COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Tuesday, May 6, 2008 1:15 a.m. - - - PRESENT: COUNCILWOMAN JANNIE BLACKWELL, CHAIR COUNCILMAN DARRELL L. CLARKE COUNCILMAN WILLIAM GREENLEE COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO RESOLUTION 080214 - Resolution authorizing the Philadelphia City Council Committee on Education to hold hearings on the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Alert that the Philadelphia School District received recalled-beef through the National School Lunch program... - - - V A R A L L O Incorporated Litigation Support Services Eleven Penn Center 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 215.561.2220 215.567.2670 2
Good afternoon. Thank you all for your patience. We will call to order the City Council Committee on Education with regard to Resolution No. 080214 dealing with the School District policy regarding food safety and nutrition. We note that to my left, Councilman Bill Greenlee is here. To his left, Councilman Frank Rizzo is here, and others will -- didn't I see Councilman DiCicco? Again, we say good afternoon and thank you all for being here today for this hearing regarding Resolution 17 080214 concerning food safety and nutrition in Philadelphia public schools. In early February of this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture initiated a recall of 143 million pounds of beef originating from the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company of Chino, California. This represented the largest beef recall in U.S. history. 3 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 On or about February 19, 2008, the School District of Philadelphia was alerted by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture that local schools had received the recalled beef products through the National School Lunch Program, and the School District announced it was withdrawing all dishes made with beef from school menus. The USDA ordered the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company to suspend operations after the Humane Society of the United States filmed employees using forklifts and electric prods to force cows too sick and injured to walk into the slaughter lineup. The USDA requires that sick and injured cows be inspected for salmonella, mad cow and E. Coli diseases before slaughter. And while the USDA has informed the School District that the risk of children being ill from recalled beef is negligible and the School District reported it had not received any notification of a child 4 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 being ill because of beef recall, School District parents have raised concerns about the National School Lunch Program, the recalled beef and the School District's efforts to ensure food safety and nutrition. Therefore, City Council authorized this Committee to hold hearings on the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Alert that the Philadelphia School District received recalled beef through the National School Lunch Program, including inquiry into efforts by the School District to ensure food safety and nutrition. As such, I'll call our first witnesses. I forgot. We never did have him read the title of the resolution. It would be nice. Thank you. Please do so.
Resolution 080214, authorizing the Philadelphia City Council Committee on Education to hold hearings on the Pennsylvania Department of 5 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 Agriculture Alert that the Philadelphia School District received recalled-beef through the National School Lunch Program including inquiry into efforts by the School District to insure food safety and nutrition.
Thank you very much. Our first witness -- so we hope we've kind of brought everybody up to date since it's been a little time. Our next will be Izzy or Izzat Melhem, Acting Director of Environmental Health Services, Department of Public Health. Next will be Alfred Farlino, Chief Operating Officer. I saw that first name. I thought it was Fred. I learned today it's Alfred Farlino, Chief Operating Officer, School District of Philadelphia. (Witness approached witness table.)
Thank you and welcome. 6 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214
Good afternoon, Chairwoman Blackwell and members of the Committee on Education. I am Izzat Melhem, Acting Director of Environmental Health Services in the Department of Public Health. Thank you for this opportunity to speak today on the Department's food inspection program and the functions of our agency related to the school inspection program and food product recall notices. Currently, the Environmental Health Services Unit has sanitarians 15 that conduct sanitation and safety 16 inspections of approximately 11,400 17 licensed food establishments in the City, 18 including our public schools. In Fiscal 19 Year 2007, we achieved our goal of 20 inspecting each of these food 21 establishments at least one time per 22 year, and we are on target to surpass 23 this level in Fiscal Year 2008. While most food establishments are inspected once annually, under Section 111 of the 7 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, the United States Department of Agriculture mandates a minimum of two food safety inspections per fiscal year for schools participating in the National School Lunch Program or School Breakfast Program. Through agreement with the School District of Philadelphia, we have been able to meet this mandate by conducting two inspections annually in each of our schools. As the local regulatory agency, the Department's Office of Food Protection is the recipient of frequent notices of food product recalls issued by state or federal agencies. Food distributors and retailers also receive notices of state or federal agency recalls. In Calendar Year 2007, the Department received notices of 22 separate recalls, and to date in Calendar 23 Year 2008, we have received notices of 15 recalls. Recall notices trigger a series 8 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 of responsive actions, most of which are carried out on a voluntary basis by the manufacturers, distributors and retailers of the product at issue. In one recall scenario, a manufacturer takes the initiative to proceed with a recall when they discover that one of their own products may be defective. In other cases, a federal or state agency will inform a manufacturer of the agency's findings on a defective item that they have produced and suggest or request that a recall be initiated. In most cases, the burden is on the manufacturer to notify its distributors and retailers of the recall and on the appropriate federal or state agencies to disseminate advisory information to the entities handling the product and also advise the public at large through the media. The Hallmark/Westland recall of meat and meat products was the largest recall in United States history, involving more than 143 million pounds of 9 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 meat and meat products produced over a two-year period. Two weeks prior to the official recall, Hallmark/Westland notified retailers that the United States Department of Agriculture Administrative Hold had been placed on its meat products. This unusual step taken by the USDA mandated retailers to detain and quarantine the identified product until future notice was received. Approximately two weeks later, Hallmark/Westland upgraded the USDA Administrative Hold to a USDA Class II recall, a voluntary recall that covers products that might pose a slight health risk or a slight threat of a more serious nature. Shortly after the recall was announced, Hallmark/Westland announced that it was ceasing operations, which would shift the burden of the recall to regulatory agencies, as well as to wholesalers, retailers and facilities handling and receiving the products. For more than two weeks, the Philadelphia 10 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 Department of Public Health worked with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture on the recall, notifying business operators in the City and Philadelphia School District officials to ensure that all were informed of the PDA recall of this product.
It appears that when the recall was initially announced by Hallmark/Westland, there was some confusion that might have been due to the unusual decision to place affected product on Administrative Hold. Retailers not familiar with the term might have continued using the product between the time of the initial announcement and announcement of the actual recall. Adding to the confusion was the manner in which information was released regarding products included in the recall, with the list of products identified by the company revised several times during this period and at some point on a daily basis. Sanitarians were 11 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 leaving retail establishments only to have to return later to check on newly identified products. In spite of the challenges related to this recall, we believe that the cooperative efforts of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, the School District of Philadelphia and the Department of Public Health ensured that all contaminated product was removed and destroyed in a timely and efficient manner. We will continue to work with these agencies to ensure the health and safety of our children and the residents of the City. Thank you for the opportunity to present this testimony on this issue. I will now answer questions.
Thank you very much for your testimony. What products were there other than meat?
Any meat-containing product. For example, 12 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 ravioli, if there was a meat sauce or it was meat-containing ravioli.
So all were related to products that had meat in them?
When you say that the U.S. Department of Agriculture placed an Administrative Hold on their products, does that mean they are not able to operate within our School District, or what does Administrative Hold provide?
An Administrative Hold mandates that the product be quarantined. Essentially, figuratively, that yellow tape, or literally, be placed around the quarantined product so that it cannot be used, served, sold or even destroyed until further notice.
And finally -- and then I'll call on Councilman Rizzo -- my last question, you 13 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 state that this Hold was raised to a Class II recall of products that, quote, "might pose a slight health risk or slight threat of a more serious nature." Can you elaborate on that?
Sure. There are three classes of recalls. Class I is the most serious, where something that might pose an immediate health hazard and to a wider spread or it might be a defective medical device, for example, like a heart valve that might be defective, something that would pose an immediate health hazard. A Class II recall, there was no 17 evidence of anybody becoming ill, for example, from this meat product or, speaking generally, from the product identified, but there is a slight health risk or a risk of a serious nature, but nothing has definitively been identified, no reports have been identified.
So it's just Class I and Class II? 14 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214
A Class III recall is for products that are unlikely to cause any adverse health reactions. For example, packaging, something that may not be -- that might violate FDA labeling or manufacturing regulations, off color, off taste, that pose a very slight, if any, health risk.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Could you be specific to the region and then the School District itself. The recall involved 143 million pounds nationally. How significant was that here in the School District? How 15 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 much product did we have in the School District and was any of it consumed?
Well, it was my understanding in speaking with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture initially on this recall that this was a two-year recall of product that had been manufactured over a two-year period, at least that they know of, meaning a lot of it was consumed by the time it was known to the appropriate authorities that there was potential for contamination of this product.
Isn't that kind of silly? Unless they're thinking that people inventory this material for two years, why would they alarm people or concern people and tell them about something that's already consumed maybe a year and a half before?
