I got a bee in my bonnet this morning

I read an article on the junk food war this morning, and had to say something. I emailed this to the writer.

Hello Gerry Bellett;

I want to make a few comments on your article "North Van school leads the way in banishing junk food from machines." As a teaching chef at Sir Charles Tupper secondary school in Vancouver, the healthy choices issue is a major concern. In our culinary arts program we have four major concerns:

the well being of all Tupper students
the education of students enrolled in our program
the cost recovery aspect of running the cafeteria
encouraging a positve working envirnoment by providing excellent products and service to staff and students

I enjoyed the article, but I am wondering what is being reported on regarding school cafeterias while the junkfood purge takes place in the hallways where the vending machines are. In many of the articles that I have read on this issue, the cafeterias are often blamed for the problem, or ignored as not having a stake in the war on unhealthy diets. It is important to know that teaching cafeterias provide a critical service to the school; we feed the hungry kids, offer nutritious meals at low prices, engage in school initiatives such as catering for special events, and provide an elective credit course option teaching needed skills for home use and for careers, offering early apprenticeships to aspiring cooks and bakers,

We do a lot more than vending machines, which I see as my enemy. Vending machines give nothing to our educational program, and have nothing to do with our cafeteria. The culinary programs are under constant attack by our school boards because they are expensive to run. If we got rid of all the vending machinces in the school, students would frequent the cafeterias, eat healthier, and our costs would be recovered further. When a student or staff buys something from us they support our program which means student's learning is enhanced.

Carson Graham is the only North Van school to have a teaching cafeteria, certainly a key player in the fight against junk food, so it is too bad that your article does not mention it. I wonder if Vancouver Coastal Health know about the program there. Like many teaching cafeterias, we at Tupper Culinary Arts have been working towards healthier choices for several years. We offer fresh nutritious items made by our students under the supervision of our kitchen team. Teaching cafeterias conduct important programs for the school community, and should be mentioned in articles concerning the junkfood issue.



Good Health!

Cecil Baird Teacher/Chef/Son/Father/Husband/Man/Rider/Ultimater/Canadian/Curler/Lover of Life/Sir Charles Tupper Secondary, ph. 6047138233 loc. 7212, or at home 6042550433

“Skilful and refined cookery has always been a feature of the most glorious epochs in history.”
Lucien Tendret (1825-1896)