Chefs help craft healthier school lunches with local food – The Chefs Move to Schools Initiative

On his first day on the job as director of food and nutrition for Baltimore City Schools, chef Tony Geraci brought in 40,000 pounds of tree-ripened, Maryland-grown peaches for students.

On that day two years ago, he sat in the cafeteria with several second-graders who were eating fresh peaches for the first time in their lives.

"One was rubbing a peach along his face, and I said, ‘It’s supposed to feel like that,’ " Geraci remembers. "Another was breathing into the peach, and I said, ‘It’s supposed to smell like that.’ Another was biting into the peach, and the juice was running down his face and arms, and I said, ‘It’s supposed to taste like that.’

Now Geraci and hundreds of other chefs across the country are signing up for the government’s Chefs Move to Schools initiative (http://www.letsmove.gov/chefs.php), which encourages culinary experts to share their expertise with local schools.

By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY

Full Story: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/weightloss/2010-08-11-healthfulschoollunches11_CV_N.htm