By Lola Milholland
Photos by Shawn Linehan
A dream of ours is fully underway! This school year, Portland and Eugene Public School Districts have brought our Umi Organic Yakisoba Noodles onto their menus. You’ll find our organic whole grain noodles on the Portland menu every six weeks and the Eugene menu every two to three. Our noodles are 50 percent Oregon-grown whole grain, featuring durum and Edison from Camas Country Mill in Junction City, Oregon. (Farmer Tom Hunton of Camas shared their farm’s history with these grains with us.) The noodles taste amazing; not like the whole grain noodles of the past. Chewy, flavorful, fun to eat — our noodles proved a big hit with kids during our trial run in Portland Public Schools in May. That day, I ate lunch at the elementary school I attended, Richmond, home to the Japanese immersion program in which I studied Japanese since kindergarten. I was joined by partners who helped bring this lunch into being and friends who I’ve known since elementary school. It was an overwhelmingly joyful experience. The next day, Portland Public School Nutrition Services Director Whitney Ellersick and I had the chance to tell the story of our partnership on OPB’s Think Out Loud. The highlight I recounted on the radio was this unreal moment when the kids waiting in line began chanting “Let’s go Blazers!” That night was a playoff game. But the chant slowly morphed and soon I could hear them chanting “Ya-ki-so-ba!” I could feel their excitement. It gave me the shivers.
In direct contradiction to the prevailing prejudices towards public school lunch, these kids couldn’t wait to eat! And when I got into the lunch line, I could see why. Not only was the yakisoba prepared beautifully, with organic mushrooms, roasted vegetables, and a heap of chicken, but there was a full salad bar with diverse options. Talking with Whitney Ellersick, I have learned how much patient, thoughtful work they have put in to making school lunch healthier and more locally sourced while also working within the extremely tight constraints of their budget and (this is important!) giving kids food they want to eat. It’s a challenging dance but I believe they deserve loving recognition for the leaps and bounds they are making and the vision they continue to pursue of providing our kids with the best food to nourish their bodies and minds.
PPS parents and kids, please mark your calendars for Umi yakisoba days: Sept 11th ✔️ Oct 23rd ✔️ Dec 11th ✔️Jan 15th ✔️ Feb 26th ✔️ Apr 8th ✔️ & May 20th ✔️. Eugene parents, please check your school’s menu calendar for yakisoba. And parents in other Oregon districts, please ask your nutrition services to be in touch with us. We would love to send them samples!
This lunch didn’t happen out of the blue. In 2007, I moved back to Portland after college because I wanted to work on farm to school which I saw (and continue to see) as this beautiful bridge between local food advocacy and equity. I had incredible mentorship at Ecotrust from Deborah Kane and Michelle Markestyn as they and a coalition created a movement here that turned into meaningful legislation to provide schools with more than the meager funds they receive to feed kids. I didn’t realize I would get the chance to work on this issue through Umi but when the door opened, I leaped through. This is what I believe in at my core, made real in the world.
I am continually blown away by the people at these districts working in nutrition services. Whitney Ellersick of Portland, Jennie Kolpak of Eugene, and their staffs are among the hardest working, most committed, patient and visionary people I have worked with. It’s wild to have the chance to use the work I did as a littler me now, with this business, but I couldn’t be more grateful and eager. Thank you to everyone who helped us get here. We hope it’s just the beginning!
