5 things: Grand jury investigates school lunches in California district

Each Friday I compile a list that highlights five things you probably missed in the news that week and why you should care about them.

Here’s your list for the week of Feb. 8:

1. Grand jury investigates school lunches in California district
The meal program in Kern County Schools has been under investigation by the county’s grand jury, which decided to take look into the school meals after hearing “from multiple sources that the food might not be to the liking of the students,” according to an article by The Bakersfield Californian. After talking with principals, foodservice employees and eating lunch with students, the grand jury released a five-page report on the district’s foodservice program. One issue it took offense to was the perceived lack of flavoring—read salt—in the meals. “In one instance, the meal was partially consumed as served, however when salt and pepper were added it made an overall improvement to the taste of the food,” the report states. One good takeaway from the investigation was that members of the grand jury were able to learn more about school foodservice programs and the challenges and regulations they face. Reducing sodium, for instance, has been a hot-button issue ever since the USDA released new nutrition regulations in 2010.  

Read more: Not from The Onion: Grand jury investigates school lunches

2. Illness forces college to shut down dining hall
After 100 students were sickened, a dining hall at Ursinus College was closed as the university worked to determine the cause of the outbreak. The college shut down the Wismer Dining Hall after learning that most of the sickened students had eaten at that hall for dinner. Health officials say this doesn’t necessarily mean the students were sickened by a foodborne illness, but dining services is taking the opportunity to do a thorough cleaning of the hall while it’s closed. In the meantime, the athletic center is serving as a makeshift cafeteria while the dining hall is closed.

Read more: Gym becomes dining hall at Ursinus College after mystery illness sickens 100 students

3. What’s happened since the US Foods/Sysco merger fail?
After the merger of US Foods and Sysco failed, there hasn’t been too much talk about what’s going on financially with those companies. A new article in Bloomberg takes a look at where the two companies stand now. (The article also looks at another proposed merger in the nuclear energy industry.) Here’s a quick takeaway of the two foodservice companies. US Foods recently filed for an IPO, after the company’s prospectus said it generated $23 billion in net sales last year. Two months after the failed merger, Train Fund Management disclosed a stake in Sysco, and its shares have increased about 6 percent.

Read more: When Mergers Take Too Long

4. Police looking into possible suicide of FSD in Texas who was under investigation   
Police are looking into the death of Silverio Capistran Jr., who was found dead earlier this week. Capistran’s death could be a suicide, police said. Capistran, who was the foodservice director at Brownsville ISD in Texas, had been under investigation and was on administrative leave. This isn’t the first apparent suicide of a foodservice professional this month. Chef Benoît Violier, chef at the acclaimed Restaurant de l’Hôtel de Ville in Switzerland, was also found dead of an apparent suicide.

Read more: Police look into death of BISD administrator who was under investigation

5. New study says high price for organic food might be worth it
A new study has found that while organic food has a higher price tag, its environmental advantage might outweigh that higher cost. I won’t get too nitty gritty into the details of the study, but the lead author looked into 40 years of studies into organic farming and its impacts and found, “organic agriculture has been able to provide jobs, be profitable, benefit the soil and environment and support social interactions between farmers and consumers. In some ways, there are practices in organic agriculture that really are ideal blueprints for us to look at feeding the world in the future.”

One interesting point the study made was how organic farming can actually be a tremendous help during droughts as organic soil holds more water than nonorganic soil, which increases the crop’s yield.

Read more: Why Organic Food Might Be Worth the High Price

Bonus: SNA’s 2016 position paper calls for increased school meal funding

Contact Becky Schilling at [email protected].
Follow her on Twitter: @bschilling_FM