It was lunchtime at the Jewish Community High School of the Bay, not long before the new school graduated its first class. Students ambled in to the cafeteria with expectant looks: What had Jesse whipped up today?
Dressed in everything from fedoras to knitted kippot and miniskirts to tzitzit, the students queued up at the salad bar. They heaped their plates with cubes of tangy Israeli feta cheese, dried cranberries, spinach, sprouts, walnuts and cherry tomatoes and drizzled on homemade dressings that include creamy jalapeno dressing and Thai peanut.
Then they went to a sandwich bar, where they spread pita bread or chewy sourdough rolls with an array of humus, tahini, cheese, vegetarian “meat” slices, pesto and chunky tuna salad. There was barely space on each tray for a bowl of hearty lentil soup, but they somehow squeezed it on.
At round tables, the chatter slowed as students and staff tucked into vegetarian, kosher organic fare that redeemed the dreaded words “school lunch.”
The man behind those meals was Jesse Buckner-Alper, 28. A quietly energetic organic food devotee, he has an unlikely background: a sociology degree from Brandeis University, a certificate in organic farming from U.C. Santa Cruz and, for good measure, emergency medical technician (EMT) certification.
Buckner-Alper says people live out their values through what they eat, and he believes at a Jewish high school, food choices and even utensils should reflect Jewish values.
“We want them to be ethical Jewish mensches when they graduate,” he says of the school’s 150 students, who cut a wide swath of religious observance. “We want them to treat their bodies and the earth with respect.”
The Jewish Community High School of the Bay uses disposable plates and utensils made of reed and sugarcane byproducts. They are composted through a fledgling San Francisco recycling program. Glass soup bowls and plastic trays and cups are washed and reused.
Buckner-Alper serves as much locally grown organic produce as possible and emphasizes eating foods in season. On a recent winter day, halved kiwis glistened on the fruit tray with apples and bananas.
Everything he serves, from his zesty herb-flecked Green Goddess dressing, to the offerings on the make-your-own sushi bar, is certified kosher. A masgiach (inspector) from San Francisco’s Orthodox rabbinical council pops in periodically to inspect the ingredients and the dairy kitchen.
Those constraints would be a challenge for many chefs, but Buckner-Alper operates under one that is even more daunting. He prepares the daily smorgasbord using only a food processor, microwave and electric soup crocks. The school, located in a former San Francisco podiatry college, is not permitted to have an oven or stove.
No one is complaining, however. Students and faculty are elated to participate in such an innovative meal program. Before the high school launched its cafeteria a year ago, students supplemented brown-bag lunches with a weekly pizza delivery. Now they look forward to rotating specials that include a pasta bar and a Mexican foods bar, where students can craft their own burritos or taco salads.
Students tended to rave about the freshness, variety and even the healthfulness of their $6 all-you-can eat meals.
“My mom is in love with Jesse Alper,” jokes Ross Bercun, 17, who lives in Marin County. And no wonder. Before Buckner-Alper took over the food program, Bercun admits he used to skip lunch, only to feel ravenous later. He’d wolf down Doritos from the school’s vending machine.
Recently, his lunch included a bowl of steaming lentil soup and a sourdough roll topped with slices of cheese and an Israeli pesto-like spread called schoog. He popped the loaded roll into the cafeteria microwave to melt the cheese.
His classmates have been equally innovative, creating tuna melts or pizzas concocted from pitas drizzled with sun-dried tomato spread and cheese. “These kids are used to eating everything from pad Thai to mole sauce,” Buckner-Alper says. “You give them olive tapenade or sun-dried tomato spread, and they know what it is and they eat it.”
Senior Aurora Simcovich, 18, recently assembled a lunch salad of mixed baby field greens, cherry tomatoes and hard-boiled egg wedges. “I love organic vegetables. There’s such a variety,” she said. “They taste so much better and they’re really fresh. I know every day I’m getting my salad, my vegetable fix. I feel very refreshed.”
This past year, Buckner-Alper and his two assistants served about 150 meals a day to students and faculty. Teachers noticed that since the nutritious lunch program’s debut, students were more alert and focused in the afternoon. Sales of vending-machine snacks decreased.
Buckner-Alper couldn’t be more pleased. He faults highly processed foods, sugary snacks and artificially colored and flavored meals for the growing incidence of childhood obesity and diabetes. “I see it as a dramatic deviation of the way people have been eating since the dawn of time,” he says. “It’s not stuff we’re intended to eat.”
It’s no surprise that Buckner-Alper grew up with an appreciation for healthy food. His parents launched Bread & Circus, a natural foods market now owned by Whole Foods, and they emphasized nutritious eating. His father, Noah Alper, later owned Noah’s Bagels. Alper sold the 83-shop chain, and, with the exception of one Noah’s in Seattle, the bagel shops are no longer kosher. He’s moved on to a kosher dairy restaurant and wine bar in Berkeley.
His son admits that he, too, feels the lure of the restaurant business. The high school has been an ideal training ground, and he expects the program to break even next year.
“I’m moving toward something. I can tell you that,” Buckner-Alper says. “I see myself on a journey still, and these are learning experiences.”