try something new, he has won this round.

--
Diva
*****
The Best Man For The Job Is A Woman

"Carol Frilegh" wrote in message
...
The clash of the cafs
By CAROLINE ALPHONSO
Saturday, October 8, 2005 Posted at 1:39 AM EDT
From Saturday's Globe and Mail

Stratford, Ont. In a tiny corner of Stratford Northwestern Secondary
School, Paul Finkelstein is waging a culinary war against the mighty
French fry.


Interesting article. It's good to see someone taking the initiative to
make changes. At least students will have the option to choose healthier
foods at this school if they want to.
In our own home, I find that if we ask our child what she wants for meals,
the choices are not the way I would like to see them made. We do our best to
educate her about nutrition, exercise, and not over-eating, but pizza and
MacDonald's would win most times if she was given an option. The only reason
she eats healthy is because we do the choosing for her.
I don't know what the best answer is. I would think that given a choice
between one cafeteria or another, the one serving the fries is going to
attract more students at meal time. Some may try the new food options, but
once they discover that the food tastes weird, or not as yummy as the normal
crap fare, they will be back to eating at the french fry place.
The simplest answer would be to ban all junk food from schools, so they
have no other choice but to eat from the healthy menu, or bring their own.
But in real life, these foods are not banned. We have to make these choices
ourselves every day.
Sometimes I feel that the government should ban all the crap/junk food,
but then again I don't like government interference in our daily lives.
People should have the right to choose what they want to eat. But it seems
somewhat obvious that unless someone or something is choosing the right
things for people, they are unwilling to choose the right paths for
themselves.
Most people, even young ones know that they should be eating healthier
foods and being more active. But do they do it? Most do not. Even the 95%
diet failure rate shows that generally people are unwilling to make the
healthier lifestyle choices despite knowing what they should be doing.
I don't think that it is a lost cause to bring healthier food into the
schools, but I can't see students opting for lamb over french fries with
gravy. I didn't do it when I was young either.