Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

Since joining the Novato Unified School District as Nutrition Director in 2002, Miguel has developed and implemented innovative strategies to improve school lunches by offering more nutritious, whole food choices including a fresh salad daily whilst phasing out processed foods high in sugar and fat, and removing chocolate milk. As an advocate of locally grown and organic foods, Miguel ensures as much local, organic food is used as possible and has connected many students and their families with their local farms and harvest produce through harvest of the month and gleaning programs.

John is a nationally recognized leader and innovator in sustainable food practices. Recognizing the impact of food service on the world around us, John’s consulting company is on the cutting edge in developing best-practices to benefit health, the planet and the bottom line. John and his team use careful assessment, planning, teaching and development to revolutionize food service in schools, hospitals and universities. They have worked with Jamie Oliver on the West Virginia Food Revolution and were chosen by the White House to help develop the USDA’s Chefs Move to Schools initiative.

Gary Petill is Director of Food Services at San Diego Unified School District. He joined Food Services eight years ago and has since implemented great changes in the way SDUSD schools provide meals to students. Gary came to Food Services after 23 years in the hotel trade, with a mission to promote healthier eating habits in children. He has overseen the removal of chocolate milk from the schools’ breakfast program, introduced salad bars featuring fresh local produce and committed SDUSD to eliminating all heavily processed foods from school menus over three years. He is a strong advocate of encouraging children to eat more fruit and veg.

Jeff is the ambitious former NYC restaurateur hired to revolutionize DC Public Schools food. He helps confront DC’s childhood obesity crisis by ensuring that 45,000 students have access to high-quality school meals and are empowered to make healthy choices. Jeff has implemented two pilot meal programs to drastically improve food quality and taste, has ensured that all vendors source 20 per cent of their ingredients locally, has cut processed foods from the menu and has established some of the highest nutritional standards in the country. By June, DCPS will have served 2 million more meals than last year, saving $1 million.

Tracie immediately used her role as Nutrition Director for Compton Unified School District to eliminate strawberry milk, an initiative that benefitted 39,000 kids. This year, she removed chocolate milk from breakfast, and next year plans to remove it from lunch. The kids are not drinking less milk, instead, purchase is up due to the fact that it is served ice cold. Tracie has also piloted SNS F.R.E.S.H (School Nutrition Service Farm Raised Especially for Student Health). Working with her produce provider and the local farmers' market, she currently serves local scratch food in each of the 39 schools in Compton Unified.

Paul is chef and owner of Country House Restaurant, a family-run business that operates school food programs throughout Chicago. Last year, he partnered with Holy Trinity to develop an innovative and thriving school meal program that provides freshly prepared nutritious meals. Paul has transformed the system, everything is made from scratch on site, with a focus on high-quality ingredients - fresh meats, locally grown produce, and wholegrain baked goods and pasta. All the chips, French fries, sodas, and prepackaged foods have been eliminated from the meal program and both revenue and participation rates have risen.

As a chef, Tim has prioritized real food in New Haven Public Schools, CT. Tim leveraged the purchasing power of 20,000 student meals a day. His produce bid attracted a large vendor, specializing in local farms, with competitive prices. As a result, 140,000 pounds of produce is now locally sourced. Since the 09/10 school year, chicken nuggets, mozzarella sticks, and fish patties are off the menu. Roasted "on the bone chicken" is a menu staple, served with fresh vegetables and spice-based sauces. New Haven school lunch is in alignment with the Wellness Committee's deep concern for childhood obesity and is loved by the kids.

Rodney - the "salad bar man" - champions farm-fresh food and social justice for the Riverside Unified School District. While working in Santa Monica-Malibu (CA), Rodney partnered with motivated parents to create a Farmers Market Salad Bar and one of America's first Farm to School programs. In 2002, Rodney moved to Riverside, a large urban district, facing different challenges and with fewer resources. Rodney holds taste tests, hosts outdoor barbecues, and targets teachers as customers; he isn't a "food purist” but passionately avoids canned fruits and vegetables. Rodney treats school food as a business with a social cause and has slashed costs, boosted participation, and done right by the kids of Riverside.

RC Curva has been working since 2001 to bring freshly prepared and made-from-scratch dishes to the lunch plates of the students in the Davis Joint Unified School District, Ca. Currently, 49 per cent of the produce purchased comes from farms within a 300-mile radius of the city. Every school has a seasonal salad bar and hot entrée items, such as Thai lemon chicken, seasonal vegetables and organic rice. Emphasizing professional development, RC has worked with Davis Farm to School for three years running to organize classes from award-winning cookbook authors in flavor profiles, ethnic diversity, and cooking with fresh seasonal vegetables.