Food fight! LAUSD vs. celebrity chef Jamie Oliver

The day after a national cooking show questioned the quality of food served at Los Angeles Unified schools, district officials insisted Wednesday that the meals prepared for students are not only good, but healthy.

Television chef Jamie Oliver's show "Food Revolution" took the LAUSD to task during an episode that aired Tuesday night. The district had refused to allow Oliver into its schools as part of the series.

On the show, he compared the meals served in LAUSD schools to "airplane food."

In response, the LAUSD invited the media into its Newman Nutrition Center, the district's central kitchen facility, to sample the food and review its upcoming menu options.

"The food that we serve is healthy and nutritious and very good quality," according to David Binkle, deputy director of the district's food services.

According to the district, new menus are being developed for the 2011-12 school year, with entrees such as Salvadorian beef stew, chicken Tandoori, Asian pad Thai, California sushi roll and teriyaki beef and broccoli with brown rice.

Dennis Barrett, director of food services for the district, said the LAUSD invited Oliver to "be a part of our menu development, but just leave the cameras away."

"I would say that his perspective is much different than my perspective," he said.

The LAUSD serves more than 122 million student meals a year.

LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines said he did not want cameras from the show disrupting schools and did not want the district to be inaccurately portrayed in a reality television show, saying the district has had a bad experience in the past.

"I feel that having camera crews for long periods of time at undisclosed schools would cause much disruption and impact the instructional school day," Cortines said in a letter to the LAUSD community.

He also said he offered Oliver the opportunity to help the district off-camera but never received any proposals.

Oliver issued a statement responding to Wednesday's LAUSD event.

"Good news that the `Food Revolution' has people talking about what Los Angeles schools are feeding our kids. Wouldn't it be great if we could find out what the kids are actually eating; where the food comes from; what's on the ingredients lists; and who is really doing the cooking," Oliver said.

"I am hopeful that LAUSD's efforts to educate the LA media is a signal that they're willing to work with concerned parents and local activists to make the system truly transparent. Our dialogue with LAUSD is ongoing and I'm optimistic that they will be able to implement real changes that have a long-lasting impact for LA kids."