Happy Holidays!

No School Lunch until Jan. 2 -- we'll see you then!

What's for Lunch - Fri., 12/21

Chicken Bites, Sweet Potato Puffs and Roll as served in our school

Cup of Soup
All White Meat Chicken “Bites”
Whole Grain Roll
Sweet Potato Puffs
Fresh Fruit Salad

No Salad Bar

We have a lot of good lunches in our school but this is not one of them.

The chicken is a Tyson "fully cooked chicken breast nugget fritter with rib meat" with 10g of fat and 420mg of sodium.  The ingredients are: Boneless, skinless chicken breast nuggets with rib meat, water, modified food starch, sodium phosphates, salt. PREDUSTED WITH: Enriched wheat flour (enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), wheat gluten, salt. BATTERED WITH: Water, enriched bleached wheat flour (enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), modified corn starch, salt, dextrose, spices, garlic powder, xanthan gum, oleoresin paprika and annatto. BREADED WITH: Enriched wheat flour (enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), salt, spices, garlic powder, extractives of paprika, natural flavors (spice extractives). Breading set in vegetable oil.

And then we have The Return of the Tater Tot - a product we thought we had sent packing years ago.   This processed potato product comes from McCain's - a product called Harvest Splendor Bites.  The ingredients would then be: Sweet Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (Contains One Or More Of The Following Oils: Canola, Soybean, Cottonseed, Sunflower, Corn). Contains 2% or less of Corn Starch - Modified, Dehydrated Potatoes, Dextrin, Maltodextrin, Molasses, Salt, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate Added To Maintain Natural Color, Sugar, Tapioca Starch - Modified, Xanthan Gum.  We do bake them but I don't know yet if they are pre-cooked (fried?) before being frozen and shipped to us.

We serve a variety of soups. Please note that the broccoli and cheese soup at least does contain chicken stock and rendered chicken fat.  The lentil soup is vegetarian. It looks like we may also have served a turkey soup and a roasted vegetable soup.  I suspect today will be broccoli and cheese - which is not vegetarian. The ingredients are: Chicken Stock (Water, Chicken Base [Chicken, Salt, Rendered Chicken Fat, Dextrose, Sugar, Natural Flavoring, Roast Chicken Flavor (Rendered Chicken Fat, Flavor, Safflower Oil), Chicken Broth, Turmeric]), Broccoli, Light Cream, Water, Cheddar Cheese (Pasteurized Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzymes, Annato, Powdered Cellulose [To Prevent Caking]), Contains 2% or less of: Butter (Cream, Salt), Modified Food Starch, Wheat Flour, Carrots, Hot Pepper Sauce (Distilled Vinegar, Red Pepper, Salt) and Spice.  Plus - 850 mg of sodium and 19g of fat -- 11g of which are saturated.

Plus, giant whole grain-ish roll and fresh fruit.

What's for Lunch - Thurs., 12/20

BETTER-THAN-A-PIZZERIA (Order Entree #1)
Thin Crust Pizza with Homemade Sauce, Fresh Mozzarella & Basil
OR
Cup of Soup with 1/2 Pizza Slice (Order Entree #2)
Caesar Salad
More Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Pears in Fruit Juice

The pizza sauce (from Red Pack) ingredients are: Tomato concentrate (water, tomato paste), salt, citric acid, basil.

For the crust, the ingredients are: enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, barley malt, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, yeast, soybean oil,, dextrose, salt, calcium propionate, fumaric acid, dough conditioner (wheat flour, salt, soybean oil, l-gyssteine, ascorbic acid, enzyme) potassium sorbate.

