"school lunches" news and stories

Catfish growers say a recent USDA purchase of $5 million worth of their product could help put catfish on more school cafeteria menus.

The purchase, announced this month by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, will benefit federal nutrition assistance programs including the National School Lunch Program.

Roger Barlow, president of The Catfish Institute, calls school lunchrooms "the perfect venue for our product." While frozen breaded catfish strips are already a staple of many school kitchens, Barlow suggests catfish could be as prevalent as square-cut pepperoni pizza if administrators realized the advantages posed by the whiskered fish. "It's very nutritious, very versatile," he says. "I think there is room in schools for additional product."

Let's get one thing out of the way: Jamie Oliver is not much of a a negotiator. He may inspire, rile people up and create sentimental spectacle, but if you want someone to, say, mediate a peace treaty, he may not be your man.

This was proven in the opening moments of the next-to-last Food Revolution episode. Jamie, apparently, has but six weeks to turn Huntington, W.Va., from the Hot Pocket-gorging capital of America to a paragon of healthful/fresh/natural eating. (The end may be near, but fear not -- if Jamie's ratings are any indication, ABC will no doubt extend the revolution to a city near you fairly soon.)

This being week five, things were getting pretty dire. Huntington's high schoolers were being held captive by the almighty french fry -- which counts as about five servings of vegetables, if you ask the school's nutrition board. Down the street, the elementary school kids had shifted over to Jamie's all-natural nachos and green salads without so much as a peep -- of course, it helps that their teachers had been prodding them along through their lesson plans.

When we last left our friend Jamie Oliver on Foodpocalypse Now -- sorry, Food Revolution -- things were looking pretty bleak indeed. Britain's love-him-or-hate-him culinary rockstar had managed to make a cracking good mess of things, as he might say, in the homey, high-obesity burgh of Huntington, W. Va.

It turned out that serving healthy barbecued chicken drumsticks to grade-school kids was a challenge akin to reinstating mandatory Latin lessons. Not only was Jamie working within a cafeteria system optimized to handle only the latest in boil-in-bag technology, the kids themselves weren't having it.

Weaned on bright pink milk and leathery, roofing-material-grade pizza, they far and away chose the pre-processed meal. Those who didn't ended up spitting out their greens and throwing most of Jamie's handiwork in the trash -- and the dreaded "tap" of the tray on the garbage can was too much for Jamie to bear.

A few of the best stories spied elsewhere on the Web this week:

Much to the dismay of the meat industry, the Baltimore Public School System has instituted Meatless Mondays on the lunch line in an effort to reduce students' intake of cholesterol and saturated fats.

See which chefs are running the New York City Marathon this Sunday and what they'll be dining on afterwards.

Building on the success of "Top Chef," Bravo plans to launch "Top Chef: Just Desserts," a competitive show for pastry chefs. They have yet to release the planned panel of judges or the host.

Jelly Belly announced a new line of beverages called Jelly Belly Gourmet Soda to be sold in 4-packs in popular jelly-bean flavors Sour Cherry, Lemon Drop, Crushed Pineapple and Blueberry.

Still looking for Halloween costume inspiration? Check out this slideshow of celeb chefs and dress accordingly -- will you choose tattooed arms or the traditional chef's coat?

Figs. Photo: Rubber Slippers in Italy, Flickr.

• Autumn baking leads A Good Appetite to fig tarts, tomato éclairs and ratatouille.
• Hot food carts and trucks like Schnitzel & Things score more cred after nabbing Vendy Awards at the fifth annual cook-off.
• A dip in the cold Maine waters with Barb Scully, a local fisherwoman.
• The Temporary Vegetarian finds orzotto to be easier to work with than risotto.
• GoMobo cuts the line and alleviates the food-gathering irks of office lunches with their order-ahead system.
• Before modern fast food, there were the quick pepperoni rolls of West Virginia coal country.
• Digging into Kevin Zraly and his "Windows on the World Complete Wine Course."
• San Francisco's Flour + Water boasts sophisticated Italian flavors.
• After years of critics espousing its virtues, Riesling has finally earned its spot in the U.S. wine market.
  
• Three years ago, Judith Jones (Julia Child's editor) started raising her own cattle for steak.
• Serving up fresh fare in school lunches is ideal, but it means a lot more than bringing quality ingredients into old and neglected school kitchens.
• The Minimalist makes roasted sweet potato salad.
• Restaurants: The meatpacking district's Standard Grill suffers some dining hiccups but is still a solid food experience, the Village's Joseph Leonard has "flashes of daylight" in otherwise so-so fare and Brooklyn's Bark Hot Dogs rests between chic eats and fast food.
• Food Stuff finds savory and sweet baked goods, simple jams and a Chilean food store.
• New York's openings and closings and dining calendar.