• Share
• E-Mail
• Print

Acclaimed pastry chef Gale Gand was elated to be a part of the White House event in June that brought together hundreds of chefs from across the country to announce a program to place them in hands-on advisory roles in the nation's schools.

In the weeks since, Gand and others who signed up for the Chefs Move to Schools initiative have been at best confused.

"There was a waiting period where I felt the White House would send me a seven-point program that I could follow, but it wasn't that way," says Gand, executive pastry chef for Tru restaurant and a Deerfield native.

The adopt-a-school program is an arm of Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative, which hopes to end childhood obesity within a generation.

The request to have chefs volunteer their time and expertise in schools was made personally by the first lady to the more than 500 chefs clad in white jackets who had gathered on the South Lawn of the White House in June.

After the ceremony, Gand went to the government website to sign up for the program and request to work with her alma mater, Deerfield High School, where her son Gio will be a freshman. After that, she contacted the school.

"It took three calls to make sure I knew who to speak with," says Gand.

Government officials say the confusion is to be expected over a program as new and as far-reaching as this one. The program is being implemented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"There is an onslaught of people signing up right now," says Janey Thornton, deputy under secretary at the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service.

More than 1,000 schools and 1,600 chefs nationwide have signed up for the program, according to the USDA. In Illinois, 36 schools and 102 chefs have signed up.

Most, like Kenneth Staral, principal at the Ogden International School of Chicago, signed up through the USDA site, not quite knowing what to expect.

A few years ago, Staral and his school hosted a fund-raiser with Matt Fisher and chef Troy Graves of the Gold Coast restaurant Eve. In July, Graves persuaded Staral to add the school's name to the growing list participating in the Chefs Move to Schools. The two have yet to set an agenda for the coming school year.

"So far, it's like a dating service," says Staral.

He says he doesn't expect to move mountains the first year, but hopes to at least get the conversation started between himself, Graves, parents and, of course, the current food vendor for CPS, Chartwells. And Staral is hopeful, with Chartwells already tightening its nutritional standards and offering more fresh fruits and vegetables to Chicago Public Schools.

Thornton says this is exactly the approach she hopes school administrators and chefs will take in the weeks ahead - develop a working camaraderie while the government takes the administrative steps to link schools with chefs.

She acknowledges this will be fairly simple for chefs who request schools, but says the USDA wants to try and link chefs with schools that are not in the most affluent areas as well.

Chefs also will have to understand the limitations they will suddenly be under, she says - working with school food budgets, for instance. The federal government provides $2.68 per child for lunch.

Chef Melissa Graham, founder and president of the Chicago-based nonprofit Purple Asparagus, which encourages healthy eating among families, says a key element to the success of the program will be recognizing the relevant grassroots organizations already doing good work.

Thornton agrees, saying the USDA plans to tap into existing resources, especially in large cities. In Chicago, she says this would include Louise Esaian, director of logistics and head of school nutrition for Chicago Public Schools, and Rochelle Davis, founding executive director of the Healthy Schools Campaign. (When asked, Davis clarified she plays no official government role.)

Last month, Davis and Graham (who both attended the White House launch in June), working in conjunction with the nonprofit Share Our Strength, helped convene about 40 chefs for a two-hour meeting of the minds at the Publican restaurant on West Fulton.

The purpose- To introduce chefs interested in the White House initiative with about a half-dozen Chicago-based organizations already working with local schools. The Healthy Schools Campaign, Purple Asparagus, Common Threads and Seven Generations Ahead were among those represented.

"As a chef in a restaurant, it doesn't necessarily mean they have an understanding of school food programs," says Davis.

Davis says chefs, to become useful in schools, must first understand federal funding levels and mechanisms. Some schools may not even have a kitchen or basic food prep tools.

In Chicago, Davis' organization and CPS are linking up to roll out a Chef in the Classroom program that will place local culinary experts in public schools.

The program, which will operate separately from the White House initiative but with similar goals, is part of the Go for the Gold campaign, a new citywide initiative to ensure that all kids have access to healthy food, quality nutrition education and physical activity.

A how-to session was held this week for interested chefs to prepare for Chef in the Classroom Day on Oct. 4.

"All chefs that have signed up on the USDA's Chefs Move to Schools website will be invited to participate in the training," says Monique Bond, spokeswoman for Chicago Public Schools. "It's our hope that through their experience they will form a lasting relationship with their host school to promote nutrition education."

Davis says the lack of clear definition on the local level of the White House initiative is "going to ultimately be the strength of the program. ... It's important to let local chefs and schools determine what will create that added value."

For Gand, once she got support from the principal of her chosen school, the sky seemed to be the limit. In the short run, she plans to demo Vietnamese summer rolls at the school's book sale. Eventually, there are plans for a composting project and a kitchen garden.

"Permission, suggestion and the ability to say that Michelle Obama sent me from the White House - that goes a long way!" Gand says.

Anupy Singla is a Chicago free-lance writer and author of a forthcoming cookbook on Indian slow cooker cuisine.