We serve a variety of soups. Please note that the broccoli and cheese soup at least does contain chicken stock and rendered chicken fat.  The lentil soup is vegetarian. It looks like we may also have served a turkey soup and a roasted vegetable soup.  I suspect today will be broccoli and cheese - which is not vegetarian. The ingredients are: Chicken Stock (Water, Chicken Base [Chicken, Salt, Rendered Chicken Fat, Dextrose, Sugar, Natural Flavoring, Roast Chicken Flavor (Rendered Chicken Fat, Flavor, Safflower Oil), Chicken Broth, Turmeric]), Broccoli, Light Cream, Water, Cheddar Cheese (Pasteurized Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzymes, Annato, Powdered Cellulose [To Prevent Caking]), Contains 2% or less of: Butter (Cream, Salt), Modified Food Starch, Wheat Flour, Carrots, Hot Pepper Sauce (Distilled Vinegar, Red Pepper, Salt) and Spice.  Plus - 850 mg of sodium and 19g of fat -- 11g of which are saturated.

Canned pears.

What's for Lunch - Wed., 12/19

Whole Wheat French Toast (Order Entree #1)
Applegate® Turkey Bacon
OR
Scrambled Egg & Cheese Wrap (Order Entree #2)
Herb-Roasted, Long Island Potatoes
Strawberry-Grape Cup

Thanks in part to the new nutritional requirements for school lunch involving whole grains our challah french toast is now whole wheat french toast - a terrific improvement and one the nutrition committee has been advocating for. The question this menu leaves unanswered is: Will the kids still be served a syrup whose first and main ingredient is high fructose corn syrup?  I know the food service consultant has been trying to find an affordable maple syrup instead.

Ingredients for the bread in the french toast: We use Nature's Own Whole Wheat Bread for the french toast . The ingredients are: STONE GROUND WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, WATER, BROWN SUGAR, YEAST, WHEAT GLUTEN, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: SALT, VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN OIL OR CANOLA OIL), DOUGH, CONDITIONERS (SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, CALCIUM, STEAROYL-2-LACTYLATE, MONOGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM IODATE, ETHOXYLATED MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM PEROXIDE, DATEM), CULTURED WHEAT FLOUR, VINEGAR, CALCIUM SULFATE, MONOCALCIUM, PHOSPHATE, YEAST FOOD (AMMONIUM SULFATE), SOY LECITHIN. Eggs and milk are used as well but they are not organic. 
 
The turkey bacon is by Applegate.  Here are the ingredients: Turkey (Turkey Used Never Administered Antibiotics, Growth Promotants or Animal By-products), Water, Sea Salt, Maple Sugar, Celery Juice, Onion Powder, Spices, Lactic Acid Starter Culture (not From Milk.)  They promote it as nitrate-free but this NYT article indicates otherwise - and cites the company saying their products have the same level (naturally) of cancer-causing nitrates as conventional brands. Read more about nitrates here.

The potatoes are local, and we make this dish ourselves.

I do not believe the wrap used for the egg and cheese is whole grain. 

The strawberries and grapes are fresh but unfortunately these fruits are some of the worst in terms of pesticide residue - but a $3 lunch cannot include organic fruits and vegetables.

What's for Lunch - Tues., 12/18

Previous Year's Chicken Burrito - Not Currently Served with Chips

BURRITO (Order Entree #1)
Brown Rice, Black Beans & Southwest-Style Chicken
Rolled in Whole Wheat Tortilla
w/Salsa/Lettuce/Cheese
OR
Rice & Black Bean Taco Tub (Order Entree #2)
Lettuce/Cheese/Salsa
Celery Sticks ~ Fresh Apple

The brown rice is a whole grain but as previously discussed cannot be cooked in a way that minimizes the arsenic content.

The black beans are canned and the ingredients are "BLACK BEANS, WATER, SALT, AND CALCIUM CHLORIDE" with 140mg of sodium.

