PESCADERO — Veggie stir-fry, Caesar salad, and homemade tuna casserole sound more like restaurant fare than the daily lunch selection for students at one of the most under-resourced school districts in San Mateo County.
Getting homemade fresh, organic, locally sourced food onto the plates of students in the La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District despite budget constraints — and getting kids to like it — was the challenge faced by nutrition expert Kathy Webster, who has revamped the entire lunch menu in two years at no cost to the school district. The …

PORTLAND, Ore. — ConAgra Foods Inc. reports earnings for its fiscal first quarter on Tuesday before the market opens. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period.
OVERVIEW: ConAgra Foods ( CAG – news – people ), like many food companies, has seen the benefit of consumers eating at home more often and lower commodity prices for food ingredients.
Omaha, Neb.-based ConAgra, which produces brands like Banquet, Chef Boyardee and Hebrew National, has seen its consumer food business hold strong during the recession because of …

Canadians consider obesity to be a serious health threat but many middle- and lower-income families are limited when it comes to providing healthy meals for their children, according to Bensimon Byrne’s latest “Consumerology Report,” released yesterday.
The national survey, conducted by Gandalf Group on behalf of the Toronto-based agency, revealed that high food costs are preventing Canadians from eating healthily.
According to the report, 55% of Canadian families cite cost as the largest barrier to healthy eating, followed by insufficient willpower, availability of healthy foods, lack of time and inconvenience.
“Consumerology this quarter …

GENEVA — Aldermen have given tentative approval to a break in fees and property taxes for a food research and development facility to locate in the business park on the far east side.
The City Council, acting as a Committee of the Whole, this week approved the incentive for Roquette America Inc., a U.S. unit of Roquette Freres, headquartered in Lestrem, France. The company develops food additives.
The incentive will include a 50 percent rebate of the city’s building and fire review fees and a 10-year abatement of the city’s portion of …

LONDON –
As living standards improve and lifestyle paces quicken, our eating habits and preferences shift markedly toward time-saving products. The resultant high demand for prepared foodstuffs and convenience foods requiring better protection from oxidation bolsters the use of antioxidants. Nevertheless, growing industry costs continue to bog down the antioxidants market in Europe.
(Logo: www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081117/FSLOGO)
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (www.food.frost.com), EU Food and Feed Shelf-life Extension Antioxidants Market, finds that the market earned revenues of over $257.6 million in 2008 and estimates this to reach $348.6 million in 2015. The study …