The traditional staples of school cafeteria food are dropping off, reports the Toronto Board of Education. Less than half as many hamburgers are being sold than five years ago, and the hot dog has all but disappeared. Pasta sales have doubled while salads have quadrupled. The trends are similar across the country. Versa Services, which runs more than 160 school cafeterias across the country, confirms the trends. As sales of red meat continue to drop, ethnic and vegetarian foods become more popular. Cultural preferences and religious dietary restrictions play their part, but so do ethical and environmental issues. (GM: 23/6/97)

............

Resource:

Adding Values to Our Food System: An Economic Analysis of Sustainable Community Food Systems, 1997.* Integrity Systems Cooperative Co. for U.S. Department of Agriculture. Presents findings of year-long study on economic viability of sustainable community food systems -- where food is grown, processed, distributed and consumed locally. Discusses characteristics of sustainable agriculture farms, crop yields, production costs, farm income and processing and distribution systems. Finds that community-scale food systems can be cost competitive if designed in creative ways that market directly to consumers. 86 pp. US$24.95. Integrity Systems, 7101 Goodwin Road, Everson, WA 98247; phone (360) 966-2504; fax (360) 966-7037; executive summary available online: http://sunsite.unc.edu/farming-connection/foodsys/addval.htm.

(from PANUPS Resource Pointer #132, July 2, 1997)

==========================================

"On cursory examination, Invisible Giant might appear to be dry academic scrawl, suitable reading only for business-school types and policy wonks. In fact, this book is for activists. Kneen has crawled into the belly of the beast, as it were, and (in very readable prose) has described what he saw there...

"Kneen's Invisible Giant details the ethos, priorities, strategies and goals of transnational corporations as seen in a single paradigmatic example. It is not a 'parade of horribles' decrying the unjust and outrageous conduct of this soulless monster. It doesn't need to be. Simply telling the story ... allows a picture to emerge which needs no rhetorical embellishment to rile the reader...

"People who are concerned about the influence of corporations on civic institutions, on economic security, on the well-being of the environment, and who are interested in working to change that influence could hardly find a better primer on corporate thinking and conduct than this book." - Fred Renfroe in The Boycott Quarterly, Summer 1997.