Support the Hollywood Farmers Market from Storytelling for Change on Vimeo.

[This video was produced by Dance Aoki and Morgan Locke. Story by Dance Aoki; performances by Dance Aoki and Jessica DeWinter; cinematography by Jason Cochard; sound and editing by Morgan Locke; music by The Petrojvic Blasting Company; styled by Pam Terry's closet. The makers offer special thanks to SEE-LA, the vendors, and the patrons who come to the market every Sunday.]

Soft drinks were banned in Los Angeles schools in 2004. But if you think that means kids are protected from too much sugar at school, think again. Children are regularly able to select a school breakfast that contains more added sugar than a can of soda. A popular breakfast offering of Frosted Flakes doused in chocolate milk with a side of coffee cake and a carton of orange juice contains 51 grams of added sugar (or 79 grams of total sugar counting those that occur naturally in the milk and the juice). A 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola contains 39 grams of sugar.
. . .
. . . [N]either federal nor district standards limit the overall sugar content of school meals. Even the newly proposed U.S. Department of Agriculture school food guidelines, which are open for public comment until April 13, don’t include specific limits on sugar. Rather, they state that though added sugars should be limited, they may be included as long as the menus meet caloric guidelines.

The full text of Emily’s op-ed piece is available on the Times’ website.

In describing the President’s response, Josh noted:

President Obama didn’t use the opportunity to answer our concerns, nor did he speak to our hopes. He didn’t talk about how he was going to make it easier to access fruit than Froot Loops. He didn’t talk about how he was going to reduce federal support for the crops that are most damaging to our health and environment, and he didn’t talk about what he was going to do to increase support for a sustainable food system. The president didn’t talk about taking on the massive consolidation in agribusiness that makes it cheaper and easier to get unhealthy processed food than it is to buy whole ingredients. Though he touched on it, he didn’t talk about addressing food insecurity in any meaningful way and he didn’t talk about the power of citizens as shoppers … or as voters.
Instead, he talked about Walmart.

Josh’s thoughts on what this means for those of us interested in promoting a good, clean, and fair food system, and why the President’s response should motivate us to act, have been published on The Atlantic’s website.

Nourish is a multi-year media and education initiative with the goal of opening a broad and meaningful public conversation about our food system that encourages citizen engagement, particularly among young people and families. The Nourish Initiative will combine television programming, short films, web content, and learning tools.

KCET will broadcast a half-hour program produced by Nourish, narrated by Cameron Diaz, and featuring Michael Pollan, Alice Waters, Jamie Oliver, Anna Lappe, Bryant Terry, Nigel Walker, and Dr. Nadine Burke. The announced airtimes are November 9 at 10:30pm and November 14 at 4:00pm. Air dates and times for other PBS stations can be found on the Nourish website.

For a taste of what Nourish has to offer, watch the trailer below:

Nourish Trailer from Nourish on Vimeo.

[And if the embedded video above isn't working in your browser, you can try Vimeo directly.]

Michael Pollan:

Will Allen:

Many of us have been enchanted by the addition of honeybee hives as part of the White House’s garden, and Ms. Goodridge’s article introduces us to Charlie Brandts, the White House carpenter and now First Beekeeper. Don’t miss the audio slideshow of Mr. Brandts–and the bees–in action.

Also in the Times:

• a profile of Sam Kass, a White House chef and the administration’s food initiative coordinator. Mr. Kass has been instrumental in the development of the White House garden and has been a vocal supporter of farmers’ markets and efforts to improve school lunch programs.
• Marion Burros considers another way Michelle Obama is influencing the debate about food and food preparation: an appearance on the January 3, 2010 episode of “Iron Chef America” inspired by the White House garden.

(Many thanks to several Slow Food Los Angeles members for sharing the Iron Chef news.)

Whether you’re a longtime fan or someone for whom Wendell Berry is a new name, Krasny’s conversation with Wendell Berry is available below:

For more information about Wendell Berry’s writings, visit his book-focused website; for samples of his style and point of view, don’t miss this outstanding online bibliography with links to many essays; and enjoy an abridged version of The Agrarian Standard in Orion magazine.

