BY LOCAL FOOD ALLIANCE
Last month, the Wood River Community YMCA and Roy A. Hunt Foundation, in partnership with Local Food Alliance, brought celebrated chef, educator, author and healthy-school-food advocate Ann Cooper (aka the “Renegade Lunch Lady”) to our Valley to share her hard-earned expertise on improving school food.
As food service director for Boulder Valley Unified School District in Colorado, Chef Ann has proven that a school district can serve up delicious “real food” and make it affordable. Under her leadership, Boulder has successfully transitioned to 100-percent-scratch-cooked meals and organic white milk; eliminated artificial colors, preservatives, trans fats and high fructose corn syrup; and significantly increased local and regional food sourcing. And they do it for less per meal than many districts (including Blaine County) pay for highly processed heat-and-serve meals.
Making the switch isn’t easy, but it can be done. With this in mind, Chef Ann created Lunch Lessons, a consulting firm that guides school districts through the challenges of large-scale school food system change. She also established The Chef Ann Foundation, which provides a cornucopia of resources and grant programs to help schools nourish children with food other than cheap preprocessed commodities shipped in from afar and reheated in plastic bags.
During her visit to the Wood River Valley, Chef Ann spent time with community leaders, heads of school, teachers, and parents; met with Blaine County School District leadership and wellness committee representatives; and shared her story during a free community talk. She inspired all with her vision of “a time soon when being a chef working to feed children fresh, delicious, and nourishing food will no longer be considered ‘renegade.’”
It’s a financial and social imperative to ensure our students get the highest quality food for the money spent. Together, we can make it happen.
Local Food Alliance is a nonprofit whose mission is to create a vibrant local food system in the Wood River Valley. For more information, visit localfoodalliance.org.