 The southwest-style chicken is a processed USDA commodity food from Tyson and described as "fully cooked boneless skinless chicken dark meat chicken fajita strips -smoke flavor added." Here are the ingredients: "Chicken dark meat, water, seasoning [salt, spices, dehydrated garlic, dehydrated onion, sugar, chili powder (chili pepper, cumin, oregano, salt, garlic powder), lemon juice powder (corn syrup solids, lemon juice, lemon oil), modified corn starch, natural mesquite smoke flavor (maltodextrin, natural smoke flavor), natural flavor (from partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil)], modified food starch and sodium phosphates."  The "partially hydrogenated" oil is a source of trans fat.  Chicken has 7g of fat (2 of which are saturated) and 490 mg of sodium.

I do not have the details on the whole wheat tortilla.


Cheese is Monterrey Jack and the Green Mountain salsa is organic.

Read more about farm animals raised by industrial giants like Tyson,  antibiotics and hormones. 


The "taco tubs" come from Smokewood Foods. The ingredients are described just as "enriched masa flour" and they look like a big rectangular corn chip. They have 5g of fat and no sodium. So you can skip the chicken and go with the tub.

Fresh celery and apple.

What's for Lunch - Mon., 12/17

PASTA MONDAY!
Whole Wheat Rotini w/ Meatballs (Order Entree #1)
OR
Whole Wheat Rotini w/ Mozzarella & Broccoli (Order Entree #2)
Baby Carrots with Dip
Pineapple In Juice

This is a whole grain rotini by Zerega.  The sauce is a Red Pack vitamin enhanced tomato sauce. The sodium at 140mg is much lower than we previously used.  Here are the ingredients: Tomato Concentrate (Water, Tomato Paste), Sugar, Soybean Oil, Potassium Chloride, Onion Powder, Spices, Salt, Citric Acid, Garlic Powder, Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), Black Pepper, Vitamin E (DL-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate), Natural Flavor, Vitamin A (Retinol Palmitate)

The meatballs are are processed, cooked and frozen by Tyson.  Ingredients are: Ground beef (not more than 20% fat), water, bread crumbs (bleached wheat flour, salt, yeast, dextrose, and soybean oil), seasoning (salt, dehydrated onion, dehydrated celery, garlic powder, spices, soybean oil), tomato puree (tomatoes and citric acid), grated parmesan cheese [(cultured part-skim milk, salt and enzymes), cellulose powder, potassium sorbate], grated romano cheese made from cow's milk [(cultured pasteurized part-skim milk, salt and enzymes), cellulose powder, potassium sorbate].   They have 9g of fat (3 are saturated) and 450 mg of sodium.

So, go with the fresh broccoli and the mozzarella (part skim.)

Carrots are domestic and served with a full fat organic ranch dressing.

Pineapple is packed in juice and is a product of Thailand. 

Weekend Reading -- and Local Fun

Reading

It happened. The USDA has caved and is relaxing the IOM recommendations for school lunch in response to lobbying by big food. Read more here and here. 

Childhood obesity rates have finally started to drop a little here and there.

Still need to send gifts to far-flung relatives? I like this list on Take Part of mail order food gifts you can feel at least less bad about about shipping.

Consider some healthier latkes recipes over at the NYT for the last night of Chanukah. 

Newsday did a nice round-up of where you can still get fresh, local produce here on Long Island. 

The Wall Street Journal had a great article on heirloom grains if you're looking for something new to try.

Fun

Bailey Arboretum is hosting a family nature adventure Sunday at 1pm  called "Nature Art" - kids make sculptures from things found in the woods.

What's for Lunch - Fri., 12/14

FAJITA FRIDAY
Seasoned Chicken Strips (Order Entree #1)
Fluffy Rice & Black Beans
Lettuce - Cheese - Salsa
OR
Cup of Soup  (Order Entree #2)
w/1/2 Quesadilla
Fresh & Crisp, Local Broccoli
(Sauteed w/Garlic & Oil)
Fresh Apple

The brown rice is a whole grain but as previously discussed cannot be cooked in a way that minimizes the arsenic content. The black beans are canned and the ingredients are "BLACK BEANS, WATER, SALT, AND CALCIUM CHLORIDE" with 140mg of sodium.