Considering how this information came out to the public, it was by somebody taking a hidden camera into the factory. So they had to be very 16 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 forthright in whatever they knew regarding this event.
So do you know how much of the 143 million pounds over a two-year period we actually consumed in the School District of Philadelphia?
So we had, in a nutshell here, we had 143 million pounds of meat that was destroyed, I assume.
One hundred forty-three was identified potentially as being contaminated that was manufactured over a two-year period, and this was a 17 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 nationwide recall.
Now, do we have any -- and I'll ask the School District when they come up. Did we have any meat recalled that hit the Philadelphia school system?
There was meat identified that was, when the recall was announced, that was destroyed in any facility, whether it be the School District or a business in the City.
And did the Health Department actually sample and validate the fact that this material, this meat, was defective, bad, spoiled, shouldn't have been consumed? Did you validate any of the information just to see exactly what we were destroying? Did you take samples?
We did not, and we generally do not. We just follow the recall notices to assist in getting product off the -- when our assistance is requested, to get the product away from 18 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 consumers and out of the stream of consumers and retailers.
So I don't want to use the word "assume." I hate to be asking these questions the way I'm asking them, but how much of this material, the 143 million pounds that were stockpiled and shipped out over a two-year period, was consumed by School District students?
Councilman, I honestly don't know what their daily use of meat and meat products would be.
Well, I'm really not learning much here, and I'm not blaming you for that. I think that when the School District comes up, we really need to understand. We're here. We're talking about a recall of 143 million pounds, I think I understand, over a two-year period that was identified. What impact did that have on the City of Philadelphia to the supermarkets or to the School 19 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 District or to the vending machine -- the vendor that sells hot dogs? So I really would like to know exactly what was the result here in the City of Philadelphia. Was it nothing? Was it something? Do we know? I mean, I can't imagine the Health Department not wanting to take a little sample to say, you know, we threw all this material out. Whether we got compensated from the manufacturer, I don't know. I'll ask that question, too. But, in fact, did we have bad meat? We err on the side of caution, we just throw it all away, but you would think health officials would want to know the significance of the meat that we had in the freezer or refrigerator someplace, was it bad or not bad. I can't imagine us not wanting to confirm that.
Yeah. I can understand, and I can communicate -- I can speak with the Department of Agriculture to find out what the total 20 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 that was removed, because they worked with us along -- they worked along with us on this.
Well, I would think the School District would know what impact it had.
Well, for the School District, but I was talking about the City overall in other businesses where product would have been identified.
All right. We'll wait for the School District to see if they can answer that. Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate that time.
Mr. Fred Farlino, Chief Operating Officer for the School District of Philadelphia. Thank you for coming. (Witnesses approached witness 21 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 table.)
Fred Farlino, Interim Chief Operating Officer of the School District of Philadelphia. Madam Chair, Councilman Greenlee and Councilman Rizzo, thank you for allowing the District to come forward with testimony today regarding the beef recall in February. And in addition, we'd like to give testimony regarding the School District's Wellness Program, as well as the manner in which the District handles food safety in an ongoing way. We also want to talk a little bit about our partnership that we have with several community organizations and parent groups to, on a regular basis, consider ways in which we can improve the lunch program. So we are going to give brief testimony. With me today is Mr. Wayne Grasela, who is the Senior Vice-President 22 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 for Food Services, and he'll provide testimony, and we'll be prepared to answer any questions the Council may have.
Good afternoon, Chairwoman Blackwell and members of the Education Committee. My name is Wayne Grasela and I am the Senior Vice-President overseeing Food Services for the School District of Philadelphia. Thank you for allowing me to come before you today to give testimony on this resolution. In my testimony I will give an overview of the District's response to the USDA beef recall and our standard food safety practices. I will also give you an overview of the types of services we provide to students and what we do to guarantee the quality and healthfulness of our foods. 23 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 The beef recall: On January 30, 2008, USDA placed an Administrative Hold on the Hallmark/Westland commodity products -- specific contract numbers and lots were identified -- that were in or destined for federal food nutrition programs. This included the National School Lunch Program. The Hold was put in place to allow the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Services, FSIS, to investigate allegations of cruel and inhumane treatment of cattle at the Hallmark/Westland facility and the possibility that sick or downed cattle had gotten into the human food supply. The School District of Philadelphia fully complied with the Hold and immediately started working with vendors to identify the products that were subject to it. Only one vendor, Pierre Foods, was identified as having processed beef subject to the Hold destined for Philadelphia on site in their Chicago processing plant. No other 24 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 vendors had product subject to the Hold in their inventory. On February 17, 2008, FSIS expanded the Hold to a product recall after determining that the Hallmark/Westland facility was not in compliance with FSIS regulations. The USDA designated the product recall as a Class II recall because there was a remote probability of adverse health consequences if the beef product was consumed. The recall applied to the products subject to the Hold, as well as all ground beef products by Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company delivered directly to the federal food and nutrition programs, including the National School Lunch Program. This applied to meat that had been delivered at any time since February 1, 2006. Based on the new USDA directive, the School District determined that we had beef products in inventory that were subject to recall. These 25 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 products were identified, clearly labeled, and the School District awaited the USDA's instruction as to their disposition. On February 19, 2008, the School District removed all beef products, regardless of their source, from its menus until further notice. Thereafter, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Food Distribution, contacted National School Lunch Program sponsors, including the School District, and authorized the destruction of all Hallmark/Westland beef products. The School District fully complied with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's instructions and adhered to all applicable USDA guidelines in the destruction of the recalled beef products. As a precaution, the School District did not restore beef to its menus until all vendors had been 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 contacted and asked to verify that the beef they had supplied or were in the process of supplying did not come from Hallmark/Westland. On February 25, 2008, after receiving the requested verification, the School District restored beef products to the school lunch menu. It is important to note that at no time before the School District removed beef products from its menus did we receive reports of alleged illness due to the use of beef products. Food safety practices: Food safety is of paramount importance to the School District. We strictly adhere to all applicable food safety laws, regulations and guidelines.
We handle food in an environment free from biological, chemical and physical hazards that might compromise the safety and quality of the foods served to our students. Laboratory analysis of food 27 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 products and meal components used in school operations is conducted before leaving the vendors. Food is quarantined and random samples undergo pathogenic analysis at an independent quality control lab. All School District Food Service Managers are food safety certified through a nationally recognized and state-approved program. All levels of Food Service employees are trained on food safety and sanitation. Prerequisite programs such as employee hygiene, equipment management and sanitation are the foundation of the District's food safety management. These programs are closely monitored for their effectiveness in preventing food hazards and address operational and sanitation conditions. The programs incorporate all federal, state and local food safety laws and regulations. Documentation of food temperature controls and proper food preparation procedures verifies that we 28 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 are meeting food safety requirements. The District's Wellness Policy: The School District's Division of Food Services plays a significant role in ensuring compliance with the Wellness Policy Implementation Plan and has been pioneer in developing and implementing national guidelines that exceed all federal and state requirements. It should be noted that these groundbreaking initiatives were implemented several years prior to the federal and state mandates and are still best practice nationwide. In addition to these initiatives, breakfasts, lunches and after-school meals offered in all schools meet or exceed all USDA requirements. Studies have proven the role of a nutritious breakfast on students' academic performance. This year, all students in K to 8 were offered breakfast daily at no charge. The District fully supports the School Breakfast Program and 29 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 aims to include breakfast in the school day so breakfast is available to all students. Partnerships: Nutrition education is part of the District's Comprehensive Health Education standards. Nutrition education is taught across the School District curriculum and encourages and supports healthy eating by students through promotion of healthy foods, healthy food preparation methods and health-enhancing nutrition practices. The School District joins forces with many agencies around the City to bring nutrition education into the classrooms. Some of our community partners are Drexel University Nutrition Center, Albert Einstein Medical Center, The Food Trust, Health Promotion Council and Urban Nutrition Initiatives. The School District recognizes the importance of community involvement to leverage resources for program development and maximizing policy 30 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 development. In a collaborative effort to decrease risk factors for Type 2 diabetes and childhood obesity, the School District and Temple University have partnered to participate in the national research study, Healthy, which takes place in several Philadelphia schools. The School District has also partnered with Philadelphia Urban Food and Fitness Alliance, PUFFA, an organization focused on creating vibrant communities that supports access to locally grown, healthy and affordable food and safe places for physical activity. The District is exploring cost-effective farm-to-school opportunities. This includes local food grower's provision of fresh fruits and vegetables to Philadelphia schools. We have met with parent advocacy groups such as Parents United for Public Education, a committee focused 31 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 on healthy food initiatives, to discuss options for school menus. I would like to conclude my testimony with citing the School District's Division of Food Services Mission Statement.
