A remarkable group of students from “Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools” held a press conference on June 11th, 2009 to challenge the New Orleans Recovery School District leaders and community to start serving fresh, local foods in their school cafeterias.
To prove that kids would eat the proposed new offerings of local vegetables, fruit and shrimp, the rethinkers presented their findings from taste tests in which they evaluated 18 dishes and proved that kids really will eat fresh, nutritious food. Present at the press conference were local school leaders, such as RSD Superintendent Paul Vallas, who sampled the delicious healthy recipes the rethinkers propose serving.
With support from Emeril Lagasse Foundation and other groups, Rethink currently has afterschool clubs in six New Orleans schools and one district wide program. This group of mostly middle school students decided it was time to rethink and rebuild local schools after spending time in schools around the country following Hurricane Katrina. For the first time, many kids saw school bathrooms with toilet paper and soap which made them realize what good schools actually look like. It was these experiences that shaped Rethink’s first campaign to improve school restrooms which led to the incorporation of safe conditions in RSD’s renovations and building plans.
Since summer 2008, the Rethinkers have campaigned for putting fresh, local food in the public school menu as a way to improving nutrition while increasing the tastiness of school lunch and providing a much-needed market for our beleaguered shrimpers and farmers.
During the past year, the Rethinkers have expanded their food work to include an organic roof garden and clubhouse at the Colton School, a beehive of arts and education activity operating under the umbrella of CANO, the Creative Alliance of New Orleans.