Information about all the guests and features on tomorrow’s show is available on the Good Food page on KCRW’s website.

If you won’t be near a radio, you can also listen to episodes of Good Food via the KCRW website or get the podcast via iTunes.

For more information on Slow Food Los Angeles’s participation in the Time For Lunch campaign, you can read all our Time For Lunch related posts here.

Among those supporting improvements to the Act are Representative George Miller (D-Martinez) and Representative Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma).

Slow Food Los Angeles heartily supports the Time For Lunch platform which calls for increases in funding ($1 per day, per child) and adoption of innovative educational programs that will have positive effects both in and out of the classroom. We also encourage you to sign the online petition, and invite you to join your friends and neighbors (or meet new ones) at an Eat-in this Labor Day.

Slow Food Los Angeles Eat-ins will be held at six locations in and around the city:

++ at the Cesar Chavez Arboretum in Elysian Park
835 Academy Road, Los Angeles
Beginning at 11:30am
Organized by Jennie Cook; RSVPs and information by email to jennie [at] jenniecooks [dot] com or by phone: 323.982.0052

++ at the Milagro Allegro Community Garden in Highland Park
115 South Avenue 56, Los Angeles
Beginning at 4:00pm
Organized by Emily Ventura; RSVPs and information by email to hpeatin [at] gmail [dot] com or by phone: 323.442.3198

++ at Fancifull
5617 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles
From 4:00pm until 7:00pm
Organized by Terry August; RSVPs and information by email to admin [at] fancifull [dot] com or by phone: 323.466.7654

++ at the Spiraling Orchard Community ArtPark (downtown)
1246 West Court Street, Los Angeles
Beginning at 5:00pm
Organized by Nancy Zuniga; RSVPs and information by email to acla213 [at] gmail [dot] com or by phone: 213.481.8013

++ at Anderson Park in Redondo Beach
229 Ernest Avenue, Redondo Beach
Beginning at 4:00pm
Organized by Kelly Wolschon; RSVPs and information by email to kwolschon [at] rbusd [dot] org or by phone: 310.370.9420

++ in Culver City at Reyhan Persian Grill
11800 Jefferson Boulevard, Culver City
Beginning at 3:00pm
Organized by Frieda Hosseini; RSVPs and information by email to reyhanpersiangrill [at] gmail [dot] com or by phone: 310.390.6800

In the meantime, have you reviewed the Time For Lunch platform? Signed the Time For Lunch petition? Please do and learn more about how we can help make real food in schools a priority.

† “Why a Twenty-Something Should Care About School Lunch“: Claire Stanford shares her twenty-something perspective on school lunches on the Civil Eats blog and makes the case that even those who don’t have children in school and who no longer eat school lunches have a stake in this year’s review and renewal of the Child Nutrition Act.

† “Stars Aligning on School Lunches”: And it’s about time! Kim Severson reports in today’s New York Times about the unprecedented level of interest and commitment to making positive and significant changes in school food programs:

[Chef Ann Cooper's] invitation [to the School Nutrition Association's meeting] is a small sign of larger changes happening in public school cafeterias. For the first time since a new wave of school food reform efforts began a decade ago, once-warring camps are sharing strategies to improve what kids eat. The Department of Agriculture is welcoming ideas from community groups and more money than ever is about to flow into school cafeterias, from Washington and from private providers.

“The window’s open,” said Kathleen Merrigan, the deputy secretary of agriculture. “We are in the zone when a whole lot of exciting ideas are being put on the table. I have been working in the field of sustainable agriculture and nutrition all my professional life, and I really have never seen such opportunity before.”

Read the complete article online.

† What’s in that school lunch? It depends on where you are….: Mary MacVean reported in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times on a study of the top ten foods children are eating in school. Although the report doesn’t distinguish between forms of food (such as between chicken nuggets and other, less processed forms of chicken), it does offer a timely view into school lunchrooms.

