Amid all our arguments about public school, there’s one key truth: Kids need lunch. And Sausalito Marin City School District is taking it one step further, by making all meals served organic and non-GMO, fresh, local, and seasonal. But is this a good idea, or a boondoggle wasting money better spent elsewhere in the school’s budget?
One thing that’s a bit surprising is that it might not be any more expensive than a standard school lunch. Each school is assigned a chef, paid for by donations, and the meals cost $1.70 to $2.10, which is roughly in line with school lunch program costs around the country. Of course, that may go up if chefs can’t keep receiving those donations.
So, the costs are in line, sure. And of course, on a food level, nobody’s going to complain about kids eating well-cooked produce. But it goes beyond that. There’s a lesson plan attached to the food, explaining why the food is “better,” and the fact of the matter is, it’s not.
You’ve likely heard by now that there’s no nutritional difference between organic foods and conventional ones, and there’s little evidence “organic” is anything other than a marketing term. Worse, it’s a marketing term with poor oversight that’s easily fooled. Similarly, if you want food that’s more sustainable and less prone to being sprayed with pesticides, GMOs are a good thing. There’s never been any credible scientific evidence that GMOs are dangerous to humans, and actual scientists advocate a balanced, thoughtful approach.
You’d think there would be nothing wrong with fresh, seasonal, or local, but in the case of local, it depends on how the program intends to implement it. Local food can actually wreck the environment if the land isn’t used effectively and only used to grow local plants. Similarly, seasonal food depends on the season; a bad one means a poor harvest, which can be a serious food security problem. That’s not necessarily as much of a problem these days, but it’s something worth mentioning.
Don’t worry, we’re not going to bag on fresh lettuce. And it is admirable that somebody wants to teach children about our food system. By the same token, though, the food system is a lot more complex and the terms surrounding it far more complicated than, we suspect, the district is prepared to grasp. In other words, they should keep the food if the kids like it and it fits in the budget… but make sure the class attached is telling the whole story.
What do you think? Do you eat organic and non-GMO or are those just marketing buzzwords?