It is our mission to make a significant contribution to the general well-being, mental and physical capacity, and learning ability of each student and afford them the opportunity to fully participate in the education process. This will be achieved by providing students with wholesome, nutritious and appetizing meals served in a courteous manner in a sanitary and pleasant dining environment. This mission will be pursued in the most efficient and cost-effective means possible and according to the regulatory and policy guidelines of the National School Lunch Act, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture and Education, Philadelphia Department of 32 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 Health and the School District of Philadelphia. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today, and I would be happy to answer questions you may have.
Thank you very much. Could you tell us more about your Wellness Policy Implementation Plan or give us a little more information in terms of what it is?
I provided a copy to the Council, so hopefully you have it in front of you, but there's actually six components to the Wellness Policy. It's to be implemented over a three-year period. Number one is School Health Councils, and that's to make sure that there is a cadre of people on site at each school to support the efforts that we have or where they're trying to implement nutrition standards for all schools available on school campuses 33 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 during the school day, and that's school meal guidelines, which are ensuring that the District is meeting or exceeding all the federal and state requirements for the meals we serve; making sure that the meal times that are established under the USDA regulations are being met; making sure that the snacks we provide meet the snack guidelines that are identified in the Wellness Policy; making sure that the nutrition education component is met. Currently, we have nutrition education programs in 247 schools. Physical education. That's to ensure that as part of the Wellness Policy not only are we teaching good eating habits, we are enforcing that in the menus and what we offer and serve over the counters, but we're also incorporating physical activity into the school day. And other school-based activities.
Thank you very much. Councilman Rizzo. 34 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214
Thank you. You heard my questions of the Health Department, and you indicated that there was no reports of illness during that period of time. Did you identify how much of that recalled material got to the District and was consumed?
Over a two-year period? We have not identified that and I'm not sure that we would be able to. It would require a lot of research, not on our part necessarily, but on the processors and the federal government. No beef from Hallmark/Westland was ever slated for Philadelphia. There was -- one of our processors received beef for another state, but because of the federal regulations for first in/first out, the beef becomes commingled. That's what made it so challenging. We know for a fact that nothing on the original Hold ever made it into our -- the contract numbers and lots ever 35 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 made it into Philadelphia. But we have identified what we did have on site and what was processed for us that was put on quarantine and not served.
Is that a weakness? My goodness, if Fed Ex can track a package, I can't imagine a major distributor that distributes how many million, 143 million pounds of beef, can't tell you where it went.
Councilman, we were well aware of the vendors who provided the District food that may have come from this vendor. That's why we were able to clearly identify and quarantine and ultimately destroy the beef that came from Hallmark/Westland versus beef from other manufacturers. To answer your question specifically about what about the meat prior to the Hold, prior to the recall, we probably -- and we haven't had this conversation with our larger providers, and we can do that, but one of the things 36 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 that you might want to note in Mr. Grasela's testimony, and, that is, that for all products, including beef, every -- and it's done through sampling. All of our vendors who provide the School District meat or any product have tests that they conduct. They pull lots off and they test them. So the assumption is that during this two-year period prior to this recall, it would have seemed very likely that should there have been a contamination in any product but specifically in this Hallmark/Westland product, that it would have been discerned through the extensive testing that our vendors are required to do.
Good. I heard that point, and that's appreciated. My final question is, who is empowered at the School District? If something that's bad hits the District and it gets to the point where it's being prepared and it doesn't smell good or 37 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 it's not good, at the final point, who can say, We're not preparing this?
We have managers on site at each school who have been trained in recognizing conditions like this. We have policies and procedures in place that are as simple as when in doubt, don't serve it, pull it aside. We have contracts with independent laboratories to evaluate it to make sure it is safe to consume. Almost all protein that comes into the District -- when I say "protein," beef patties, chicken nuggets -- all that goes through a pathological evaluation prior to -- the meals are actually produced several weeks in advance so they can go through an incubation period before they're released to be served to the schools.
I might add, Councilman, that there are very strict processes that our staff members are trained to use whenever they do see a 38 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 problem, and there is a process in the way that is quarantined and ultimately discarded.
Let's finish up on the financial aspects of a recall. When you guys have to throw away hundreds and hundreds of pounds of anything, do you recover it? Do you recover the costs?
We have applied -- the USDA gave us specific guidelines and instructions on how to recover our funds. We have complied with all that as we destroyed it. They've laid out all the components of the cost of production of that meal, to the destruction of that meal, and they are going to -- it is our understanding they will reimburse us, but I understand because of the scope of this, it could take several months and it could be in the millions, if not billions, of dollars to recover the cost. But we have applied for the reimbursement, yes. 39 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214
Well, that's good to hear. It sounds like you have that act together over there. It's good. I hear constantly during the summer months about how important it is when you cook beef out at a barbecue especially, you cook it good, and even if it is bad in some cases, the preparation can correct that, even though that's not a desirable situation, but I would assume that even if we did get some of that and it was prepared properly, that that's probably the reason why we didn't see any illness, and that's a good thing.
Thanks. Thanks for filling us in on this. It's interesting.
You're 40 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 welcome. Jonathan Stein, Community Legal Services, and Sydelle or Sydelle Zove.
Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger. You can pronounce it properly for us. Thank you.
Thank you. Good afternoon, Chairwoman Blackwell and Councilmembers Greenlee and Rizzo. Our focus this afternoon and our testimony is solely going to be on the critical and crucially important School Breakfast Program. I am Jonathan Stein, general counsel at Community Legal Services, and with me is?
Sydelle Zove from the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger.
Thank you for holding this hearing on one of the 41 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 important school reform issues that's hardly received the attention it rightly deserves, school nutrition, and the impacts on education when undernourished and malnourished children try to learn in today's schools, especially without a nutritious breakfast to begin the school day. Community Legal Services, the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger, Public Citizens for Children and Youth, PCCY, and others have underway a joint project to ensure that all low-income children in the City participate in the School Breakfast Program. This is a longstanding federal entitlement program that makes a nutritious meal available to every low-income child. This hearing offers a unique opportunity to offer some insights mid stage as we believe that with 100,000 Philadelphia school children eligible but not receiving free breakfasts and with 42 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 federal funding available to provide these breakfasts, there should be no 4 delay to pushing aggressively forward toward this goal. I should add that we have some extraordinary administrators, like Wayne Grasela, in the School District right now who share these goals, and I think there's some wonderful leadership at that level to help realize this goal. But I think as our testimony will unfold, we'll show what remains to be done. Having a nutritious daily breakfast is crucial to learning, and a hungry child entering the school day starts that day under a severe handicap. Stomach cramps and headaches and the apathy caused by hunger are real obstacles to learning. More broadly, let us not forget that the school meals programs are a crucial component of the anti-hunger safety net, especially at the current time of rapidly rising food prices and 43 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 with food cupboards currently turning hungry people away. The scientific evidence has shown a clear and proven link between hunger and the capacity to learn. And welcome Councilman Clarke to this hearing as well. Children from families experiencing hunger and food insecurity are two to three times more likely to have emotional, behavioral and academic problems. In contrast, school-age children who do eat breakfast demonstrate more creativity, higher test scores, fewer absences, less time spent in school nurse's offices, fewer conflicts with classmates and greater cooperation. School-age children and adolescents who are iron deficient even by a small margin have lower scores on standardized math tests and those who skip breakfast are less able to solve simple visual tasks and they're easily distracted. 44 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 I'm going to skip some of our written testimony and go on to say school administrators in Philadelphia have found as a direct result of the School Breakfast Program that, quote, "absenteeism, lateness and incidents of mischief have diminished. " The program, quote, "has increased pupil efficiency in school and classroom performance" and, quote, "filled a great need, resulting in improved attendance and behavior," end quote. " We go back 40 years to show how the extraordinary educational value of school breakfast is not a new revelation. 45 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 Yet, today in our Philadelphia school population of close to 200,000, where at least three-quarters of those students are low income and, therefore, eligible for a free breakfast, only about 43,000 students currently eat a free or reduced-price breakfast. This means that approximately 100,000 students are low income and eligible and not receiving a free breakfast. Participation in the School Lunch Program at 98,000 students demonstrates that school-based meals can reach a much larger percentage of low-income children. We, therefore, must ask why fewer than half of those children eating the free -- are eating a free or reduced-price breakfast in comparison to those who eat the free lunch.
