By Elizabeth Wheeler

Late this summer, my friend John Turenne called with the news that his company, Sustainable Food Systems, was working with British chef Jamie Oliver on a healthy food intervention in Huntington WV’s community and public schools.  And, by the way, ABC was taping it for six episodes of Jamie’s prime time reality TV show, the “Jamie Oliver Project” to be aired in early 2010.  The Associated Press had recently reported that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) had identified the population in metropolitan area of Huntington, WV and adjacent counties in Ohio as the unhealthiest, and the most obese in the United States.

I got a little steamed.  “For God’s sake, John, obviously we have major diet-related health problems, but would you please make sure this won’t be another cheap-shot media exploitation of the stereotype of fat, ignorant West Virginia?   John promised to do what he could.

While Chef Jamie Oliver and ABC TV’s producers raised public awareness about healthy eating with cooking demonstrations, town hall meetings and visits to Huntington’s school cafeterias, John Turenne began the slow, steady work of change-making behind the scenes.

Working with cooks at Central City Elementary School, Turenne demonstrated that with a little training, they could make kid-friendly fresh foods.  He replaced USDA commodity canned beef stew with from-scratch beef stew with fresh meat and vegetables – for the same cost.  Local health advocates at the Cabell County Hospital took note, as did the governor’s office.

Huntington’s School Food Service Director Rhonda McCoy needed Turenne’s assurance that he would maintain the nutrition and cost standards required by the USDA School Lunch Program.  But he needed support to train the food service staff and leadership to spur the WV school lunch program’s switch from buying processed foods to fresh whole ingredients, which are also supplied by the federal food commodity program.

Turenne’s opportunity came at a meeting with Governor Manchin and First Lady Gayle Manchin.  He set before them two plates:  one with processed chicken patties, the other with a plain piece of chicken.  Both cost the same, he explained; clearly the fresh-cooked chicken was healthier, and tastier.  The Governor, impressed, offered to help, and asked the Department of Agriculture and the State Director of the Office of Child Nutrition to help expedite the sourcing of fresh commodity foods for the school lunch program.

Just before Thanksgiving, Cabell Huntington Hospital came forward with an $80,000 grant for Turenne’s Sustainable Food Systems to train cooks in all 28 Cabell County public schools, and donated another $50,000 to sponsor Jamie’s Kitchen, the community kitchen in downtown Huntington that has been the center for activity during the filming of Oliver’s TV show.

Turenne plans to roll out the menu models created in the pilot schools to all 28 schools by the end of the school year next June.   Soon Cabell County’s 12,500 school children will be eating fewer corn dogs and funnel cakes and more freshly made whole foods, like beef stew and baked chicken with fresh vegetables.  He said, “With the strong commitment from the capitol, we can make healthy changes in the school lunch program.  It will take time, but Huntington’s kids will have healthier meals, every day – and hopefully the rest of West Virginia’s schools can benefit

Home-style Beef Stew (Recipe #001)

Sustainable Food Systems’ chefs developed this fresh vegetable laden, fresh, kid-friendly beef stew for an army of hungry students, using USDA commodity ingredients available to the public school food service.  www.sustainablefoodsystems.com

Makes 450 1/3 cup servings

100 pounds ½ X 1/2- inch cut beef chuck

10 pounds yellow onions, peeled and diced

25 pounds of carrots, peeled trimmed and sliced. (use thicker slicing blade)

20 pounds Idaho potatoes, (unpeeled) washed and diced

2 cups tomato paste

1 quart plus 3 cups balsamic or red wine vinegar

4 gallons Tomato Base Sauce

¼ cup iodized salt

2 tablespoons ground black pepper

• Heat the tilting kettle to 350 degrees F.  Add the beef and cook, stirring until it has given up a lot of liquid and no trace of pink remains.  Drain off the liquid from the kettle and reserve.  Continue cooking the beef, stirring, until all the liquid is boiled off and the meat is browned.  The whole process will take about 45 minutes.  Skim the fat from the reserved meat juices.
• When the beef is brown, add the onions and cook, stirring, 10 to 15 minutes.  Add the carrots and cook 10 to 15 minutes.  Add the tomato paste and balsamic vinegar and stir until the ingredients start to stick to the sides of the kettle.
• Add the potatoes, skimmed beef juices and Tomato Base Sauce (recipe follows) and bring to a boil.  Cook until the meat and carrots are barely tender, about 30 minutes, then transfer to deep hotel pans and keep warm in the hot boxes.

Five-Vegetable Tomato Base Sauce (Recipe #022)

Makes 16 gallons

3 cups olive oil

9 pounds yellow onion

4.5 pounds zucchini, trimmed and shredded

4.5 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and shredded

4.5 pounds carrots, peeled, trimmed and shredded

1 pound red bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced

2 tablespoons dried oregano

6 large bay leaves

20 #10 cans whole or diced tomatoes in liquid

¼ cup iodized salt

2 tablespoons ground black pepper

• Heat the oil in the tilting kettle to 375 degrees F.  Add the onions, zucchini, squash, carrots, and red pepper.  Cook until wilted and softened, about 10 minutes.
• Add the oregano, bay leaves, tomatoes, salt and pepper.  Heat to boiling and lower the heat so the sauce is simmering.  Cook until lightly thickened, about 30 minutes. Remove bay leaves.
• Puree the sauce until smooth with an immersion blender.  Cool, then chill if not using right away.

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