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Cabell schools praised for food
Max Finberg, left, of the U.S.Departmetn of Agriculture, Rick Goff, executive director of child nutrition, U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall, D-W.Va., and Cabell County School's Superintendent William Smith prepare lunch at Cabell Midland High School on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010, in Ona.
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ONA -- When British chef Jamie Oliver called out the United States Department of Agriculture in the six-episode reality TV show filmed in Huntington last fall, officials in Washington, D.C., were listening.
Serving healthier lunches to public school students also has become a topic on Capitol Hill with first lady Michelle Obama and lawmakers as they debate the details in the re-authorization of the Child Nutrition Act.
A combination of the two visited Cabell Midland High School on Tuesday morning to see what the county has done since "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" and to talk about making Cabell County a model for the country.
"What is being done in Cabell County ... should serve as a model for the nation," said U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall, D-W.Va., after helping to prepare red potatoes in the school's kitchen. "This is an attempt to highlight the need to provide a nutritious diet for our children, thus saving our budgets in the future."
Rahall, donning a red apron and hair net, also said that working in the kitchen, seeing the menus and serving the students will prove valuable when it comes time to discuss details of the reauthorization with his fellow lawmakers.
"To have hands-on experience like this, nothing beats it. To go back when the legislation is on the floor and to speak from personal experience, it will have a much more profound effect than reading a canned speech," he said.
Richard Goff, the executive director for the Office of Child Nutrition at the West Virginia Department of Education, said Washington is taking notice of the state's nutrition programs, for all the right reasons.
"West Virginia has some of the more progressive policies when it comes to child nutrition," Goff said, adding that from-scratch cooking goes on in every school in the state. "I'd put our meals against any in the country."
Max Finberg, the United States Department of Agriculture's director of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, also worked in the kitchen Tuesday. As he helped prepare trays of rotisserie chicken or pizza, he noticed the number of students going through the salad bar line, along with those choosing the chicken.
He said Cabell County shouldn't be criticized for what people saw in the Oliver show but lauded for the work done by Food Services Director Rhonda McCoy and state nutrition officials.
"We want people around the country to do what Cabell County is doing," Finberg said. "We want to encourage schools that are doing great stuff and provide others with umph."
Finberg also said that the USDA is in the process of updating its standards to match West Virginia, which has the highest in the nation and supersedes the current USDA guidelines.
"We are grateful that they are more aware of feeding kids healthier foods," he said.
Both McCoy and Cabell County School Board President Suzanne Oxley said the visit draws positive national attention to what is going on in the county's schools. And it also provides the steam to get changes in the new bill.
Cabell Midland senior Kris Black, who ate rotisserie chicken for lunch, said he's not a big fan of the revamped menus. But he also commended Rahall and the others for taking the time to get informed.
According to www.schoolnutrition.org, the Child Nutrition Act is reauthorized every five years. It expired Sept. 30, 2009, but it was extended one year. It is up for discussion every five years so lawmakers and USDA officials can improve or make changes to the program.
