This morning, more than 200 people piled into the auditorium at Johnson & Wales University for a standing-room only event called a “Fresh Look at School Food.” The audience consisted of parents, students of all ages, teachers, principals and community members eager to learn and engage on the topic of school food. The event was made possible by generous contributions from Bank of America and Johnson & Wales.
Erin Brighton, Director of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Food Policy Council, welcomed the crowd and thanked all of the partners who have worked to plan the day including Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, Green Teacher Network, GenerationNation, Teen Health Connection, Carolinas Healthcare System’s Healthy Weight Healthy Child Initiative. The Mecklenburg County Health Department co-hosted the event with the Food Policy Council and its staff worked tirelessly to make this event a success. Ann Clark, Superintendent of Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, Catherine Beam from CMS Child Nutrition, Johnson & Wales Dean Jerry Lanuzza, and Dr. Marcus Plescia, Director of the Mecklenburg County Health Department, also shared welcoming remarks.
The morning started with a screening of the award-winning documentary, “Cafeteria Man,” which features Tony Geraci, former director of child nutrition for the Baltimore City School District. The movie is an entertaining way to show the challenges of changing school food culture in large, urban school districts.
After the film, local chef and Heirloom restaurant owner Clark Barlowe led a panel discussion featuring high school students, a school board member, a middle school principal, a parent, a physical education teacher, and the Director of Operations for Child Nutrition Services, CMS. For more information on the panelists, read about them here. The panelists further discussed the challenges to changing the food culture, which include the limited about of time they have to stand in line and to eat, the access to vending machines and inconsistent adherence to vending policies, limited storage space for fresh items, and students who do not choose the healthy items that are available.
When the panel discussion wrapped up, the walls behind them opened up to reveal a beautiful teaching kitchen for the “Fresh Chef Cook-Off.” Chef Clarke and Johnson & Wales instructor Megan Lambert teamed up with two CMS cafeteria employees and were given 20 minutes to prep, cook and serve a sweet potato side dish. Six students served as judges and DC Lucchesi from Well-Run Media kept the audience engaged by interviewing the students and chefs and asking trivia questions to the audience.
The teams were supposed to see if they could come up with a dish that could potentially be added to the CMS menu, and be enjoyed by students. Chef Megan prepared a roasted sweet potato hash with red peppers and onions. Chef Clarke used purple sweet potatoes and topped them with a gremolata sauce of parsley, lemon and garlic. The competition was tough but Chef Megan took home the gold wrapped sweet potato trophy, winning by one point! With an auditorium full of people salivating over the smell of these dishes, the presentation concluded and everyone was able to enjoy a delicious and healthy lunch with roasted sweet potatoes, black bean quesadillas with salsa, salad and green smoothies!
Erin Brighton, Director of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Food Policy Council, welcomed the crowd and thanked all of the partners who have worked to plan the day including Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, Green Teacher Network, GenerationNation, Teen Health Connection, Carolinas Healthcare System’s Healthy Weight Healthy Child Initiative. The Mecklenburg County Health Department co-hosted the event with the Food Policy Council and its staff worked tirelessly to make this event a success. Ann Clark, Superintendent of Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, Catherine Beam from CMS Child Nutrition, Johnson & Wales Dean Jerry Lanuzza, and Dr. Marcus Plescia, Director of the Mecklenburg County Health Department, also shared welcoming remarks.
The morning started with a screening of the award-winning documentary, “Cafeteria Man,” which features Tony Geraci, former director of child nutrition for the Baltimore City School District. The movie is an entertaining way to show the challenges of changing school food culture in large, urban school districts.
After the film, local chef and Heirloom restaurant owner Clark Barlowe led a panel discussion featuring high school students, a school board member, a middle school principal, a parent, a physical education teacher, and the Director of Operations for Child Nutrition Services, CMS. For more information on the panelists, read about them here. The panelists further discussed the challenges to changing the food culture, which include the limited about of time they have to stand in line and to eat, the access to vending machines and inconsistent adherence to vending policies, limited storage space for fresh items, and students who do not choose the healthy items that are available.
When the panel discussion wrapped up, the walls behind them opened up to reveal a beautiful teaching kitchen for the “Fresh Chef Cook-Off.” Chef Clarke and Johnson & Wales instructor Megan Lambert teamed up with two CMS cafeteria employees and were given 20 minutes to prep, cook and serve a sweet potato side dish. Six students served as judges and DC Lucchesi from Well-Run Media kept the audience engaged by interviewing the students and chefs and asking trivia questions to the audience.
The teams were supposed to see if they could come up with a dish that could potentially be added to the CMS menu, and be enjoyed by students. Chef Megan prepared a roasted sweet potato hash with red peppers and onions. Chef Clarke used purple sweet potatoes and topped them with a gremolata sauce of parsley, lemon and garlic. The competition was tough but Chef Megan took home the gold wrapped sweet potato trophy, winning by one point! With an auditorium full of people salivating over the smell of these dishes, the presentation concluded and everyone was able to enjoy a delicious and healthy lunch with roasted sweet potatoes, black bean quesadillas with salsa, salad and green smoothies!
