{"id":9273,"date":"2022-07-14T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-14T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.foodmedcenter.org\/?p=9273"},"modified":"2022-07-14T12:00:09","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T16:00:09","slug":"chefs-who-cook-well-and-do-good-ann-cooper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foodmedcenter.org\/es_pr\/chefs-who-cook-well-and-do-good-ann-cooper\/","title":{"rendered":"Chefs Who Cook Well and Do Good: Ann Cooper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Name:<\/b> Chef Ann Cooper<\/span><\/p>\n

Lives: Boulder, Colorado<\/b><\/p>\n

Culinary Training:<\/b> Culinary Institute of America<\/span><\/p>\n

LinkedIn Bio:<\/strong> Chef Ann Cooper is a celebrated author, chef, educator and enduring advocate for better food for all children. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Ann has been a chef for more than 30 years, over 15 of those in school food programs. She formerly served as the director of nutrition services for the Boulder Valley School District. Chef Ann has dedicated her career to creating a sustainable model for schools nationwide to transition any processed food based K-12 school meal program to a whole foods environment where food is procured regionally and prepared from scratch. Known as the “Renegade Lunch Lady”\u200b, Ann has been honored by The National Resources Defense Council, selected as a Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellow, and awarded an honorary doctorate from SUNY Cobleskill for her work on sustainable agriculture. In 2009, Ann founded the nonprofit Chef Ann Foundation (CAF) to focus on solutions to the school food crisis. CAF’s pivotal project is The Lunch Box \u2013 a web portal that provides free and accessible tools, recipes and resources to support schools transitioning to scratch-cooked meals made with whole, healthy food.<\/p>\n

Best Known For: <\/b>Giving school students access to healthy food; revolutionizing #school lunches<\/a>; her role as the \u201cRenegade Lunch Lady\u201d as well as author, chef, public speaker and advocate<\/span><\/p>\n

How She Is Changing the Food System:\u00a0<\/b>Chef Ann Cooper is a celebrated author, chef, educator and advocate for better food for all children. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Ann has been a chef for more than 40 years, over 17 of those in school food programs. <\/span><\/p>\n

She now dedicates her career to ensuring that every child has healthy food at school every day and no child is ever hungry. For Chef Ann, this is a birthright she has been fighting to secure for children for decades. <\/span><\/p>\n

In her <\/span>2007 Ted Talk<\/span><\/a>, What\u2019s Wrong With School Lunches, Chef Ann says, \u201cWe needed to teach children the symbiotic relationship between a healthy planet, healthy food and healthy kids. And if we don’t do that, the antithesis, although we’ve heard otherwise, is that we’re really going to become extinct, because we’re feeding our children to death. That’s my premise.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She continued to say, \u201cWe’re seeing sick kids get sicker and sicker. And the reason this is happening, by and large, is because of our food system and the way the government commodifies food, the way the government oversees our food, the way the USDA puts food on kids’ plates that’s unhealthy, and allows unhealthy food into schools.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And it is not just fearmongering; Chef Ann is taking action to change the course of food history. In 2009, she founded the nonprofit <\/span>Chef Ann Foundation<\/span><\/a> (CAF) to focus on solutions to the school food crisis. CAF provides tools, training, resources and funding to support schools transitioning to scratch-cooked meals made with whole, healthy food. There major programs include:<\/span><\/p>\n

Salad Bars to Schools<\/i><\/b><\/a>
\nWhile naysayers may have told her she would never get salad bars in schools, Chef Ann did not give up. Salad Bars to Schools (SB2S) was founded by the <\/span>Chef Ann Foundation<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>National Fruit and Vegetable Alliance<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>United Fresh Start Foundation<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>Whole Foods Market<\/span><\/a> in support of First Lady Michelle Obama\u2019s <\/span>Let\u2019s Move!<\/span><\/a> Initiative. SB2S is a grant program that helps schools expand their commitment to serving fresh fruits and vegetables by implementing salad bars as part of their daily meal programs. While there may be <\/span>a growing recognition of the health and educational benefits<\/span><\/a> of salad bars, many school districts lack the basic equipment and funding required to implement this solution. SB2S helps schools overcome these challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Lunch Box<\/i><\/b><\/a>
\nLaunched in 2010, The Lunch Box is an online resource that provides free step-by-step guides, tools, and recipes to help schools improve their food programs. Its mission is to give school district administrators, food service directors and their teams the resources they need to serve healthy, nutritious, and delicious food to every student, every day.<\/span><\/p>\n

Parent Advocacy Initiative <\/i><\/b><\/a>
\nBecause the CAF believes that the majority of school food change begins with parents who care about their children\u2019s #nutrition<\/a> at home and at school, the foundation took on an initiative to help parents lead grassroots advocacy efforts in their school districts. It offers information and eye-opening videos about the importance of healthy school food, a Parent Advocacy Toolkit designed to guide parents through school-food advocacy in three clear steps–Get Educated, Get Organized, and Take Action–as well as assistance in finding available grants.<\/span><\/p>\n

The School Food Institute <\/i><\/b><\/a>
\nIn 2017 the CAF launched the School Food Institute, an online education course that teaches school food service workers and child nutrition advocates across the United States to break away from prepackaged school lunches and move toward meals featuring fresh ingredients and on-the-spot cooking. <\/span><\/p>\n

The School Food Institute\u2019s coursework kicked off with eight professional development courses focusing on key areas of school food operations including procurement, marketing and lunchroom education, human resources, finance, and recipe and menu development. The Institute gives school food service professionals and childhood nutrition advocates the in-depth training, operational skills, and strategic vision necessary to make school food fresh, healthy, and sustainable.<\/span><\/p>\n

All courses conform to the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s requirements for the annual training of food service professionals. Participants can earn the only national certificate that recognizes a school\u2019s transition to scratch-cook operations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Awards and Honors:<\/b><\/p>\n

Throughout her career, Chef Ann has been recognized for her achievements as a chef, activist, advocate and nonprofit leader. Here are a few examples of her many achievements. <\/span><\/p>\n