The  chicken is a processed USDA commodity food from Tyson and described as "fully cooked boneless skinless chicken dark meat chicken fajita strips -smoke flavor added." Here are the ingredients: "Chicken dark meat, water, seasoning [salt, spices, dehydrated garlic, dehydrated onion, sugar, chili powder (chili pepper, cumin, oregano, salt, garlic powder), lemon juice powder (corn syrup solids, lemon juice, lemon oil), modified corn starch, natural mesquite smoke flavor (maltodextrin, natural smoke flavor), natural flavor (from partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil)], modified food starch and sodium phosphates."  The "partially hydrogenated" oil is a source of trans fat.  Chicken has 7g of fat (2 of which are saturated) and 490 mg of sodium.

 We serve a variety of soups. Please note that the broccoli and cheese soup at least does contain chicken stock and rendered chicken fat.  The lentil soup is vegetarian. It looks like we may also have served a turkey soup, a roasted vegetable soup and a vegetable quinoa chili.  I don't know which soup they are offering today - but I suspect it is the vegetable quinoa chili.

The tortillas are from Tyson and contain:  Bleached Enriched Wheat Flour (Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Water, Soybean Oil, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Contains one or more of the following: Cottonseed Oil, Soybean Oil), Mono- and Diglycerides, Contains 2% or less of the following: Salt, Baking Powder (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Corn Starch, Monocalcium Phosphate), Fumaric Acid, Sodium Bicarbonate, Dough Conditioner (Wheat Flour, Calcium Sulfate, Sorbic Acid), Preservative (Sodium Propionate and Potassium Sorbate).  Sodium is 380mg. 5g of fat (1 of which is saturated).

The broccoli is fresh - but I still think it comes from California. Fresh apple - Washington State.

What's for Lunch - Thurs., 12/13

WHOLE WHEAT PIZZA BAGEL
Homemade Pizza Sauce with Fresh Mozzarella & Basil
Meatball Topping Available
Celery Sticks with Dip
More Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Fresh Melon

The bagel pizza is at least partially whole grain. The sauce is a Red Pack vitamin enhanced tomato sauce.  Here are the ingredients: Tomato Concentrate (Water, Tomato Paste), Sugar, Soybean Oil, Potassium Chloride, Onion Powder, Salt, Citric Acid, Spice, Garlic Powder, Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), Black Pepper, Vitamin E (DL-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate), Natural Flavor, Vitamin A (Retinol Palmitate).

The meatballs are processed, cooked and frozen by Tyson from commodity beef and although we've improved the beef in our hamburgers  the same is true for the meatballs. Ingredients are: Ground beef (not more than 20% fat), water, bread crumbs (bleached wheat flour, salt, yeast, dextrose, and soybean oil), seasoning (salt, dehydrated onion, dehydrated celery, garlic powder, spices, soybean oil), tomato puree (tomatoes and citric acid), grated parmesan cheese [(cultured part-skim milk, salt and enzymes), cellulose powder, potassium sorbate], grated romano cheese made from cow's milk [(cultured pasteurized part-skim milk, salt and enzymes), cellulose powder, potassium sorbate].   They have 9g of fat (3 are saturated) and 450 mg of sodium.

Fresh celery and melon plus additional veggies on the salad bar.

Recent Photo of Salad Bar Veggies at Sea Cliff

What's for Lunch - Wed., 12/12

LEMON CHICKEN (Order Entree #1)
Fresh Chicken Breast with Hint-of-Lemon
Brown Rice Pilaf
OR
Cup of Soup (Order Entree #2)
w/Smoked Turkey Wrap
Long Island Roasted Potatoes
Orange Rounds

The chicken is a frozen USDA commodity via Tyson. We recently talked with the food service department about new advice from Consumer Reports that rice be rinsed multiple times and cooked in excess water to remove potentially high levels of arsenic. Unfortunately, our kitchens cannot handle this kind of preparation -- but you should at home.

