WASHINGTON 鈥� On Tuesday, five-time James Beard Award winner and “Top Chef” judge gave his knives a break and spent a few hours sharpening his political message instead.
On the menu: School lunch.
Colicchio was one of more than 30 chefs who聽took to Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress about the Childhood Nutrition Act, which is up for reauthorization before the end of the year.
鈥淭he standards are there, they鈥檙e working and we should keep them in place,鈥� says Colicchio, who is also the co-founder of and .
The Childhood Nutrition Act was originally passed in 1966 and must be reauthorized by Congress every five years. In 2010, new nutritional standards were introduced with the law to increase the amount of fruits, vegetables and whole grains served in school cafeterias.
have implemented the nutritional changes, but not everyone is drinking the low-sugar Kool-Aid. Researchers from the University of Vermont found that even though healthier options are being provided to students, .
But Colicchio, a father of three, says that鈥檚 no reason to reverse the standards.
鈥淚t鈥檚 worthwhile. Kids need nutrition to learn, and this idea that carnival food is something that we should serve in school 鈥� it just doesn鈥檛 make sense to me,鈥� he says.
鈥淲e鈥檙e the adults here. These are children. And for as long as I鈥檝e been around a lunchroom, there have always been complaints about school lunch 鈥� I think if you polled any chef here, they wouldn鈥檛 say that school lunch is the reason they are chefs. But we can make it better; we can make it more nutritious.鈥�
In addition to pushing peas over pizza, the Childhood Nutrition Act provides more than 20 million free or reduced-priced lunches and 11 million free or reduced-priced breakfasts to students each year. Colicchio says upholding the current nutritional standards is especially important to these recipients.
鈥淔or a lot of people participating in the school lunch program, this is what they鈥檙e eating for the day; this is their nutrition. So I think we have an obligation to make sure that it鈥檚 as nutritious and wholesome as possible,鈥� he says.
D.C. chefs Victor Albisu, Spike Mendelsohn and Marjorie Meek-Bradley were among those to visit lawmakers with Colicchio. 鈥淭op Chef鈥� host Padma Lakshmi and 鈥淭op Chef All-Stars鈥� winner Richard Blais were also in attendance.
Colicchio says chefs have a powerful voice when it comes to food policy. 鈥淧eople listen to us; they trust us.鈥� And reauthorization of the law doesn鈥檛 mean it’s time to rest.
鈥淲e made progress and we鈥檝e got to keep making progress. I don鈥檛 even buy into this, 鈥楲et鈥檚 hold the line,鈥欌�� Colicchio says. 鈥淚 really believe that nutrition is the key to education and education is the key to upward mobility and it keeps us competitive 鈥� and it鈥檚 something we should start taking much more seriously.鈥�
