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Articles by Ed Bruske

A reporter for the Washington Post in a previous life, I now tend my "urban farm" about a mile from the White House in the District of Columbia and teach kids something I call "food appreciation." I believe in self-reliance, growing food close to home and political freedom for the residents of the District of Columbia. I am currently working to introduce local produce into the D.C. school system. I write a daily food blog called The Slow Cook.

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  • Are kickbacks from Kellogg and others driving school-food purchasing?

    D.C. Public Schools in the last two years have taken in more than $1 million in corporate rebates — referred to by some as “kickbacks” — paid by giant food manufacturers as an inducement to place their brands on kids’ cafeteria trays at school. Documents I obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show that […]

  • Culinary boot camp whips ‘lunch ladies’ into cooking shape

    School cafeteria workers, a.k.a “lunch ladies,” rank somewhere below custodial staff in the school pecking order, yet they’re expected to perform miracles in the kitchen, turning pennies into full-blown meals. As part of my Cafeteria Confidential reporting, I recently went to Colorado to observe a “culinary boot camp” in which food-service directors and workers from around […]

  • ‘Top Chef’ flunks school-food math

    First Lady Michelle Obama and assistant chef Sam Kass in the White House garden. (White House photo)Bravo’s new season of “Top Chef,” set in D.C. and billed as “from the White House to your house,” debuts tomorrow with a big wet kiss for Michelle Obama and her campaign to end childhood obesity. Even the White […]

  • Hey, White House — how about ‘Eat Lunch with Your Kid Day’?

    If Michelle Obama and Sam Kass were to eat this recent DC school meal, it would cause a sensation.(Ed Bruske) The one thing never mentioned at all these White House events around childhood obesity is the food kids are actually eating at school every day. Let’s see, we’ve had loads of kids to the White House […]