Chef Tim and the White House Part II

In addition to operating the School Food Program for NHPS I have had the distinct honor of working with Chef Sam Kass, The First Lady's Office, USDA, Share Our Strength and a group of several chefs from across the country.

Separate from my participation at the Childhood Obesity Summit at the White House in April; I have been meeting both in person and through email with the most amazing group of chefs, all with the same vision: changing school meals for the better.

Our hard work has paid off with yesterday's release of the newest program of Michelle Obama's Let's Move Campaign, Chefs Move to Schools. This is a fantastic opportunity for the school children across the country.

Announcing "Chefs Move to Schools" copied from the White House blog

Posted by Sam Kass on May 13, 2010 at 08:14 PM EDT

Since the groundbreaking of the White House Kitchen Garden more than a year ago, local students have spent time on the South Lawn of the White House planting seeds, harvesting vegetables and learning about health and nutrition along the way. Through the garden, the First Lady started a discussion on the role food plays in living a healthy life. The discussion grew into the Let’s Move! campaign and like the garden – we just keep on growing.
Today, I’m excited to announce the “Chefs Move to Schools” program – an opportunity for chefs around the country to adopt a local school to help solve the childhood obesity epidemic within a generation. In the words of the Mrs. Obama:

We are going to need everyone’s time and talent to solve the childhood obesity epidemic and our Nation’s chefs have tremendous power as leaders on this issue because of their deep knowledge of food and nutrition and their standing in the community. I want to thank them for joining the Let’s Move! Campaign.

“Chefs Move to Schools” will pair chefs with schools in their communities to bring fun to fruits and vegetables, and teach kids about food, nutrition and cooking in an engaging way. And by working with school food service employees, administrators and teachers -- chefs can help deliver these messages from the cafeteria to the classroom. After hearing fifth graders cheer for broccoli, I know firsthand that chefs can have a huge impact on kid’s health and well being.

Chefs and schools that are interested in participating can sign up here or through www.LetsMove.gov.
Sam Kass is the White House Assistant Chef and the Food Initiative Coordinator

In New Haven we have several Chefs, including myself who are active in our schools. Claire Criscuolo of Claire's Cornercopia, Bun Lai of Miya's Sushi, Tagan Engel of CitySeed and Rafi Taherian of Yale Dining are several that come to mind immediately. In addition to the Chefs, NHPS Food Service workers are on the front lines engaging the students on a daily basis.

We are hoping to officially launch Chefs Move to Schools in June, before the end of the school year. This will give us all time to reach out to our fellow culinarians to empower them to participate in this generation changing program!

As I mentioned in previous posts, the support from the top down of the Obama Administration has been amazing. We are at the cusp of great changes to school meals.

The REAL Food Revolution is happening in New Haven and across the country, not because of a TV Chef but because of the dedication of school nutrition professionals who want to see change.