Or -- you can get soup with a trukey wrap. The turkey is Boarshead.   The tortillas are from Tyson and contain:  Bleached Enriched Wheat Flour (Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Water, Soybean Oil, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (Contains one or more of the following: Cottonseed Oil, Soybean Oil), Mono- and Diglycerides, Contains 2% or less of the following: Salt, Baking Powder (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Corn Starch, Monocalcium Phosphate), Fumaric Acid, Sodium Bicarbonate, Dough Conditioner (Wheat Flour, Calcium Sulfate, Sorbic Acid), Preservative (Sodium Propionate and Potassium Sorbate).  Sodium is 380mg. 5g of fat (1 of which is saturated).

We serve a variety of soups. Please note that the broccoli and cheese soup at least does contain chicken stock and rendered chicken fat.  The lentil soup is vegetarian. It looks like we may also have served a turkey soup, a roasted vegetable soup and a vegetable quinoa chili.  I don't know which soup they are offering today - but I suspect it is the vegetable quinoa chili

Plus potatoes and fresh oranges.

What's for Lunch - Tues., 12/11

Cup of Soup
APPLEGATE HOTDOG
Whole Wheat Bun
Sweet Corn Cobbettes
Strawberry-Yogurt Smoothie

The hot dogs are from Applegate Farms - so they are far better than many hot dogs but are hot dogs nonetheless. The ingredients are just: beef, water, sea salt, less than 2% of the following: celery juice, sodium lactate (from beets), lactic acid starter culture (not from milk), onion powder, spices, garlic powder, paprika. They have 6g of fat(2.5g saturated) and 380 mg of sodium. They are dairy-, casein- and gluten-free. They promote it as nitrate-free but this NYT article indicates the nitrate issue is tricky - and cites the company saying their bacon has the same level (naturally) of cancer-causing nitrates as conventional brands.  You may also not want your kids growing up thinking hot dogs are a good lunch given the potential link between processed meats and cancer. The bun is whole wheat.

Corn is small, frozen commodity cobs.

The smoothie  will be made with plain yogurt to which we add  honey plus 1% milk and strawberries. The food service department says the strawberries are fresh -- we previously used frozen and have asked about the country of origin. Our fresh strawberries are from California.

Action Alert: Farm Bill

From the Environmental Working Group:

The fiscal cliff is getting wall-to-wall coverage, but there is one side of the story you may not know.

Right now, Big Agriculture's lobbyists - with help from compliant politicians - are trying to get large government handouts for corporate mega-farms.

We were afraid the Ag lobby would make this move, and now it's for real. We have to stop it - before it becomes part of the fiscal cliff bill.

For weeks, advocates for corporate mega-farms have been covertly trying to jam a $1 trillion farm bill into legislation designed to avert America's fiscal crisis.

Why are they doing this? They don't want to give House reformers a chance to cut subsidies to the largest and most profitable farm businesses - the best way to relieve some of the budget pressure that threatens support for local and organic farming, conservation and anti-hunger aid.

EWG is leading the fight against this travesty, which would continue to pour money into industrial commodity farms that are already seeing record profits.

Time is running out. Congress must hear from you. Tell Congressional leaders to throw out this cynical ploy by the subsidy lobby to subvert reform - and democracy.

Click here to tell Congressional leadership to say "NO!" to the secret farm bill. There are only a few days to turn the tide, and we need your rapid response!

Politicians writing the fiscal cliff bill have an important job to do: balance the federal budget.

But the biggest agribusiness operations are trying to hijack the process in order to grab new government handouts - on top of their record profits!

These new giveaways would come at the expense of critical healthy food programs, especially those aimed at kids. Dollars wasted on bloated subsidy payments will not be available to grow more organic food and protect vital nutrition programs for unemployed and low-income Americans.