The Washington-based Food Research and Action Center, FRAC, in a recent study of the National School Breakfast Program looked at the 23 largest school districts and noted that 46 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 8 percent of Philadelphia students eat the free or reduced-price lunch -- who eat the free or reduced-price lunch also eat the free breakfast. That places our public school system behind others with higher 8 participation rates. 9 percent of its kids who have free 13 lunches also get the free breakfast 14 program. 15 The FRAC Center estimated that if Philadelphia boosted its enrollment in the School Breakfast Program from 43 percent to 70 percent of the school lunch population, we could add an additional 25,000 plus students to the free breakfast program and the School District would pull down almost $6 million in available federal funds to pay for those school breakfasts. To give you a concrete idea of 47 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 unmet need, we looked at three West Philadelphia schools, Chairman Blackwell, which I believe are in your district to give you a concrete idea of what goes on in James Dobson, Henry Lea and Samuel Powel. Of the Dobson School with 215 low-income students, only 58 are in the School Breakfast Program enrollment. At Henry Lea with 383 low-income students, only 131 are in the School Breakfast Program. At Samuel Powel, there are about 130 low-income kids, and only 51 are in the breakfast program right now, even though all those children are, in theory, eligible for the School Breakfast Program. Our school breakfast project is documenting the best practices in high breakfast participation schools in Philadelphia and around the nation, and what is emerging is a pattern that shows a direct correlation between individual school-based leadership and high enrollment. Where administrators and 48 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 teachers understand the link between hunger, poor academic performance, student absenteeism and behavioral issues, breakfast programs have been implemented to enjoy a very high participation, but having access to school breakfasts should not be a matter of chance of where you live or what school you go to and subject to the degree of commitment by particular principals or teachers. The Philadelphia School Reform Commission and this District's new CEO, Dr. Arlene Ackerman, can make school breakfast expansion and participation a high priority across all schools and can model programs based on home-grown successes at high participation schools in Philadelphia, such as Fairhill, which has 95 percent breakfast participation; Henry A. Brown, Creighton Thomas and Hackett with 89 percent; and others with greater than 80 percent, which include Cayuga, Finletter, Folk Arts Cultural 49 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 Treasures Charter School, Gillespie Middle School, Hartranft, Pennypacker, Stanton and Wister. Just yesterday we learned the School District has been selected as one of the large urban districts in the 8 nation to participate in a major 9 breakfast expansion program of USDA. We 10 hope that this will be a boost. 11 And, finally, one major reform to school meals takeup and one that we helped get started through Community Legal Services and the Welfare Rights Organization back in 1991 here was the policy of universal service where all children, without stigma or discrimination, receive free school meals without the need for each family to complete a means test written application to become eligible. Apparently, unannounced to the greater public, the School District, to its credit, in February 2008 extended the universal service policy beyond the current 50 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 200-plus schools and sites to an additional 50 sites in K through 4 schools for the breakfast program.
This 5 is an important step, which we look back 6 and think should have been much better 7 publicized and with information put 8 directly in the hands of students and their parents, and this was a very important step and hopefully a crucial step toward the needed goal of making universal service a policy at every school and site in the City for both breakfast and lunch. In conclusion, we say that a commitment to universal school breakfast represents an investment in our children and the future of our city. The commitment now must be coupled with a broadly supported plan to offer appealing and nutritionally sound meals and to do so in a manner that promotes maximum parent, administrator and teacher participation. We trust that this Committee and Council as a whole will 51 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 support the effort to enroll all eligible children in the School Breakfast Program. And I ask Sydelle Zove, is there anything further you'd like to add to that.
Yes. I would just like to remind Council that Mayor Nutter has made a commitment to improving the school completion rate in Philadelphia, where we have a dropout rate of 45 percent at this time, which is tragic, and we're convinced that by providing young students and high school students with proper nutrition, we can help to improve the graduation rate.
Thank you very much. Very important testimony. And obviously we support children having this School Breakfast Program, and we thank you again for your testimony. Are there any questions? (No response.)
Thank you both very much. 52 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214
Charlie Baltimore, health and fitness educator, High School of the Future. (Witness approached witness table.)
Thank you for having me. My name is Charlie Baltimore. I'm a health and fitness educator at the High School of the Future, which we are very proud resides in your district, Councilwoman Blackwell.
I'm privileged to teach at an institution that understands the direct correlation between diet, behavior and academics. While I have been an educator for 11 years, this is my first in the School District of Philadelphia. I was amazed that this beautiful facility with a 53 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 full-service kitchen was serving low-grade prepared food to our learners. Since the High School of the Future is a bold step into the arena of progressive education, I was completely perplexed as to how our learners were not being offered food that was as carefully planned as our curriculum and as directly tied into the goals and objectives. What was truly surprising was the response I received from administrators to my request to convert our food services to the farm-to-school model, which would bring fresh, locally produced produce and fruit into our school. A resounding yes was the response. Our Acting Principal, Jose Lebron, and District Superintendent Shirl Gilbert were receptive and supportive and continue to be so. The Division of Food Services under the leadership of Wayne Grasela has demonstrated the same support throughout this process. This is a key factor: the recognition of a problem and 54 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 the willingness to address it. We immediately formed a coalition of community partners, many of whom I expect this body to hear from. This partnership includes The Food Trust, White Dog Foundation, Temple University, University of Penn, Drexel University, Millcreek Farm and the Urban Nutrition Initiative. At this point of the process, we have identified a distributor that will represent a consortium of local farmers, and we expect to have the new menu in place by the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year. Not only will our learners benefit from a healthy diet, the School District will infuse a true stimulus into our local economy and support the struggling farmers. This is a win-win venture. I know a main focus of this Committee is on the beef recall. It is an academic discussion based on archaic guidelines. The fact of the matter is, even if the recalled beef was not tainted 55 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 by FDA standards, it would still be unhealthy and dangerous by scientific standards. Unless the procured beef is certified organic, or at the very least produced under clean and ethical standards, we are bombarding our children with a daily dose of antibiotics, growth hormones and an array of bacterial strains. It is important to remember that the American-bred beef products are not allowed to be sold in Europe because our standards are far inferior to that of the European Union. The recall has elevated the discussion on nutrition in our schools to the level it should always have been: top priority. The City of Philadelphia has a window of opportunity to be a leader by breaking with the paltry and life-threatening policies of the USDA and FDA and doing the right thing: offering our students the freshest and most nutritious food possible. There is no need to develop a 56 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 grandiose operating plan to accomplish our goals. I have found that educating ourselves on the volumes of readily available empirical data and logic-based decision-making to be sufficient for realizing impactful outcomes. We live in an agriculture-rich region of the United States. Our indigenous fruits and vegetables are plentiful and highly nutritious. Why then do we even consider purchasing perishables from hundreds of miles away that age, spoil and lose nutrients during transport? Harrisburg Dairies is one of the last remaining independently owned dairies that produce healthy additive-free milk products from grass-fed cows. Why do we purchase hormone-laced milk from unscrupulous conglomerates, often at a great distance? When we add the spiraling cost of gasoline to the equation, the current policy begs for fiscal sensibility.
During a recent nutrition class, my students learned how to read 57 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 food labels. An inspection of our cafeteria cheese uncovered an ingredient classified by the FDA as toxic. What we are doing with food procurement on the local level is paramount to the exportation of American jobs on the national level. We must become activists on behalf of our children in order to force change in the lobbyist-influenced policies that throw nails on the road to sensible nutrition plans every day for school administrators and procurement officers across the nation. The members of this legislative body will undoubtedly be inundated with stacks of research findings, reports, scientific comparisons and the like. I will spare you a boring recount on my part. I will state it is most important that you do not view the topic of nutrition in our schools in isolation. What we and our young people consume is directly connected to academic performance, behavior and social 58 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 interaction. Our bodies and minds need food products rich in vitamins and free of chemicals. We cannot seek ways to elevate test scores without unilaterally removing the tons of pesticides, growth hormones, MSG, artificial coloring and flavors, toxic enhancers and spoiled mush, shrewdly disguised as food, from our schools. At the School of the Future, there is a noticeable increase in negative behavior and nodding students after lunch. What else can be expected after an injection of all the pollutants I just mentioned? The lack of a nutritional diet even has a role in the violence that has gripped our city and schools. Just as cattle become ill and often crazed when denied nature's intended diet of grass, the human brain and nervous system become erratic and strained after a very short period when we attempt to defy nature. Any educator will tell you, academics are only a part of what we do 59 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 every day. We must model proper behavior, intervene in conflict, teach life skills, and many times educate families. An evening healthy cooking class for families and the community will be a part of the School of the Future nutrition initiative. If we begin to provide wholesome food to our students during the school day and they continue poor eating habits at home, we are only having a minimal effect. It would be beneficial to develop systematic strategies for educating families. Schools are perfectly positioned to have a major impact on the surrounding communities, and we need to accept this as an obligation, not an option. There is also much talk about the obesity epidemic. AIDS is an epidemic. Melanoma is an epidemic. With the exception of a small percentage of genetic-related weight issues, obesity is not an epidemic. It is a choice. We must, as a society, cease the common 60 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 practice of displacing blame and accept responsibility for our actions and poor choices. Schools have a profound responsibility to implement and maintain a fact-based conversation on an issue which, at the very core, is about one's ability to lead a happy and fruitful life-style. As an educator, I must present assignments to my students to help determine if they, A, understand the lesson presented; and, B, fully accept the material as legitimate and meaningful. So here is your assignment: Arrange to have the typical School District-prepared lunch provided to Councilmembers and staff and Administration staff for one week, just one week. See if there is a change in your ability to function at optimum levels and overall state of being. Then imagine eating like this for ten months out of every year for 14 years. We truly are what we eat. 61 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 I applaud this body for elevating this topic. I hope you pursue it in the upcoming years, and I would love to come back next year with some of our learners to also testify.
