At Some Schools, Tastier Trays Come at a Price

One answer to capping costs is Revolution Foods' partnerships with food suppliers. The company has cut deals with purveyors such as grocer Whole Foods Market, dairy Clover Stornetta Farms and, here in the mid-Atlantic, Uptown Bakery in Hyattsville and sauce and soup maker Chesapeake Gardens in Glen Burnie, Md. To support their mission, Richmond says, partner companies offer a discount of 5 to 8 percent off typical wholesale prices. Revolution Foods also has negotiated extended payment terms with most vendors, a boon when working with cash-strapped schools.

Revolution Foods also saves money by making most of its meals from scratch. The company's first prep kitchen was a retrofitted McDonald's on a naval base in Alameda, Calif. It now has four commissaries that produce 40,000 meals a day. In Washington, the company has outgrown its Silver Spring kitchen and plans to move to a 20,000-square-foot space in Northeast Washington to service its 25 local charter and private schools. "The conventional wisdom says that if you buy packaged goods, you save money," Richmond said. "But by putting the work in and buying fresh broccoli, rather than chopped and bagged, we're able to save a lot of money."

Some are still skeptical about whether the Revolution Foods model can work in the country's largest and poorest school districts. Tony Geraci, the director of food service at the Baltimore City Public Schools and a pioneer for healthful, local foods in schools, says Revolution Foods is right to buy wholesome ingredients and cook meals from scratch in regional commissaries. But he worries that the company will be unable to bring costs down enough or take on school bureaucracies.

"I think for the market segment they're chasing, it's obtainable," Geraci said. "Charter schools have a different mind-set. They understand the connection between nutrition and education, so they may be willing to pony up the extra money."

Indeed, prospects are dim for a substantial increase to the federal reimbursement rate. "The president asked for $1 billion," said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington. "But he can't be knocking on [Montana Senator and Senate Finance Committee Chairman] Max Baucus's door asking for it when he's asking for $1 trillion for health care. I don't think we'll end up with it being based on what's needed. It will be more like, here's the pot we have, so how much can we put towards reimbursement?"

Without more federal funds, Geraci says, public schools will have to settle for incremental, if important, change. This year, Geraci is implementing meatless Mondays to improve nutrition -- and the bottom line. Fairfax County Public Schools offers a choice of two salads each day: a chef's salad with tuna, for example, or fruit salad served with yogurt and a pretzel. Last month, Whole Foods Market partnered with school lunch crusader Ann Cooper to launch a Web site called the Lunch Box (http://www.thelunchbox.org) that offers menus, recipes and technical tools for budget planning to help schools wean themselves from packaged and processed foods.

Richmond says Revolution Foods' model can work. So far, in the Washington area the company is working only with charter and private schools. But it does serve 15 public school districts in California. Some, such as the Los Gatos Union district, are affluent. Others are not: Roseland, in Sonoma County, serves a population in which 81 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals.

Revolution Foods will help schools raise money to bridge the financial gap, Richmond said. In some cases, paid lunches can subsidize meals for lower-income students. The company also provides free catering for events to raise money for better school food. And, of course, Richmond is hopeful that the federal government will raise the federal reimbursement rate when it reauthorizes child nutrition programs later this year.

"We have to be smart as a country and a food system," Richmond said. "But we are living proof that it can be done."