Everyone who eats has a stake in the outcome. If you want healthy food for your family at reasonable prices, we need you to step up right this minute.

Thankfully, it's not a done deal yet - not for another few days. Our political leaders need to hear from you that you want them to reject big new handouts for Big Ag once and for all. This is no time to hesitate; take action today.

Click here to tell Congressional leadership to say "NO!" to the secret farm bill. There are only a few days to turn the tide, and we need your rapid response!

Thank you for taking action today. There isn't a moment to lose.

Sincerely,
Ken Cook
President, Environmental Working Group

What's for Lunch - Mon., 12/10

Cup of Soup
White Meat Chicken Tenders
Whole Grain Roll
Fresh, Long Island-Grown Cauliflower with Oil & Garlic
Long Island Roasted Potatoes
More Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Cinnamon Applesaauce



Tenders -- in other words, nuggets. The chicken is from Tyson. The ingredients are: Chicken breast tenderloins, water, modified food starch, sodium phosphates, salt. PREDUSTED WITH: Enriched wheat flour (enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), wheat gluten, salt. BATTERED WITH: Water, enriched bleached wheat flour (enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), modified corn starch, salt, dextrose, spices, garlic powder, xanthan gum, oleoresin paprika and annatto. BREADED WITH: Enriched wheat flour (enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), salt, spices, garlic powder, extractives of paprika, natural flavors (spice extractives). Breading set in vegetable oil.  The serving size of two pieces - which is what elementary students get - has 14g of fat and 580mg of sodium.

Whole grain roll - which may be partial vs fully whole grain.  Fresh cauliflower and potatoes.

Weekend Reading - and Local Fun

Reading

You can still sign up for the Garden of Eve's CSA winter farm shares. Click here.

If you are still interested in NYC's giant soda ban, read this nice round up of the evidence that sugary drinks are a problem and that education alone won't solve it.

We STILL need a Farm Bill. Read more and sign the petition.

The Institute of Medicine held a workshop and published a summary on the health and environmental costs of food.

What's in pork? Consumer Reports finds antibiotics and drug resistant strains of Yersinia in most of it.

Budget cuts have just eliminated 80% of testing for pathogens in our produce. 

Action

Ask the President to do more to regulate the marketing of junk food to kids. Click here.

Gifts

Food, Inc. and Take Part present 9 easy, homemade holiday food gifts.

Fun

Our school's Holiday Craft Fair is this Saturday. Let the kids make gifts and support our school.

Coe Hall at the Planting Fields hosts its annual holiday weekend with fun for the kids.


Film

From the Hunington Cinema Arts Theatre:

Sunday, December 9 at 2 pm only

Seeds of Death: Unveiling the Lies of GMOs

In Person: GARY NULL

Health Guru & Filmmaker

  

Gary Null PhD exposes the public health dangers of genetically modified foods in this feature-length documentary featuring leading scientists, physicians, professors, attorneys and activists. You'll see the deep corruption surrounding GMO's and the nefarious deception that is being perpetuated against the world. Gary Null is a talk show radio host, author, filmmaker, nutritionist, educator, and human rights activist. He is a published author of over 60 books on health and nutrition topics as well as numerous articles published in leading magazines. Gary will appear for discussion and reception following the screening. 

A free DVD of the film will be given to every attendee.

What's for Lunch - Fri., 12/7

MACARONI & CHEESE
Barilla Plus Pasta with Wisconsin Cheddar
Cucumber Rounds
More Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Fresh Cantaloupe

The noodles we're using for the Mac n cheese are Barilla Plus. The ingredients are: Semolina, Grain and Legume Flour, Blend (Lentils, Chickpeas, Egg Whites, Spelt, Barley, Flaxseed, Oat Fiber, Oats), Durum Flour, Niacin, Iron (Ferrous Sulfate), Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid. The sauce is made from Wisconsin Cheddar.

Fresh cucumbers and other vegetables from the salad bar plus cantaloupe.