Thank you. We thank you for your testimony and would welcome them. Are there questions for Mr. Baltimore? (No response.)
I know you're at GAMP, Girard Academic Music Program. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Thank 62 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 you very much. Please identify yourself for the record and begin your testimony. We also have Alison McDowell, if that is the issue, parent, Meredith Elementary; Mary Jo Kannon, McCall Elementary, with two students; Shaharazad Ali, George Washington Elementary; and, finally, Sandy Sherman, Food Trust. If there's anyone else here who would like to testify, please see Mr. Christmas at the side of the room and we will certainly recognize you. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
My name is Helen Gym. I definitely want to thank the Council Education Committee for holding this hearing. It's very important to all of us parents and the Philadelphia public schools.
My name is Helen Gym and I'm the mother of three children who are in or entering the Philadelphia public schools. I'm also a member of Parents United for Public Education, which has organized a collective of parents and advocates who have been working on seeing concrete changes in the school food program since last fall after we pushed the District to renegotiate its contract back then with Aramark and a contract that was eventually terminated. Among our concerns that we've been talking about have been the expansion of greater food options, vegetarian options, access to drinking water, non-dairy milk alternatives. We've also talked about changes in meal times and schedules and a greater transparency in the School District's nutrition program and to open up a discussion about having an annual report on nutritional services. I know that the horrors of the 64 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 Westland/Hallmark recall can't be underscored, but I also hope that the Council Education Committee can also consider the everyday misery of too many of our children regarding their school food programs, things like having a 9:00 a.m. lunch; things like in kindergarten through the 8th grade, elementary school conversions, how 8th graders often get the same meals as the youngest kids in the school; things like competition between lunch programs and recess time, that too often breakfast competes with play time and lunch also competes with play time on the schoolyard, one of their few times to play; things like full-service kitchens that go unused. At Ziegler Elementary, which was a beautiful elementary school that was remodeled with a full-service kitchen, they have a satellite meal program, which means that the meals are brought in and that there is nobody there to actually cook and use the facilities that are there. 65 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 I want to state that the School Breakfast and Lunch Program is the most important and reliable food source for tens of thousands of our kids. It costs over $90 million a year. But too many of our kids are hungry, hungry in our schools. They opt out. They fill up on junk food, and we wonder why they're apathetic, tired or acting out in classes. And the reasons are complicated, as we said. They range partially from the scheduling to competition between food and nutrition, to unappealing menus, to the lack of appropriate options, including vegetarian and non-dairy alternatives, but most of all it boils down to an approach where cost efficiency and the unwillingness to break the standard contracts around food procurement services have trumped the practical reality of what's happening in our school lunchroom. So we ask Council to hear and talk to the parents who are here today. 66 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 We hope that you will talk to the children and how they have -- how they feel about food and the food choices that have been presented for them, and we ask you to join with us later as we go to talk to the District to impress the importance of discussing the school food program. We don't want the Westland/Hallmark recall to be a one-time issue. It's been an important opportunity for school districts across the nation to look at investing in school food programs, not seeing them as a break-even line item budget or as a money-maker technically for the public schools, but as a serious investment in our children's future.
Thank you very much. Question, Councilman Greenlee.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a quick question. I 67 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 picked up one thing you said. 9:00 a.m. lunch, is that what you said?
Oh, yeah. High schools sometimes they get scheduled first period. It's been -- it's a scheduling problem at the schools.
Some of them have 2:30 lunches. Some of the schools schedule lunches at 2:30, which means that children are totally opting out of the lunch program, which is wasting the District tens of thousands of dollars.
What do you mean? Instead of, what, going to lunch? That's their last period?
They sometimes have a first period/last period. Lunches, depending on how large the school is, can range from 9:30 a.m., 9:00 a.m. up to 1:30 p.m. It's a big problem at a lot of the schools, and I'm sure --
You say 68 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 that's mostly high schools where that's a problem?
No, it's not just high schools. They do that with the middle schools, too.
Elementary, especially as the K-to-8 conversions have happened. You've got eight lunch periods. You've got eight grades and you've got a certain set number of lunch periods in a day. You only have this time period, so you are going to squeeze in as many kids as you can into limited hours during the day. It is one of the reasons why when you talk to kids, they are hungry in our schools.
Well, no. 19 I understand. And I guess I should ask the School District this, but I guess given the restraints of the larger schools, what would be your suggestion in that?
I think we need to take -- one of the suggestions that we 69 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 have is, I mean, we -- it's going to be hard to talk about it, but essentially we've asked that in terms of meal times and lunch schedules, we're asking for at least ten minutes for the children to actually sit down for breakfast and 8 minutes after sitting down for lunch, 9 that we want meal times scheduled at 10 appropriate periods between 11:00 and -- 11
No. I 12 see that. I'm sorry to interrupt you, 13 but I guess given that they say they only 14 have so much time -- Madam Chair, if I 15 could, when these panelists are finished, 16 if I could just ask the School District 17 to come back up for a minute on this 18 subject. 19
But I just wondering, anticipating what they might say, that since there's only so much time, how would you arrange it? I mean, ideally I know you want it between 70 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 11:00 and 1:30, which makes perfect sense, I agree. I don't want to eat lunch at o'clock either, but I'm just 5 wondering given the size of some of these 6 schools, what would be your thoughts on 7 that? 8
I think we have to 9 have that discussion. The most important thing is to talk to figure out what the options are. We know that some schools can arrange it. It may be a size issue. Whether we break it up into two lunchrooms. Part of it is a facilities problem, that you limit it to just one lunchroom and there's only one place on site where you can eat and then they just cycle them through as fast as they can, whether that needs to be broken up. But somehow there needs to be a discussion of the consequences first and then what some other options could be.
No. I certainly agree, 9:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. lunches don't make a lot of sense. 71 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 So, Madam Chair, if I could, when the witnesses are through, if the School District could come back up. Thank you.
Thank you very much. MS. McDOWELL: Hi. Thanks for arranging this today. I'm going to skip ahead of Aissia. My name is Alison McDowell. I have a daughter in first grade at Meredith Elementary. I have to go pick her up shortly, and I'm parked at South and Broad, so I'm going to hustle out. But I prepared a statement today. The food we choose to eat and feed our children represents an investment. The food our children consume today will affect their health for decades to come. The eating habits our children learn today will ultimately determine whether we, as a community, stem the epidemic of obesity and diabetes or embrace it with all of its burdensome costs to our own health and social 72 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 fabric. In order to shape a healthy future for our children, we need to reach them when they're young to encourage them to experience new foods, seek out fresh, minimally processed fruits and vegetables and ultimately get them interested in preparing foods themselves so they will have the skills they need to be responsible for their own health as they grow older. I'm here today to speak as a parent on the satellite lunch program in Philadelphia. I'm not sure if you're aware, but School District lunches are divided into two categories. One are full-service lunches, others are satellite lunches, prepared off site and trucked in, primarily in disposable containers and heated up in microwaves. That's what we have at my daughter's school. I strongly feel that while the resources we are spending today may meet 73 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 the short-term objectives in terms of USDA, calories and prescribed units of nutrition, we are doing a disservice to them by feeding them highly processed, commodity-based foods that are prepared off site, trucked in and heated in a microwave. And why is it that we do this? Because the bottom line says that we cannot afford to install and retrofit or operate full-service kitchens in our schools or pay people a good wage to prepare our children's meals on site. And that's what I had when I was my daughter's age, and they don't have that anymore. And at Meredith we had that up until two years ago when they took out the ovens. And the reality is is that it's a financial choice, and I understand the School District's and Mr. Grasela's issue of working with a small amount of money and making it stretch. But as I say today, all of us in this room and the City leaders, we need to look at this as a society. This isn't an investment that 74 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 balances out at the end of the year. That investment carries over in the health of our children. And so even if we come up with a budget that's in the black on paper, what is it that they're carrying around with them in their bodies ten years from now, years from now? 9 It has an impact. It's going to shape 10 what they eat and how they eat, and we 11 need to consider that investment. Even 12 if it may balance out on the books right 13 now, it's not necessarily going to do 14 that in the future. 15 And I don't know if you 16 received this. I passed this along. 17 This is actually a copy of the lunch menu 18 program, and it takes a while to actually 19 find the food, because there's a whole 20 lot of advertising around this, including "watch and play hours a day kids TV," 22 which as a parent -- this is kind of the 23 first time I've seen this -- is rather 24 striking, that we're using our children as vehicles for advertising in this way, 75 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 their food program. If you don't see that, maybe you could take a look. I only have two. So there's a lot of money wrapped in around this food program. It's not all wrapped around getting the best, freshest food to our children. The School District has a tremendous responsibility. There are over 150,000 kids.
