Generocity: “How Chef Marc Vetri is Bringing Vision and Imagination to Philly School Lunches”

The Reverend Charles "Chaz" Howard, University Chaplain at Penn, gives an overview of the work of the Vetri Foundation. "Food can empower...it can inspire change. It can build community," He quotes Chef Vetri as saying.

Excerpt:

"This nonprofit organization addresses a subject that does not often come up in every day conversation, food disparity. The experiences that our children have with food often depend on where they live and where they go to school.

In more affluent school districts or in private/independent schools, visiting the cafeteria one may find an amazing amount of options that include a salad bar, fresh sandwiches made to order, healthy warm entrées that are different nearly every day of the month, soups, and vegetarian options.

For other students, their daily lunchtime options are far more limited with the same rotation of fried junk food every week. After consuming nachos or chicken nuggets day in and day out, they leave school and go directly to a corner store or bodega (the only places to buy food and groceries in some neighborhoods) and buy sugar heavy snacks to tide them over until dinner at home.

The eating disparities in our country; not to mention the often forgotten reality that there are in fact children in our country who go hungry every night, are real. Marc Vetri wants to do something about it, but not in the way that you may think."

Read the full article at generocity.com or the huffington post

Tags: vetri, marc vetri, vetri foundation, huffington post, Charles Howard, eatiquette, healthy eating, charity, school lunch