Action Alert - Watch The Real Bears

From the Center for Science in the Public Interest:

I’m excited to tell you that nearly 2 million people have watched what USA Today called “the video that Coca-Cola doesn’t want you to see”:  The Real Bears. 

Will you help us get our 2 millionth view on YouTube?

We teamed up with Grammy-award winning singer-songwriter Jason Mraz and legendary ad man Alex Bogusky to produce this animated short film so we could get people to reconsider their consumption of soda and other sugary drinks and to encourage people to think critically about the soda industry’s manipulative marketing messages.

Here’s how Jason Mraz put it:  “I have had people close to me devastated by the effects of over-consuming sugar and soda on a daily basis over many years. I hope The Real Bears gets people to think about what they drink and make a change for the better.”

“Depressing, touching, effective … anti-soda marketing begins to catch up,” is how Mark Bittman of The New York Times described the film.  To be sure, the film has its dark moments.  But the movie’s stirring ending reminds all of us that we have the power to take back our health and our happiness.

Help spread the word.  Please “like” and “share” The Real Bears on Facebook—and Tweet about it using the #therealbears hashtag.

We here at the Center for Science in the Public Interest don’t have big soda’s advertising budget.  But we do have the truth. 

No School - Thurs., 12/6

Thursday is a conference day - no school, no lunch!

What's for Lunch - Wed., 12/5

Our grilled cheese is a nice lunch -- if you take the fresh fruits and vegetables we offer, too

GRILLED CHEESE 2 WAYS!
Whole Wheat Grilled Cheese (Order Entree #1)
OR
Cup of Soup with 1/2 Grilled Cheese (Order Entree #2)
Carrot Crunchers w/Dip
More Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Fresh Pear

The grilled cheese sandwich is made with Cabot cheddar on whole wheat bread.  We use Nature's Own Whole Wheat Bread for these. The ingredients are: STONE GROUND WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR, WATER, BROWN SUGAR, YEAST, WHEAT GLUTEN, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: SALT, VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN OIL OR CANOLA OIL), DOUGH, CONDITIONERS (SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, CALCIUM, STEAROYL-2-LACTYLATE, MONOGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM IODATE, ETHOXYLATED MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM PEROXIDE, DATEM), CULTURED WHEAT FLOUR, VINEGAR, CALCIUM SULFATE, MONOCALCIUM, PHOSPHATE, YEAST FOOD (AMMONIUM SULFATE), SOY LECITHIN.

We serve a variety of soups. Please note that the broccoli and cheese soup at least does contain chicken stock and rendered chicken fat.  The lentil soup is vegetarian. It looks like we may also have served a turkey soup and a roasted vegetable soupd.  I don't know which soup they are offering today. 

Fresh carrots with organic full fat ranch dressing. Carrots are conventional (not organic). Fresh, seasonal pear.

Action Alert

Remember this post? Now there's something we can do about it.

From the Center for Science in the Public Interest:

This year, the Walt Disney Company announced it will no longer accept advertisements for junk food on its child-directed television, radio, and online sites.  Disney also updated its nutrition standards for foods that can be advertised to children.

The food and beverage industry spends $2 billion per year advertising food to children.  Kids aged 2-11 years old see an average of 13 food ads a day, mainly promoting unhealthy foods.  This contributes to our country’s obesity epidemic; one in every three children is overweight or obese.
 
Please urge Nickelodeon to follow Disney’s lead. Write to Nickelodeon and urge it to do right by our kids and stop advertising unhealthy food to them.  Thank you.

