Basically, the idea is restricting the quantity of starches being served in school lunches will force a greater selection of vegetables to be offered, and ultimately consumed, as a part of school lunches. “Under the USDA proposal, school cafeterias would have to limit starchy vegetables such as potatoes, corn, peas and lima beans to a total of one cup per week for lunch.”

Truthfully, the state of the nation’s nutrition is a major problem and should be treated as a long term crisis with economic, financial, political and military implications. Since most kids and teenagers eat at least one meal a day in a school cafeteria, there is a logic to the approach of establishing rules and regulations designed to encourage better eating and nutrition in school cafeterias.
But, I am not entirely sold that restricting the quantity of starches being served in school lunches will have the intended result.
First, it is important to remember the nutritional quality the starches being restricted. According to the National Potato Council: “Potatoes deliver a good source (providing at least 10% of DV) of two of the four nutrients of concern for children – potassium and dietary fiber. In fact, according to the DGA 2010, one small baked potato is the #1 source of potassium in the diet, providing 738 mg potassium in just 128 calories, and is listed among the top sources of dietary fiber (3 gm).”
Second, I don’t understand the logic or assumption of restricting the quantity of starches being served resulting in increased consumption of other vegetables. Yes, it is true that restricting the quantity of serving starches will result in other foods being served. But, just because other things are being served does not mean they will be eaten. After all, if you were given the choice between potato foods such as french fries, hashbrowns, tater tots or other similar things and broccoli, asparagus, brussel sprouts or other vegetables, which would you choose if you were eating in a school cafeteria? Based on my memories of cafeteria food and what I know about how we all eat, I don’t think it is a far stretch to think the potato choices will win.
The truth of the matter is that the intention of this effort is good, however, the result of the effort will probably not produce the intended result. Instead of focusing on what is served, why not focus on how it is served? Maybe it might be better to focus on how it is served or consumed? So, instead of getting rid of fried or “oven baked” or “oven fried” foods that are very high in statured fats, why not draft regulations designed to encourage cafeteria foods that are prepared in healthy, low fat ways and consumed without the addition of horrendous toppings such as mounds of sour cream, bacon bits, excessive amounts of cheese, or other “toppings” that are enough to cause a coronary in school kids?

For more on this issue, the National Farm to School Network has put together a very interesting briefing on the proposal and problems with implementing the proposal.

Pan Roasted Venison, Roasted Finglering Potatoes with Green Sauce of Cilantro, Galic, Lime juice, and seasoning

Growing up in Oregon, I knew people – friends in school or friends of friends – who hunted deer each fall. I knew they also ate the deer successfully hunted but called it venison. Although I was never really one to associate Bambi with a food item, the concept of eating venison was foreign to me and foreign enough to many more that it was not exactly something seen on every menu.

Fortunately, times and tastes have changed.

It seems the unique flavoring and the healthier-than-beef-if-not-raised-like-beef traits of venison have helped bring it to many menus. At the same time, since moving to the East from the West I have had the pleasure of cooking and eating amazing venison many times with each better than the last.

Last Monday, January 12, 2009, I threw together the venison dish pictured and described on the right.  Normally I try to complete most, if not all, of the main preparations or cooking for the week by Sunday or, if time allows, Monday afternoon or evening. On this particular Monday I had cooked the meals for the week and so was faced with trying to cook food for the week and dinner, at the same time and to be completed with the cooking before 10:00 p.m.

So, once I put a chicken in the oven to roast (more on this particular chicken in another blog entry), I focused on the venison.

Broken down, the venison dish has three components: venison, roasted potatoes, and sauce.

Here are the guidelines I followed for each:

Venison- although last to be put on the stove or to put into an oven, the seasoning and cooking of this meat was probably the most important part of the dish.  I seared each side in a cast-ion saute pan and then placed it in an approximately 400 degree oven to finish (about 12 – 14 min total.  The venison steaks were seasoned with salt, pepper, just enough to coat olive oil, and freshly grated or cut lime zest. The lime zest was a great addition and really added a lot to the flavor of the meet.

Roasted Fingerlings-a variation on my standby – olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper: instead of putting them to roast in the oven after either starting on the stove or at least warming (or more accurately heating) the pan in a 450 – 500 degree oven, the potatoes were put into a pan with some grape seed oil and the heat at high. Once they started to brown, the heat was dropped and freshly chopped garlic was added. Keeping the pan on the stove top instead of the oven was a challenge because I had to stir the potatoes and garlic to prevent everything from burning.

Green Sauce: Basically – a cilantro version of a more traditional parsley green sauce.  I loosely or hash chopped the cilantro and garlic, added them to a blender with a touch of olive oil and season with salt and pepper to taste. Blend just enough to mix all the flavors with the oil. As you can see in the picture, this is a rough or “country style” sauce, it should be bold and not look like it was just pureed.

Wrapping up as I fall asleep, the sauce a normally good meal and elevated it to excellent, we even used it for salad dressing the next night.