They're getting upwards of two-thirds of their nutrition a day, and some of those kids don't have a dinner, so this may be it, that's all they get all day. The satellite lunch program, most of it is in disposable containers, it's heated, it's in plastic. It's probably not the most environmentally sound procedure. Our school was built at a time when kids could go home for lunch, and that's not the case. You can't go home for lunch. And today many of these kids even if they could go home, their parents 76 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 might not be in a situation to provide them a nutritionally sound meal, and we have to presume they're not getting much outside of what they get from the School District. It's a huge responsibility. I don't relish Mr. Grasela's job. It's very difficult, so we need to support him and make sure that he gets the resources he needs to give our children the freshest, best foods possible. As a whole American society, we have become more and more disconnected from our food. I think this is changing, but we're overcoming something that's been in place for several decades. This situation is really only magnified in the School Lunch Program. Our children, they don't know where the food they're eating comes from. It comes in a packet. They used to have salads. Now in the satellite lunch program, occasionally there will be a salad. It's in a little container about the size, you know, with a peel-off lid, like that doesn't say 77 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 fresh salad. They don't know where it comes from. They don't know who made it. The concepts of really fresh, fresh food and seasonality are foreign to them. Primarily I didn't see any green vegetables on that. My mom always said when I was growing up -- maybe it was frozen, but it was like, Find the green vegetable, and corn doesn't count. There's no green vegetables in there. There's some apples. There's some carrots. We should do more. Moving forward, we as a city and as an urban school district, we need to find the resources that will enable our children to get excited about healthy food choices and that will enable them to become active adults who contribute to our civic life and ensure that they do not become an unnecessary drain on our healthcare system a few decades from now. We need to move towards a model where understanding healthy eating habits is as fundamental a life skill as knowing how 78 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 to make change and read a newspaper. We're teaching children. The food we're giving them, it's teaching them some lesson, and we need to visit is that the lesson, in the satellite lunch program at least, that we want them to learn. Until then, the children who don't have the ability to brown-bag it will continue to create towers of tuna. We have those at our school. They're the rejected tuna fish sandwiches that stack up on big trays on the give-away table. And the children whose parents have the resources to send them in with a lunch will continue to do that as well. In closing, I ask that the School District and our City's leaders -- because we all have to do it together. Mr. Grasela can't do it on his own. He doesn't have enough resources. We need to figure out what food -- evaluate the food we're giving our children. And these children are some of the most 79 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 at-risk children in -- at-risk citizens. They can't speak for themselves. That's why we're here today. Are we using local food service to the fullest extent possible? We're an incredible location. We're between Lancaster County and southern New Jersey. There's a lot of fresh options here. Are we taking advantage? Are they fresh and appealing? Are there vegetarian or vegan options? That's a growing life-style choice and health choice for many children in the District, and are those available?
And there are a lot of models out there, and I agree, the School District has taken some of those in and they're piloted on a limited basis in various schools. How can we grow that? It's a national and international movement. Jamie Oliver and Alice Waters, people are doing it, and we can do it here. It's a new day, and we can do it here. 80 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 So thank you for organizing this hearing and allowing us to present our concerns as parents. I don't know if any of you have read Michael Pollan's books. He's a pretty incredible writer and he's written on this issue extensively, but there was a New York Times article this past January, and his philosophy sort of distills it down: Eat food, and that means food that your great-grandmother would recognize as food. So eat food, not too much, and mostly plants. And I think that should be a goal for us as we look at the lunch program and the satellite program, is how can we do this. We have the food out there. We just need to find a way to finance it to make it workable for the School District and get it to our kids. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Thank you. Any questions? (No response.) 81 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214
Good afternoon and thank you, Councilwoman Blackwell, for conducting this hearing today on the food services at the Philadelphia School District, and I also want to thank you, Councilman Greenlee, for attending and staying throughout the entire hearing. My name is Aissia Richardson and my daughter attends Girard Academic Music Program at 22nd and Ritner in South Philadelphia. And I do want to speak today about an incident that occurred shortly before the tainted beef from the Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company was discovered in our District's food supply. While the Health Department and the School District is not saying that any children got sick from the School District -- from the meat, I want to dispute that. Because children come home often times with headaches, with -- my 82 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 daughter in particular comes home with headaches. This particular time she came home with a stomach virus, and she had eaten some meatballs from the School District. That was the only thing she had had. Usually we pack her lunch, but on this particular day -- she's got a 6:56 a.m. school bus pick-up, and we were running late and we had to forego the lunch packing. But she was really ill and she had to stay home from school the next day, and on Monday when I sent her back, I sent a note home and I said, was her sickness in any way connected to the meatballs that she ate? And I heard back from her school that, no, they didn't serve that. And so my concern is that the next day, it was discovered that in fact the School District had been serving the tainted meat. So this issue goes to the fact that a lot of the folks who are serving the food don't necessarily know where the 83 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 food is coming from or what's in the food. So my daughter got sick as a result and had to miss a day because of that. We sacrifice in order to pack her lunch. We don't take trips to the zoo. She doesn't have dance classes. She doesn't do music lessons, because we spend the extra money on car fare and on food that we can send to school for her. And I'm a struggling single mom, and I wish that there was healthy food that had -- that was fresh food at her school. Her previous school is a fabulous school, but they didn't have a lot of drinking water. In fact, the classroom in her kindergarten classroom had that "no potable" sign. And when kids are thirsty, it's very difficult to keep them from drinking that water. And I've seen, unfortunately before you can get to them, I've seen them take a sip of this before you have to tell them, You can't drink that. 84 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 So we do need healthy food. We need fresh food. We need locally grown food. We need fresh water in our schools. And I'm really hoping that this is just the beginning of taking a look at the food services at the School District, that Council -- that the full Council will also participate in these hearings. Council has a responsibility of transferring a -- the City transfers a billion dollars to the School District. Council should be taking responsibility for how that money is spent. And I think, again, this is the first step and hopefully we'll be hearing back from the School District and back from concerned parents about improvements to the School District's food service program.
Thank you very much. Any questions? (No response.)
Thank you very much. 85 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 Ms. Kannon, is it?
Please identify yourself for the record and begin your testimony.
Yes. My name is Mary Jo Kannon. And this is Tamere Smith and Zion Bunn. They would be here today. I will also read their testimony, of which they wrote with their classroom. Good afternoon. Again, my name is Mary Jo Kannon and I'm a parent of a daughter at McCall Elementary. I also have a daughter at Meredith. I am here today to voice mine and other's concerns about the quality of the food at McCall School and, by association, all schools with satellite lunch menus. I am frequently at McCall School at breakfast and at lunchtime and can speak firsthand that I have difficulty with the quality and quantity of food that is served. At an earlier meeting of parents regarding this issue, 86 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 Mr. Grasela of the Philadelphia School District encouraged parents to work with him and their schools to come up with alternate ways; for example, with community partners, to use their individual school's food allowance. I presented this idea to members of McCall's Health Council and was informed that such an idea would be logistically untenable when only a portion of the students at McCall are eligible for free lunches. One third grade class at McCall, Room 210, when asked at the beginning of the school year what issue that affects them would they like to change, the quality of school lunches was a top priority. These are 9-year-olds. The quality of school lunches was a priority to them. Two young men in particular, Tamere Smith and Zion Bunn, were very vocal about this issue, and I had hoped to bring them, these two young men, with 87 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 me today to personally share their views and those of their class. Unfortunately, given the time constraints, we were unable to arrange the proper logistics and paperwork to bring them here today, and so much to their disappointment, I will read their testimony. I do have it here, but I would like to -- and I would like to read it, but I'd like to also have you consider that these are the words of children who likely have no control over the quality of their food and depend on us to help them eat healthfully. I will now read Room 210's testimony. Although the lunchroom does serve an occasional healthy snack like apples, oranges or carrots, we, the students of Room 210 of McCall Elementary School, feel it is not enough or balanced enough or with enough quality, quantity or selection. We have three reasons we feel this way. 88 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 To start with, apples have a lot of Vitamin A and are good for you, but more is needed to help absorb these vitamins. In addition to the occasional apple, we should be offered a grain, vegetables and protein. For example, we could be given turkey with bread or rice, salad with lettuce and tomatoes and real cheese slices. Secondly, many of the meals are not healthy. For example, some are high in cholesterol, such as the mozzarella sticks, which are fried, and the grilled cheese sandwiches, which are packed with processed cheese and also fried. The space meals are all processed foods and especially the sausage, which are too salty, too high in sodium, which is bad. Thirdly, many children have difficulty going to the bathroom, and foods high in fiber would be very helpful. Meals at breakfast could include healthy cereals like Cheerios and the other whole-grain choices and include 89 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 fresh fruit like bananas or raisins. Lunchtime meals could also include broccoli and chicken and other non-processed foods, including natural apple sauce or grapes. Other ideas could include yogurt, cottage cheese and one percent milk or even skim milk. Thus, we believe the school lunches should be transformed and improved to be more nutritious and healthy. Thank you. And I would just say if 9-year-olds can figure this out, I think we should be able to, too. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Any questions? (No response.)
Thank you. Shaharazad Ali, George Washington Elementary School.
Yes. I'm the parent of a 7-year-old. He's actually my 90 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 grandson, but I'm raising him now and he's adopted, so he's my child. And I've had him in the school system for three years. The largest American health organization in this country, the Center for Disease Control, they say that over 50 million people in America are lactose intolerant. Seventy-five percent of African-Americans are lactose intolerant, 80 percent of Asians, 51 percent of Hispanics and percent of Caucasians. 14 Now, our parents should 15 certainly be educated about this, but how 16 is it that our schools, who we are 17 allegedly paying all of these people with 18 all of these different credentials, don't 19 understand that you can't, with a 20 community like that, you can't serve them 21 all dairy whole milk and dairy skim milk every day? The doctors say that children who are lactose intolerant who are forced to ingest dairy whole milk from cows, they have stomach pains, slow growth and 91 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 development, nausea, diarrhea and stomach cramping. All of these symptoms, of course, cause the disruption in them receiving the educational process. And who are the dieticians and the nurses who are running these schools who don't understand that if 75 percent of your population is lactose intolerant, then you shouldn't be serving dairy milk every day? The children come home sick. This interferes with them trying to learn in the classroom. Our children are obese already. They're having high cholesterol at a young age. We're setting them up to be sick in the future. Many times my grandson, he's had to have apple juice in his cereal for a month or two because we couldn't get the cafeteria staff to understand that there's such a thing as Lactaid milk. This is ridiculous. And then when they finally did get the Lactaid milk for him, they forced him to drink every drop of it every day by 92 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 saying, No, you're going to drink all your milk because your mother said she wanted you to have Lactaid milk. That's absurd. So our staff needs to be educated so that they'll know that this is not an oddity. This should be the routine for our children if 80 percent of the Asians and 75 percent of the African-Americans and 51 percent of Hispanics and percent of the 13 Caucasians are all lactose intolerant. 14 That's our entire school district. So 15 they shouldn't be forced to drink dairy 16 milk, and someone should have caught this 17 before I have to come down here, one 18 parent, to testify. Parents should be 19 notified of this. If the CDC knows it, 20 then certainly the nurses and the 21 dieticians in the public school system should know it. The majority of the children in our school system are African-American, and they are going to develop the 93 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 majority of the health problems and years from now. So we put the babies in there in kindergarten and force them to drink the dairy milk, and then when they're acting up in class every day and causing problems, then they're getting charged with that and there's no 9 relationship related back to their diet. The other problem that I have is that Hassan is a Muslim. His name is Hassan Ali. Now, if we're going to allow the children to wear Muslim garb to school and acknowledge that there's such another religion as Islam, then we should have choices on the days that they serve pork. In that little menu sheet that you have at George Washington, they do not follow that menu. Sometimes two or three days a week they have pizzas. Pizzas have cheese on them. Most of the cheese that they serve is processed and the cheese is flavored with a chemical called Rennet, which comes out of the 94 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 pig's intestines. So a Muslim child can't eat that.
And so many days Hassan doesn't have lunch, because he knows about these things, I've taught him what to eat, and so he can't eat that. So we do need to have some non-pork choices and some vegetarian choices. Most of the children in the school system are overweight and bloated. They don't need to eat meat anyway. They don't need potatoes and a lot of pasta. We have to do health education. That is part of teaching our children to survive. And so I just wanted to mention my main point, is that we need to educate the parents and the other teachers about this lactose-intolerant problem that is rampant among all of our school population so that we can perhaps change the milk in there and just make it an option to have dairy milk, because the majority of them, as I just stated from CDC, they need Lactaid milk. 95 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 I'm not even going to deal with the beef issue, but those are my two issues that I wanted to talk about.
Thank you very much. Important testimony. Councilman Greenlee.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Just one question. On the issue of the Lactaid milk, how long did you ask for it before it was finally made available?
Well, I always put it down from day one of the school, but it took two months. And then after it ran out, then it took another month and a half. As I said, he was forced to eat his little cereal with apple juice in it.
Because I know it says -- and, again, this is just one menu that was given to us. It does say Lactaid milk is available in substitution, but --
But it's not 96 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 available. They say that. They say a lot of things in there. And if you came to the school every day and checked that menu, that's not what they're serving every day. They serve whatever they have available. They don't follow that, but that's just demonstrative of some of the samples of what they might serve. But he had to keep asking for it, and then, as I said, when I went down and wrote a note and asked for it, then they got an attitude and were annoyed about it and forced him every day to drink all of -- every drop of the milk. If he didn't want the entire eight ounces, they forced him to drink it anyway. So they may put that on there, but it's not available every day.
Thank you very much. Thank you. Shaharazad Ali, George 97 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 Washington -- oh, I'm sorry, Ms. Ali. It sure is. Sandy Sherman, Food Trust.
I'm the last one for Parents United. Not the last one. The last one speaking at the moment. Good afternoon. My name is Sandy Sherman. I'm the Director of Nutrition Education at The Food Trust. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today on school meals. I've been working on school nutrition issues in Philadelphia for over years. My focus has been how to help 16 children have access to healthy foods and 17 have the information to make healthy food 18 choices. 19 Most recently, I worked with 20 the School District of Philadelphia and 21 Temple University's Center for Obesity 22 Research and Education to convene a 23 citywide Nutrition Policy Task Force to 24 develop and evaluate programs to fight 25 obesity among urban youth. This study 98 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 found that the nutrition policy we developed and piloted in Philadelphia reduced the number of children who became overweight by 50 percent in two years here in Philadelphia. The study also found that by preventing overweight -- and this was among 4th to 6th graders -- there were fewer absences from school. And these were randomized, controlled studies, so we really have a lot of faith in their ability to predict what happened. I'm a strong believer in the importance of involving parents and students in a participatory process to bring about change. No one knows better than the students and their parents -- and certainly as we heard here today from the parents -- what their children want to eat. I'm here today in support of Parents United for Public Education and their efforts to improve the foods served in Philadelphia schools. Through the School Nutrition 99 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 Policy Task Force work I just mentioned, we developed Nutrition Advisory Councils -- in the past we called them NACs -- to involve students in taste testing foods for the School Breakfast and Lunch Programs and providing comments back to the School District's Division of Food Services on what the youngsters preferred. The District would provide us with foods to sample; for example, breakfast foods, and the students would select their favorite items. As most of them do at home, we tried things out, we picked the foods that were most popular, and we found that the students were far more likely to eat them if they had had a say in it. During this time, during our School Nutrition Policy work, we also convened School Health Councils. Wayne Grasela spoke about these as part of the Wellness Policy earlier. The effort was to involve parents and school staff in the process. While the task of the 100 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 School Health Council is to look at the total school health environment, most of our time was always spent talking about food. I know how easy it is to be critical of food, and we made sure that we always took a positive approach. These two groups, the NACs and the School Health Councils, are the reason I believe we are able to achieve such strong results in reducing the number of children who were overweight. We involved parents. They felt listened to, and they became involved in the School Breakfast and Lunch Program and in creating a healthier school environment. The Steps Program in the School District's Office of Health, Safety, Physical Education and Sports Administration continues to work to develop and support School Health Councils through the Steps Program. More schools should become involved in this program to find ways to involve students and parents in school meal issues. I 101 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 also strongly recommend that we develop youth councils to work with your committee and the Division of Food Services to recommend improvements for the school meals that we've heard about from parents who aren't happy with them. These recommendations should be compiled into a report and submitted on a regular basis to your Education Committee and to the Mayor's Office and Food Services here at the School District.
We do have a responsibility to listen to students and their parents and to follow, to the extent possible, their recommendations. I've worked for years also on the national level. Prior to my work here in Philadelphia, I was the Executive Director of a group called the National Child Nutrition Project, and we worked throughout the country to improve access to food for children and their families. In the past few years, I've been involved with the initiative called the Urban School Food Network, which is funded by 102 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 the Kellogg Foundation, and its work is to procure changes to strengthen the buying practices in school districts in big cities throughout the country to get healthier and more local foods. Most of the big school districts throughout the country, including New York, LA, Chicago and Miami, are part of this network. As far as I know, Philadelphia has not participated. We really need Philadelphia to be part of this effort. These are all big cities with the same problems. Everyone wants to see fresh and healthy food in our school meals, and many districts are finding ways to purchase more locally grown foods. I applaud Philadelphia for working with The Food Trust -- and I know Charlie Baltimore also spoke to this -- and other groups to try to do this, but much more does need to be done in this area. School districts throughout the country are finding ways to prepare foods 103 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 on school premises. We've heard a lot today about the lack of ability to cook on school premises. Philadelphia seems to be moving in the opposite direction from any other districts throughout the country. The meals that are -- I won't mention much more. Everybody else spoke to these issues of the lack of quality of some of the foods that are served off premises. I know that we have a big problem of schools without kitchens, but we really need to work together to find more creative works to make sure that students will eat. I already spoke -- New York City has been working for years to try to get local foods throughout the City in all of their schools. They started with apples and carrots. And they've also helped students learn the value of good food and the importance of local agriculture. So I strongly recommend that we find more ways to bring fresh and, whenever possible, local foods in 104 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 our schools. Now Program, that helps students learn the value of choosing healthy foods, so we need to make sure that the meals are there so they can make healthy choices. The last thing I wanted to mention is, I've been working for the last couple of years to try to change what students buy from the local corner stores before and after school. Youngsters carrying these black bags full of candy and chips and Hugs are really part of what we see throughout the City. The Food Trust is working with these stores to encourage them to sell fresh fruit and healthier food options, but we're working to make sure that the students choose the healthier snacks and drinks in the school and eat their meals in school before going to the stores. We need to make sure that the District works with the national initiatives and continues to work with 105 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 the groups throughout the City to make sure that we continue to make improvements. Thank you. I'm happy to answer any questions you have.
Thank you, Ms. Sherman. We'll ask Mr. Farlino and Mr. Grasela to come back. And if my memory serves me right, since we've had the discussions about young people being involved in school choices with regard to food for quite some time, I believe when that time comes up, aren't students involved in helping to review their menus? (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Yeah. We do surveys and we do some of those Nutrition 106 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 Advisory Councils, NACs, where we actually get input from the children. We actually bring in samples of products where we share to taste test to see approval levels.
We are available, Councilwoman, to meet with Student Councils and have done so to conduct these kinds of services, especially in those places where kids want more variety or they want particular things in the menu that we're not serving.
Thank you. We thank Jimmy Lewis for being here as well. Councilman Greenlee.
Thank you, Madam Chair. Thanks for staying around to answer some more questions. First of all, if I can just say so it doesn't sound like I'm just criticizing, it certainly sounds from what I hear that 107 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 you handled the beef recall situation to the best of your ability. So I don't think there's -- in my opinion, there's not a problem there. Just a couple of things kind of jumped out in the testimony, and the one thing you heard me raise. And I know in large schools, I'm sure it's difficult, but when you talk about 9:00 a.m. lunches, that sounds kind of -- I mean, if I had lunch at 9:00 a.m., I'd be eating my homework. Forget the dog eating it. I'd be eating it by 1:30. I know it's tough, but are you looking into that at all?
Councilman, we're aware -- and I would defer to some of the previous speakers. We know of a handful. This is not a widespread issue. The number one school that comes to my mind is Central High School, frankly. They have 2,200, 2,300 students and the age of their building is up there, to the point where they do not have the capacity to 108 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 divide the group up into manageable numbers that literally fit into the lunchroom. So they're the one school that I know. There may be one or two others. It's not a widespread thing, but I know that Dr. Pavel and his staff are very flexible, in that even though you may have a lunch period, that there are other opportunities for kids to get food during the day. It's not a perfect solution, but, again, we have just a handful, and I have no problem with the speakers noting that. It is a problem.
If I could add to that. We work closely with these few schools to try to make them comply with the federal regulation, because, quite frankly, there's a federal regulation that establishes the parameters which the meal service has to be provided.
It's in the Wellness Policy and it's between 10:00 -- 109 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. for lunch. In order to be reimbursed for those meals, we have to request a waiver from the USDA, and we do so only as a last resort. But I believe, as Mr. Farlino has said, there's only two, maybe three schools that are doing this.
Are they high schools? Because when I asked that question, it sounded like it was more --
Other than that, you fit in pretty much the 11:00 to 1:00?
All right. The question -- and I guess I kind of know the answer, but just so I'm clear. The satellite lunch programs are in schools that don't have kitchens, I 110 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 would assume, right?
How many percentage-wise? Maybe it's in there and I missed it.
I think I have a breakdown in your facts sheet. I think it's about 200-and-some schools of the -- actually, we call them meal sites. We serve meals in 322 buildings, and that includes annexes and charters.
You heard the complaint that that quality is below what other lunches are. Has there been studies to that? I mean, do you have --
Councilman, we meet as often as we can with most of the speakers that were here today, and we're certainly open to continue these discussions. We serve 20 million meals in the School District of Philadelphia annually, and to do it in a way that is efficient and effective, we do use what is called -- we call it a pre-plate 111 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 program or an enhanced pre-plate program, and in every single case, we either meet -- with what we serve, we either meet or exceed the USDA standards. Now, I agree with many of the speakers, in that the nation is now more conscious of what we're eating, and I anticipate that the government is going to begin to recognize the need to include more organic food in our menus and the way the beef is processed. So my sense is that's going to be a slow process starting from the United States government. Because we really abide by their direction. They provide us the food. They provide us the commodities that we have to send out to our vendors to process. And I think that everyone in the room who goes grocery shopping makes a decision over whether or not they're going to pay for the regular bananas or the organic bananas, and while I don't dispute the need for us to think more about that, it is a dollar and cents 112 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 issue.
And just to give you the parameter of this, I was talking to Mr. Baltimore earlier and I think he said that to implement a completely organic -- you can correct me if I'm wrong -- is about a 40 percent -- anywhere between a and 40 percent 12 increase in cost. And just to give you 13 the parameters of the District, if we 14 were to raise the cost of our meals that 15 we serve by a nickel, that would be a 16 million dollars annually. 17 So if you were to really 18 implement the kind of program that we 19 would like to see and that the parents 20 would like to see, it's a huge cost, and 21 I think that the way the School District 22 of Philadelphia has been approaching 23 this, Food Services, while it serves food 24 to children, it is still part of the 25 Operations Division, and I think the 113 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 District looks to Operations when there are hard times financially, look to Operations to fund a lot of the deficit so that we don't impact classroom instruction. But, in fact, I agree with the parents, that if we're not serving breakfast to every kid, nutritional food, that it does impact a classroom, because this is something that we're focused on and it's something that we have been paying attention to. We have a Wellness Policy, and I might add that the Wellness Policy has impacted the kind of food we serve; namely, we don't serve soda, we don't serve the snacks that are deemed unhealthy, and as a result, the revenue that Food Services would get because we are now serving healthier products, the kids don't buy it. The kids don't like it, and as a result, our revenues have gone down. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't continue to do that. We still should continue to strive for better 114 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 food.
I understand. I appreciate that. And, again, I wasn't trying be critical, but I think there were some legitimate questions brought up. And I know you guys have a difficult job, so I appreciate everything you do and I appreciate your time here. Thank you.
Your comment about the milk, I think we've served lactose-free milk for years, and so while I don't dispute Mrs. Ali's testimony, I would like to look into why that happened with her son, because we've served lactose-free milk for years.
That was my understanding, too, because I know there's other parents whose children have the same issues. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank 115 5/6/08 - EDUCATION - RES. 080214 you. Thank you very much, all who are here. We appreciate this insightful, thoughtful testimony. We all love our youth and have to do what we can to protect them. Thank you again.
This hearing is recessed subject to the call of the Chair. Thank you all. (Committee on Education adjourned at 2:55 p.m.) - - - 116 CERTIFICATE I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings, evidence and objections are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me upon the foregoing matter on May 6, 2008, and that this is a true and correct transcript of same. ______________________________ MICHELE L. MURPHY RPR-Notary Public (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)