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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt; COLOR: #c00000">Chef Ann Cooper</SPAN></STRONG><FONT
size=3>, celebrated chef, author, educator and "Renegade Lunch Lady" will be in
Oklahoma City as a featured speaker at a luncheon sponsored by Slow Food OKC,
UCO and OK Fit Kids Coalition. Chef Ann will speak about the incredible
work she has done to transform the lunch program in the Berkeley , California
Public Schools and will offer insights into what can be done in Oklahoma to
improve the lunch program. Additionally, we will have presentations by the
OK Fit Kids Coaltion and the OK Farm to School Program describing what is
currently underway in Oklahoma and how you can get involved. </FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3>Booksigning for Chef
Ann Cooper's new book <EM><U>Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed our
Children</U></EM> immediately following the luncheon hosted by Full Circle
Bookstore. </FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt; COLOR: #007f40">Where: UCO Nigh University
Center</SPAN></STRONG></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt; COLOR: #007f40">When: Saturday, March 10, 2007 at
11am</SPAN></STRONG></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt; COLOR: #007f40">RSVP: <A
title=mailto:slowfoodokc@yahoo.com href="mailto:slowfoodokc@yahoo.com"
target=_blank rel=nofollow><FONT color=#0000ff>slowfoodokc@yahoo.com</FONT></A>
or Cristina at 440-6555. </SPAN></STRONG><STRONG><U><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt; COLOR: #c00000">Spaces are limited so please RSVP
early</SPAN></U></STRONG><STRONG><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt; COLOR: #007f40">. Program and luncheon is
complimentary. Advance reservation required.</SPAN></STRONG></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3>Chef Ann Cooper is
the Director of Nutrition Services for the Berkeley Public School System.
She was hired by the Chez Panisse Foundation (world renowned chef Alice Waters'
foundation) to improve the lunch program in the public schools in Berkeley and
to provide a model for school districts around the country. Chef Ann did
not always serve food in the cafeteria line. She attended the Culinary
Instiute of America, was named one of the “up and coming” chefs by Gourmet
magazine and was the Executive Chef at the Putney Inn in Vermont before
embarking on her current career as educator and reformer. In just one year
under her direction, Berkeley Schools have gone from 95% processed foods to 95%
made from scratch and every school is on track to have a fresh salad bar.
</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText3 style="MARGIN: auto 0in"><FONT size=3>According to Chef
Ann, we won’t have much hope for future generations of healthy kids unless we
begin teaching them what good food really is. The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention has stated that 35 percent of our children are
overweight, which statistically predicts that children born in the year 2000
will be the first in our nation’s history to die at a younger age than their
parents—we just can’t allow this to happen. Sadly, Oklahoma ’s youth are
some of the least healthy in the nation and childhood obesity is considered the
number one health issue for children in our state. </FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText3 style="MARGIN: auto 0in"><FONT size=3>This is
important! if you want to compare what the kids are eating in Berkeley
this month to what they are eating in OKC here are 2 links - enjoy...</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText3 style="MARGIN: auto 0in"><FONT size=3>OKC = </FONT><A
title=http://www.okcps.org/cns/menus/Elem_menu_0207.pdf
href="http://www.okcps.org/cns/menus/Elem_menu_0207.pdf" target=_blank
rel=nofollow><FONT color=#800080
size=3>http://www.okcps.org/cns/menus/Elem_menu_0207.pdf</FONT></A></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText3 style="MARGIN: auto 0in"><FONT size=3>Berkeley = </FONT><A
title=http://www.lunchlessons.org/html_v2/calendar/pdfs/ChefAnn_calendar_feb.pdf
href="http://www.lunchlessons.org/html_v2/calendar/pdfs/ChefAnn_calendar_feb.pdf"
target=_blank rel=nofollow><FONT color=#800080
size=3>http://www.lunchlessons.org/html_v2/calendar/pdfs/ChefAnn_calendar_feb.pdf</FONT></A></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3>visit chef ann's
website </FONT><A title=http://www.lunchlessons.org/
href="http://www.lunchlessons.org/" target=_blank rel=nofollow><FONT
color=#800080 size=3>www.lunchlessons.org</FONT></A><FONT size=3> for more
information and lots of interesting articles about children and adult
nutrition.<SPAN> </SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3></FONT> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3></FONT> </P>
<P class=boldred style="MARGIN: auto 0in"><FONT size=3>RENEGADE LUNCH LADY
ISSUES CALL TO ACTION WITH <U>LUNCH LESSONS</U></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3><SPAN class=bold>Who: </SPAN>Chef Ann Cooper, director of
Nutrition Services for the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD)<BR><BR><SPAN
class=bold>What: </SPAN>Chef Ann is at the forefront of the movement to
transform the National School Lunch Program into one that places greater
emphasis on the health of students than the financial health of a select few
agribusiness corporations. Chef Ann's lunch menus emphasize regional, organic,
fresh foods, and nutritional education, helping students to build a connection
between their personal health and where their food comes from. Chef Ann's newest
book, Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children is bursting with
strategies for parents and school administrators to become engaged with issues
around school food-from public policy to corporate interest. It includes
successful case studies of school food reform, resources that can help make a
difference and healthy, kid-friendly recipes that can be made at home, or by the
thousands for a public school cafeteria. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT size=3>As childhood obesity in the United States has exploded from 5
percent to 17 percent between 1980 and 2004, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's Child Nutrition Program has failed to properly address this
growing epidemic. With more than 28 million students participating in the
National School Lunch Program and no organized national leadership in the battle
against childhood obesity, Chef Ann is demanding that the issue become a part of
the 2008 presidential race. And she is calling for all parents, teacher, school
food service directors, family farmers - anyone with a vested interest in the
future of our children - to join her in changing the way we feed our children,
one school lunch at a time. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=3></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT size=3><SPAN class=bold>Why: </SPAN>Chef Ann has proven her approach to
incorporate regional, organic and fresh foods into public school menus can work
and that simple changes within budget can be made. Accompanied with wellness
education, her model of school food delivery can transform children's health and
their approach to eating. She has taken this program from its pilot form at the
Ross School , a private school in East Hampton , NY , to public school systems
in Harlem and in Berkeley , CA - illustrating that change can happen anywhere
with the support of the community, the schools, local government and most
importantly, the parents and the kids. </FONT></P><BR></DIV></DIV><BR>
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