September 30th, 2008

So much has happened in the last couple of months. For one Duval County has decided to begin a new program headed by a group known as the Childhood Obesity Coalition. Here members from many organizations spread across Duval County join together to figure out ways to tackle the rising epidemic of childhood obesity. I attended the first meeting of the group as a whole – I was invited by a woman named Karen Coleman, who is the coordinator for the coalition’s meetings. This committee will meet every month, each time working toward completing their goal of someday eliminating childhood obesity. 

While I was there I met a number of great contacts who could prove helpful in my quest to change the school lunch program, including a few people that work directly with the food plans in Duval County. Mrs. Coleman had even mentioned that I could possibly be the chairman of the student division of the coalition. I think this is a very exciting initiative. It is great that Duval County is finally recognizing this serious problem that’s plaguing our communities nationwide. 

Along with this meeting I have also been in contact with Debra Eschmeyer, a woman who works with the National Farms to School organization. She has been great help in informing me on the best ways to make my desired change a reality. As of now I am planning to hold a local farm taste test day where many locals as well as politicians will gather on a Jacksonville farm to enjoy a delicious 7 cou rse meal. The purpose of this event is to showcase the magnificent quality of local food available in our own backyards. Hopefully this will give Duval County an idea of the great improvements that could be made if we work toward incorporating our local farmers into our school lunch system. 

September 23rd, 2008

So much has happened in the last couple of months. For one Duval County has decided to begin a new program known as the Childhood Obesity Coalition. Here, members from many organizations spread across Duval County join together to figure out ways to tackle this rising epidemic known as childhood obesity. I was invited by a woman named Karen Coleman, who is the coordinator for the event. This committee will meet every month, each time working towards completing their goal. While I was there I met a number of great contacts including a few people that work directly with the food plans in Duval County. Mrs. Coleman had even mentioned that I could possibly be the chairman of the student division of the coalition. I think this is a very exciting initiative. It is great that Duval County is finally recognizing this serious problem that’s plaguing their communitty.
Along with this meeting I have also been in contact with Debra Eschmeyer, a woman who works with the National From Farms to School organization. She has been a great help in informing me on the best ways to make my desired change a reality. As of now I am planning to hold a local farm taste test day where many locals as well as politicians all gather on a Jacksonville farm to enjoy a delicious 7 course meal. The purpose of this event is to showcase the magnificent quality food available in our own back yards. Hopefully this will give Duval County an idea of the great improvements that could be made if we work towards incorporating our local farmers into our school lunch system.

July 9th, 2008

I will most likely be speaking with Ms. Eschmeyer sometime next week. I am actually really looking forward to our conversation for a number of reasons. Maybe she can enlighten me on the best way to go about forming my proposal for the school board. It also helps that she knows a few people in the Farm to School program. Also I am planning to visit my local farmers market on Saturday. I will be equipped with a list of interview questions for the local vendors and customers. It should be an exciting outing.  I have also just found out that there are two other farmer markets around Jacksonville that I will be visiting.

July 2nd, 2008

In recent days, I have been in contact with Debra Eschmeyer who is the marketing and media manager for From Farms to Schools. At From Farms to Schools they take local farms and find ways to implement them into school in the surrounding area to not only build healthy students, but to also build a strong economy. Ms. Eschmeyer was very supportive of my project and has not only agreed to do an interview with me, but has also said she would do all she could to get my message out. She plans to bring my documentary around to different committees in hopes to strengthen my cause and create more allies. Not only that, but she has also informed me on the New North Florida Cooperative. The NNFC is a group of african american farmers located in north Florida that farm primarily to supply natural foods to surrounding schools. I am currently working on getting in contact with them. I think they would be the perfect group of farmers to contact in my area. 

June 11th, 2008

With the summer here I am ready to push this project into the next stages and wrap up my documentary. I have decided to take a trip to a local organic farm to show first hand the benefits of purchasing food from a local distributor. I plan to visit Magnolia farms in the next few weeks and I’ll be sure to document my trip. As far as Aramark is concerned, I found some very intriguing article regarding their corporation.

http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/1998/09/97-9535.htm

http://media.www.cm-life.com/media/storage/paper906/news/2001/12/10/News/Student.Groups.Oppose.Aramark.Contract-2484206.shtml

I am very interested to see what other information I will be able to find on these topics. 

 

May 12th, 2008

Wow, it has really been awhile since I have updated this. A lot has been going on so it has made it difficult to make many advances in my project, however it has not been at a standstill. For one, I finally received an email from one of the women I had emailed in the beginning of February. Kristen Farnham, a clinical dietitian from Nemours Children Hospital responded saying that she had actually come across her name on my blog site and read that no one had responded. She explained that my message probably ended up in junk folder and that she would be happy to talk with me. It’s great to hear that people are actually reading and discovering my blogs! I am looking forward to emailing her back and possibly even conducting and interview with her. As far as my documentary is concerned, I have now captured the majority of the footage I have and I am getting ready to edit the opening news piece. I attempted to contact the artist Ratatat and requested permission to use their music, but they have not responded to any of my three emails. My colleague Karis and I have also been trying to contact local news stations to see if we could get some stock footage or clips from some of their news shows regarding obesity. None of the four stations we contacted were able to help us. I think I would be more let down if things like that didn’t seem to happen to me all the time. Sometimes it’s really hard getting companies to listen or respect you when you are a teen. With Summer fast approaching I know I can make a huge amount of progress, and will make it a priority to keep this site updated.

 

Chase

February 16th, 2008

In the past few weeks I have sent out numerous emails to organizations around Florida regarding food sustainability and my project. My intentions were to gain the support of as many organizations as possible so when I finally approach the school board I would have some names to go with my plan of action. However after sending emails to the head nutritionist from Nemours, the University of Florida’s Office of Sustainability, and the Duval County Health Department, I have not heard a single word back. I am going to resend all of these emails and hope that they finally respond.

 

February 2nd, 2008

It has definitely been too long since I have updated this blog, however that does not mean my project has been at a standstill. For the past month at Team Gaia I have been researching and contacting (with Scott Lewis’ help)a number of people from all over the East Coast that have been huge activist in food movements. I have been informing each and everyone of them on my project and the issues at hand. My intentions are to contact them, state my project and see if they are willing to assist me with my endeavors. One of the organizations that I have found is through the University of Florida at their Gator Dining Services. They have initiated a Sustainability program where they bring produce and other foods from local farms with the intent of strengthening their community and the health of their students. If all goes as hoped, when I approach the school board about my plans of action, I will have some big names and corporations (Such as Nemours’ Nutrition Department) standing behind me.

January 10th, 2008

I feel like this project is finally getting somewhere. Thanks to Mrs. Leslie Kirkwood, I was informed of a Duval County Health and Wellness Committee meeting that took place on, Wednesday, January 9th. I met up with Kaz and Leni at the school board building bright and early and we made our way (invited or not) into the meeting. It was a great success! I got to meet with numerous representatives including Ms. Diane Pain, Duval County's Contract Compliance Food Service Supervisor. 
After the meeting she spoke with me regarding Aramark and the food that was being served. We discussed a few of my main concerns, such as the amount of nutrition in the food, and she explained that they are in the process of trying to bring in "better" foods. When I ran the idea of local farms across her, she explained that it was not probable for any farm to be able to supply food for all 160 schools within the county. I wasn't going to take that as a final answer of course, but I nodded and requested a copy of the nutrition facts for the foods currently being served. When she agreed, I made a point that I really would like to know about the sugar and carbs that were in the food since the last nutrition list I had received last time did not include this information. Ms. Pain also explained to me that the reason I might have had such a difficult time getting this information is because they do not actually have all the nutrition facts for all of their food items. 
Before I left I asked about getting on the Wellness Committee for my school and she agreed that since I took the initiative to come out to this meeting,as soon as they implement the committee in my school, I will be Douglas Anderson's representative. She also added that until that took place I would be more than welcome to attend their bimonthly meetings at the DCPS building. I think being on this committee will really give me more say and a real chance at getting the changes that I am fighting for implemented.

 

January 2nd, 2008

I have made some great progress recently. Though I have still have not received any response from Mr. Radcliffe, I was able to speak with Dr. Scott Lewis who is an activist in the Slow Food movement. Dr. Scott was able to point me in a few different directions, one being the Center for Ecoliteracy. He suggested that since I have not had much recent luck with any representatives in the local area, that I should start contacting as many active environmental and health organizations around the East Coast as possible, and inform them about my project. He explained that many of these organizations have the same goals that I do and would most likely be willing to support my efforts. Dr. Scott was able to give me numerous contacts in and around Florida. He also mentioned a Health Conference in Miami in which many people would be speaking about local organic food and sustainability in the community. I have also discovered that Aramark, the very corporation that supplies my school, is involved in a health food initiative at the University of Florida. There they are working on bringing locally grown food into the lunch system with the intent to help the local economy. I am going to try and contact the heads of this project and let them know exactly what I am trying to accomplish in the Duval County School District. If Aramark is making these kinds of changes in a city only miles away, I know it can be done in my own. It will be done.