Also worth reading: 5 Worst School Lunch Menu Items; the School Nutrition Association’s report on the State of School Nutrition–clearly, many schools are trying to improve the food available to students, but they need more resources; and what do children in other countries eat for lunch? The variety may surprise you!

† Let the School-Meals Revolution Begin!: Marion Nestle acknowledges that the food revolution has reached America’s schools, but notes that there’s more progress to be made. Dr Nestle also makes the point that “school meal programs need and deserve more money” and encourages readers to join Slow Food USA’s Time For Lunch campaign to press for more funding and for other meaningful changes in the National School Lunch Program. (For viewers of The Colbert Report on Comedy Central, Marion Nestle is schedule to be the guest on tonight’s program.)

† Having an honest debate about school food: On BeyondChron, Dana Woldow considers some of the arguments and proposals concerning school food and why an honest debate about the costs and benefits is needed. This isn’t an all-or-nothing debate, and Woldow reminds us that it’s important to take a holistic view.

† Local coverage: Many thanks to Leah Greenstein for writing what we hope will be the first of several contributions to L.A. Weekly‘s Squid Ink feature on the Time For Lunch campaign.

† What Questions Do Schoolchildren Have?: Damon Weaver got the interview many journalists only dream about: Sitting down one-on-one with President Obama, at the White House, and having the opportunity to talk about a range of issues. On Damon’s agenda: Asking the President about improving schools and school food. Damon’s food questions start at 4:28, but the 10-minute video covers a wide range of subjects, including being bullied in school, what schoolchildren can do to make the country better, and whether the President can still dunk a basketball:

Video produced and posted by KEC TV, a television news program that is produced by 5th- and 6th-grade students at the KEC/Canal Point Elementary School under the guidance of Brian Zimmerman.

† “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch”: Michael Pollan’s recent article in the New York Times Magazine looked at food from another perspective:

Today the average American spends a mere 27 minutes a day on food preparation (another four minutes cleaning up); that’s less than half the time that we spent cooking and cleaning up when Julia [Child] arrived on our television screens. It’s also less than half the time it takes to watch a single episode of “Top Chef” or “Chopped” or “The Next Food Network Star.” What this suggests is that a great many Americans are spending considerably more time watching images of cooking on television than they are cooking themselves — an increasingly archaic activity they will tell you they no longer have the time for. . . .

Consider for a moment the proposition that as a human activity, cooking is far more important — to our happiness and to our health — than its current role in our lives, not to mention its depiction on TV, might lead you to believe. Let’s see what happens when we take cooking seriously. . . .

Pollan’s article has already provoked much commentary, and some particularly interesting points are made by Michael Ruhlman, by Leslie on the Green Fork blog, and by Tom Philpott on Grist.

† Tomato Blight: News has been spreading about the tomato blight that has affected farmers and home gardeners alike. Dan Barber of Blue Hill considers how it came about, and what is means in terms of larger agricultural issues, and Slow Food USA underscores his point by noting that “a healthy food system is a diverse food system” and the benefits of “resisting cultural homogenization” are many.

† “Everything Joel Salatin Does is Illegal”: Patrick Alan Coleman talks with Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm about the history of the farm, “the tactics of ecological stewardship,” and his suggestions for making food choices.

† Speaking of choices…: New York magazine recently looked at seventeen foods that raise environmental and/or health concerns, and how to make better, lower-impact choices. Although some of the vendor recommendations are aimed at a New York readership, the guidelines are sound and the alternatives can be found in and around Los Angeles, too.

† The Food Factor: Planning magazine devotes its August/September 2009 issue to food and its role in America’s communities including “Saving Farms and Farmland,” “Where Food Planning and Health Intersect,” “When Access is the Issue,” (about underserved communities), and “Delicious in Detroit” (about using vacant urban land for food production). N.B., to access the articles online, AICP membership is not required, but registration is.

More news to come…