New School Lunch

Cory Schreiber serves as the Farm-to-School program manager for the Oregon Department of Agriculture. He was previously revered as head chef at Wildwood Restaurant in Portland, known for his "cooking from the source" mantra reflected in frequently changing menus focused on regional cuisine prepared with fresh and organic ingredients.

His current mission is to find a way to feed Oregon students in public schools locally grown, "lightly processed" foods. Schreiber, profiled in the April issue of Portland Monthly, says that schools don't have to change their menus to meet the palates of the "Panda Express generation" they just have to put some care into sourcing and ease back in to on-premise preparation of meals. "I remember when the bread was being baked, the chili was being made. Now, nobody even knows how to use a knife."

cafeteria lunch

Wildwood Restaurant dish


Would improving the food in school cafeterias provide benefits beyond meeting the nutritional needs of youth? Would there be a discernable change in the number of classroom disruptions due to behavioral issues? Would there be an impact to childhood obesity rates?

cafeteria lunch photo found on flickr