Like so many changes in our and past lifetimes, everything has its opponents. Sure, it’s easy to explain that this isn’t a radical change to make children eat new and experimental things, but to a culture of healthier, oftentimes cheaper, and more sustainable versions of century old American classics.

It’s also not too hard to make the case for fresh, energy rich, foods. No mother, no father, no teacher, and few others want to see our kids wither away.

Where it gets problematic, however, is to explain where all this would come from. Current school food providers have us one up on things. Supply channels, HACCP plans, large production and fulfillment capacities. Local farmers have bad days. ConAgra doesn’t. Local farmers’ trucks break down, ConAgra’s trucks come in small batches of six to ten per area, one breaking down just means another picks up a little slack.

There are solutions, however.

Army food has come a long way in the last 10 years. It's time we peruse the knowledge these great men and women amassed about feeding 100s of hungry souls healthy meals, and take it into our schools.

Take the Department of Defense’s “DoD Fresh” program. Currently twelve states, including Texas, have signed agreements with the DoD’s food service program. Originally, DoD Fresh purchased and used local produce, dairy, and fruits in military and federal institutions. Texas and others expanded this agreement to allow local school districts to use the DoD’s purchasing and shipping network, essentially providing our students with the same fresh, organic, and local (as well as HACCP managed) produce we serve our military.

Growers are paid by DoD which invoices the school districts, keeping an open and transparent record of purchases and expenditures. This program is highly funded, available now, and all it would take to replace French fries with green beans, mashed potatoes (not from a can, made from fresh potatoes), corn, and other vegetables, is enrollment into the program. All the legal work has been done in 1994.

Alternatively, most 4-H groups  are member to a school food resources panel which includes the dissemination lists of local growers, seasonality charts, menu suggestions, nutrition charts, HACCP training and more. In brief, calling the local 4-H allows schools to select growers with wide-reaching fulfillment and backup strategies.

The problem in all this isn’t money, food safety, or nutritional values. It is, plain and simple, convenience. Instead of juggling six or more local farmers, spending time inspecting products, time preparing and cooking, and finally training staff, pre-packaged food makes service easy. And, since everything is evaluated and given the nod between the vendor and the USDA, no real responsibility for anything lies with the school.

Less work makes school cooks and lunch ladies happy, no responsibilities makes lawyers and principals smile.

Programs like DoD Fresh take a huge part of this hassle away from the schools. What remains is in-school training and constant monitoring by PTA and school staff. Why monitoring? Serving the same six meals in rotation takes a lot of guess work away from school cooks. Nuggets were a hit last week, they’ll be a hit this week. Serving seasonal vegetables introduces enough variety to require schools to use the same mechanics a Chef would – see what “sells” and change around this.

We, the chefs and food service pros, can help here. As parents and as individuals, the next PTA meeting is your chance. School food change isn’t a Washington job. Washington tried, and the result can be seen in schools all around the country. It’s a parent/teacher job. And while that sounds like a lot more work, it isn’t. And, after all, isn’t it empowering to know that we, the parents, ultimately hold the power to feed our children well?

I know I promised some anecdotes (scary ones, at that) from parents who began packing their children’s school lunches. It’s late, and I wanted to “dump” the DoD Fresh link before I went to sleep. Tomorrow we’ll revisit those anecdotes and the question of responsibility. And we’ll put hammers to nails when it comes to offering help against school food producers’ and cooks’ resistance.