Calhoun…the best school food

School Food Watch:4

The Issue of School Food: The Calhoun School

The International Culinary Center has long been involved in helping elementary and secondary schools improve their cafeterias. It started with The Calhoun School on the Upper West Side in Manhattan. Robert Surles a.k.a. Chef Bobo (an FCI grad and former chef-instructor) had long desired to cook for children. He brought that dream to reality when he left his instructor’s position at The FCI to work at Calhoun eight years ago. The program he created has been hailed from coast to coast, and by such experts as Dr. Marion Nestle, arguably one of the most knowledgeable people on the subject.

The program proved effective beyond upgrading the menus with delicious, sustainable and healthful foods. It changed behavior and curriculums in the school. Bobo was the chef and greeted his customers everyday. He had tasting cups for the kids to taste new foods. Parents helped and sat at the tables with the youngest kids making sure they tasted the new cuisine. The overwhelming majority found it delicious! The faculty stopped going out in the neighborhood and actually ate with the kids because it was the best food around. And all this was done within the school budget.

Other than eating there were surprising results. The head of the Middle School remarked it was the first time in her career that she saw that 8th grade girls eating with gusto,  they knew this food would not make them fat! Mothers complimented the program because now at 3 pm the kids weren’t starving for a snack. (3pm snacks throw off the dinner schedule and bedtimes!) Bobo worked with the teachers and would incorporate ethnic foods that were in lock step with the children’s studies. They would sample native American foods, Egyptian foods, Spanish and French cuisines. Cooking clubs were set up after school. The food was so delicious that the PTA held fundraisers for Mom’s and Dad’s nites out…in the cafeteria. The kitchen became the heart of the school.

Has it lasted? Absolutely. In fact it is still stunning us. This year the seniors dedicated their yearbook to the kitchen staff, for providing them with delicious food for the last eight years. Seniors are required to do a term paper on any subject in order to graduate. More than 50% chose food issues from either a political, environmental or anthropological perspective. School is a place where we should teach our kids to think, and Calhoun kids will go through life not only with a better palate but thinking about their food and it’s importance in their lives and the fabric of our culture.