Power lunch

Photo: Charlotte Jenks Lewis for Jeff Harris Studio; Food styling: Meserete Davis

Photo: Charlotte Jenks Lewis for Jeff Harris Studio; Food styling: Meserete Davis

Every weekday, our public schools serve up a whopping 860,000 meals at some 1,400 locations—but this isn’t your standard mess-hall slop anymore. Two years ago, under Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Children First initiative, food services also got a makeover; first came the snazzier name (“SchoolFood”), and then an executive chef, Culinary Institute of America alumnus Jorge Collazo. The mission: to improve nutrition and get kids to eat the healthy fare via better selection and marketing. Today, the cafeteria menu reads more like a specials board at a Tribeca café—tuna salad with lemon and basil, Cajun-baked pollock with corn relish, and Southwestern tofu are among the selections that can be found on the lunch line, and all for $1.50. “New York is one of the first cities to take these steps,” says Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicinedietician Dulce Ward, who monitors lunch programs nationwide.

Of course, there have also been a few duds, among them the Asian ginger chicken wings. “They did so well in testing,” Collazo says, “but I think the ginger was too much for the little ones.”

out Whole milk
in Skim
Although it’s nutritionally unnecessary afterage two, whole milk once represented 85 percent of milk sales in city schools; 2006–07marks the first full academic year during which only 1%, fat-free skim and chocolateskim milk will be offered. (Soda is banned from vending machines, but 100% juice,often criticized for its empty calories, remains).

out Wonder white
in Whole grains
Whole wheat is now served exclusively, ineverything from dinner rolls to bologna sandwiches, upping fiber from 1 to 3 gramsper serving. Schools weaned kids off the foamy stuff with items like triple-deckerPB&Js made with white and wheat; though the reaction was mixed, older kids grumbled the most.

out Del Monte fruit cocktail
in Fresh veggies
At least one fruit or vegetable option(not canned) must now be available at every city school meal, whether that’sin the form of sliced apples, pineapple-on-a-skewer, or stewed collards and chickpeas.Next task: moving more local and organic produce into cafeteria kitchens.

out Trans-fatty main dishes
in Healthy entrées with panache
Collazo has turned kids’ palates on to dishes like his signature chicken guisado (pictured), while reworking old favorites to reduce sodium, calories, fat, high-fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils. Even a standby like pizza now features turkey pepperoni, and 15 percent less cheese.