Potpourri: School Food News Roundup

The New York Times likes Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution" show. So does nutritionist Marion Nestle.

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A bill re-authorizing the Child Nutrition Act cleared the U.S. Senate's agriculture, including a 6-cent raise in the federal reimbursement for school meals (not much at all), greater access to the federal program for students and authorization for the secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture to regulate all foods served in schools, meaning vending machines and a la carte items as well as the subsidized lunch line.

Here's a summary presented by USA Today.

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The Healthy School Campaign published a concise explanation and helpful graphic explaining how the increase in school meal funding proposed by the Senate agriculture committee does not even measure up to the annual cost of living increases the program receives.

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The Washington Post's Jane Black spent some time with the new director of food services for D.C. Public Schools, Jeffrey Mills, and filed this profile, along with a general overview of some of the issues facing the city's school cafeterias.

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The Civil Eats blog published short essays from a variety of school food authorities explaining what they think needs to be done to improve cafeteria food. Advice ranges from involving local farmers more, to adding up to $1 a day for every child in the federal meals program.

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Debate swirled around a study from Princeton University claiming that rats fed a diet heavy with high-fructose corn syrup gained more weight than those with access to regular sugar.

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A teacher from the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, California, takes the method to children in Thailand. Great photos.