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Schools

High School Students Advocate for "Real Food"

School group implements the first Real Food Challenge criteria for high schools.

High school students working with the Youth Leadership Institute hope to improve school lunch options in the San Rafael City High School District after piloting the first nutrition assessment program aimed at high schools in the nation.

The students from Terra Linda and high schools participated in the Real Food Challenge, where they analyzed cafeteria food purchases from October 2010 to February 2011 to determine how much environmentally sustainable and local food was available.

Looking at more than 10 categories ranging from breads to condiments, the students assessed the offerings on four criteria: whether the food was transported within a 250-mile radius, whether it was fair in regards to production and worker wages, whether the food was ecologically sound and whether it was humane.

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All of these are the factors in determining whether the items on the lunch trays are “real food,” according to the program.

Although the district had managed to get 74 percent of it’s food locally, it had only 0.4 percent considered fair, 12 percent considered ecologically sound and 15 percent considered humane.

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“No one really likes cafeteria food,” said 17-year-old Melanie Jackson, who participated in the program. “We wanted to show people that cafeteria school doesn’t have to be bad.”

After a pair of people from the YLI came with yogurt samples to recruit students for the group, Jackson became their first Terra Linda member. Now, the soon-to-be Cal Poly Pomona student wants to take the Real Food Challenge with her to college.

Other than Jackson, Alexandra Iskindir and Kevin Amaya-Jaimes of Terra Linda High School and Ileen Zakayan and Katherine Dominiko of San Rafael High School also participated in the program.

The findings were presented at the June 13 San Rafael City School Board meeting along with results from various student surveys and focus groups which all found cafeteria food in the district lacking.

The students also found that some food items sold in the district were not in compliance with the school wellness policy, which aims to ensure healthy food in schools.

Their recommendations included remodeling cafeterias to improve ambiance and considering organic meat, as 100 percent of all meat currently sold in the district is conventional.

For the coming school year, the groups at Terra Linda and San Rafael high schools will be focusing on recruitment measures and addressing this year’s findings.

“The next step is to take on these recommendations,” said Maria Reyes, senior director of Marin programs for the Youth Leadership Institute.

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