School District Budget
Philadelphia school officials are looking for ways to expand the use of locally grown fruits and vegetables in district schools. Those officials told City Council that raising the price of a school meal by just one nickel could add a million dollars to a district budget that's already almost $40 million in the red.
By Bill Hangley
 Listen Now [1 minute 10 seconds]
WHYY News, May 7, 2008
Each year, the School District of Philadelphia serve about 20 millin meals. Chief Operating Officer Fred Farlino would love to make them healthier. He knows, however, that food service is typically a place where the district looks to save money, not spend it.
"Food services, while it serves food to children," said Farlino, "it is still a part of the operations division. I think the district looks to operations when there are hard times financially so we don't impact classroom productions."
Still, Farlino agrees with the advocates who say that children who don't eat well probably won't learn well. That's why the district is supporting a pilot program in West Philadelphia's School of the Future that will provide students with a complete menu of locally grown meats and vegetables.
Charlies Baltimore, a teacher at the school and an organizer of the project, considers the program to be an investment.
"The federal government is expending millions of dollars every year for obesity prgorams," said Baltimore.
"What's an obesity program? What you do is you give kids good food when they're young. You want to change lifestyles and life habits and long term, the obesity problem goes away."
Baltimore estimates that the locally grown menu will cost about 20 percent more than typical district meals.
Additional Information
Junk food: bad for students, good for school district budget (4/7/08) Daily News
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