Sincerely,

Margo G. Wootan, D.Sc.
Director, Nutrition Policy
Center for Science in the Public Interest

What's for Lunch - Tues., 12/4

FROM THE RANCH TO YOU...
LOCAL BEEF BOLOGNESE

Whole Grain Penne Pasta  (order Entree #1)
with Meat Sauce
OR
Whole Grain Penne Marinara (order Entree #2)
Sauteed Zucchini w/Garlic
More Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Orange Wedges

This is a whole grain pasta. The sauce is a Red Pack vitamin enhanced tomato sauce. The sodium at 140mg is much lower than we previously used.  Here are the ingredients: Tomato Concentrate (Water, Tomato Paste), Sugar, Soybean Oil, Potassium Chloride, Onion Powder, Salt, Citric Acid, Spice, Garlic Powder, Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), Black Pepper, Vitamin E (DL-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate), Natural Flavor, Vitamin A (Retinol Palmitate).

If you go with the bolognese, it is made with hormone and antibiotic-free beef from an upstate NY ranch. It is not organic but it is a huge improvement over last year's USDA commodity beef-like stuff.

Fresh zucchini we saute with garlic. Fresh oranges and other sides from the salad bar.

What's for Lunch - Mon., 12/3

CHICKEN PARMIGIANA (Order Entree #1)
Whole Grain Roll
OR
Cup of Soup (Order Entree #2)
1/2 Chicken Caesar Wrap
Sweet Corn
More Salad Bar Veggie Sides
Fresh Grapes

For the chicken, the sauce is a Red Pack vitamin enhanced tomato sauce. The sodium at 140mg is much lower than we previously used.  Here are the ingredients: Tomato Concentrate (Water, Tomato Paste), Sugar, Soybean Oil, Potassium Chloride, Onion Powder, Salt, Citric Acid, Spice, Garlic Powder, Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), Black Pepper, Vitamin E (DL-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate), Natural Flavor, Vitamin A (Retinol Palmitate).

The chicken itself is a pre-cooked breaded Tyson chicken product. The ingredients are: Boneless, skinless chicken breast filets with rib meat, water, modified food starch, sodium phosphates, salt. PREDUSTED WITH: Enriched wheat flour (enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), wheat gluten, salt. BATTERED WITH: Water, enriched bleached wheat flour (enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), modified corn starch, salt, dextrose, spices, garlic powder, xanthan gum, oleoresin paprika and annatto. BREADED WITH: Enriched wheat flour (enriched with niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), salt, spices, garlic powder, extractives of paprika, natural flavors (spice extractives). Breading set in vegetable oil.  Their serving size has 10g of fat (2 of which are saturated) and 620 mg of sodium.


The roll is at least partially whole grain.

I'm not sure what the soup is - except that the menu no longer says 'vegetarian'. 

The chicken caesar wrap is also made with Tyson chicken and the wrap is not whole grain.

The corn is canned and has added salt - 200mg per serving and the cans do contain BPA.

The grapes are fresh but conventional (not organic) and grapes are known to have high levels of residual pesticides. 

Action Alert: Soda Tax and the Fiscal Cliff

From the Center for Science in the Public Interest:

A penny-per-can tax on soda and other sugary drinks would raise over $1 billion a year.

A penny-per-ounce tax on those drinks would raise about $16 billion a year.

Raising long-frozen excise taxes on alcohol could raise about $14 billion a year.

Over 10 years, such taxes could raise between $200 billion and $300 billion, taking a big bite out of the federal deficit, while simultaneously reducing public health problems caused by those products.

So why aren’t our elected officials even talking about it?

Please take action today to urge your two Senators and your Representative in Congress to support new taxes on sugary drinks and hikes in alcohol taxes to help avoid pushing the country off the “fiscal cliff” at year’s end.  Soda and other sugary drinks are fueling an epidemic of expensive-to-treat health problems, including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.   Alcohol abuse contributes to liver disease, cancers, and injuries that cost taxpayers billions.

The White House and Congress are weighing difficult choices, such as raising income taxes on middle-class families or cutting important social programs.  Shouldn’t sugary drink and alcohol taxes at least be part of the conversation?

Please contact Congress today.

Sincerely,

Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D.
Executive Director


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