The Davis Joint Unified School District has reason to celebrate National School Lunch Week with its new offerings for school lunches with local, farm fresh produce.

Janey Thornton, deputy undersecretary of the USDAÕs Food and Nutrition Services, called the Davis school lunch program Òahead of the curveÓ during a visit to Davis last spring.

Students clearly like the food cooked from scratch by the Davis Student Nutrition Services staff, as evidenced by a student eating Harper Junior High SchoolÕs taco bar offerings: ÒDude, this is bomb!Ó

DavisÕ program was profiled on Sacramento Public Radio by Elaine Corn on Sept. 23. Listen online at http://www.capradio.org/153042.

Created in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy to celebrate good nutrition and healthy school lunches, school lunch is back in the national headlines. Even first lady Michelle Obama has targeted school lunch as a major strategy in her fight against childhood obesity. She asks for more fruits and vegetables to be served each day.

For the past 10 years, DJUSD has been working on just that with the support of a local booster club, Davis Farm to School, a project of the Davis Farmers Market Foundation.

Dorothy Peterson, president of the foundation and the Davis Farm to School Steering Committee, said, ÒWe commend the district board of trustees, Superintendent Roberson and Rafaelita Curva (director of Student Nutrition Services) for their vision and leadership around the importance of school lunch.Ó

Davis Farm to School raises funds to support school district programming to create a link between healthy lunch, recycling and waste reduction, garden-based learning and farm field trips. Community partners have helped underwrite the program with financial support.

Support comes from health providers such as Sutter Davis; from locally owned grocery stores that emphasize farm-fresh food such as Nugget Markets and the Davis Food Co-op; and from the energy field such as Talbott Solar & Radiant. Support from foundations for environmental stewardship includes Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation and Lescroart Foundation. For a full list, visit http://www.davisfarmtoschool.org.

According to a recent study funded by Davis Farm to School and conducted by the UC Davis Sustainable Agriculture, Education and Research Project, purchases from farmers within a 300-mile radius now stand at almost half (49 percent) of all district produce.

Thanks to school district parcel tax Measure Q funding, every elementary school has a Farmers Market garden salad bar twice a week, with four having it every day.

During October, the bar will feature a whole-grain barley salad with seasonal vegetables and broccoli slaw. Both are made from scratch.

Most secondary schools have the salad bar every day. Some entrŽe items, prepared from scratch, are served every day at all elementary schools and offered daily at four elementary schools. Secondary schools likewise have hot entrŽe items from scratch every day. These are produced in the districtÕs central kitchen facility by a staff in Student Nutrition Services, under the direction of Curva.

Cooking lessons are provided to the SNS staff by Davis Farm to School.

If itÕs hard to locate cash for lunch money in the school morning rush hour, you can securely prepay for your studentÕs meals online by going to the DJUSD home page at http://www.djusd.net and clicking on ÒLunch MenuÓ in the left-hand corner. That will take you to Student Nutrition Services. Registration is fast and free. Student full price for elementary lunches is $3.25 and for secondary lunches is $3.50.

While there, you can print out menus, get applications for free and reduced-price meals and fill out a catering request form. Student Nutrition Services provides extensive catering for all needs of the school community. You and your studentÕs teacher may may sign your childÕs class up for a tour of the central kitchen.

If your children havenÕt tried school lunch lately, Davis Farm to School invites you to have them give it a try.

Italian Meatball Soup

(Serves six)

Also called wedding soup, this includes pork meat balls and lots of vegetables, and is finished with Parmesan cheese.

This recipe was adapted from the ÒEssentials of Italian Cooking,Ó Williams-Sonoma, for use in the professional development cooking class offered by Davis Farm to School to the staff of Student Nutrition Services.

The class was offered Oct. 6, and featured six recipes with the theme ÒGetting Ready for Fall with Whole Grains, Pulses and Vegetables Ñ Flavor Profile: Mediterranean and Northern Europe.Ó

Ingredients for the soup:

3 quarts chicken stock

1 pound Italian kale (also called dinosaur kale or Lacinato kale), stems removed and chopped

3 large carrots, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

Ingredients for the meatballs:

1 pound ground pork

2 large eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 cup minced yellow onion

1/2 cup fine dried bread crumbs

1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

Kosher salt

Freshly grated black pepper

Putting it together:

In a large pot, bring the stock to a boil over high heat, add the kale, carrots, and celery.

Reduce to a simmer, uncovered, until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the meatballs. In a large bowl, combine the pork, eggs, onion, bread crumbs, 1/2 cup of the cheese, 1 teaspoon salt, and some pepper. Mix well.

Moisten your hands with water, and shape the mixture into small, bite-size balls. Place on a plate.

In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil.

When all the meatballs are ready, gently add them to the frying pan and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, carefully add them to the simmering soup and simmer gently over low heat until the meatballs are cooked though, about 10 minutes.

Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning.

To serve, sprinkle each serving with the extra cheese.

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