CBSN ChicagoWatch Now
Filed Under:Blogger, Chicago Public Schools, Healthy School Lunches, Nancy Harty, Sarah Wu, School Lunches

CHICAGO (CBS) — A Buffalo Grove educator and blogger has been named one of the most inspiring women in food.

It started in six years ago, when speech pathologist Sarah Wu didn’t have time to bring a lunch while she was working at the Chicago Public Schools.

“I went down to the cafeteria, and bought a meal,” she said. “At the time there had been a lot of changes. At the time I was super appalled at what I had seen on my tray.”

So she started anonymously blogging pictures of her school lunches, and her blog “Fed Up With Lunch” took off.

“I even went on the Good Morning America show, anonymously, in shadow,” she said. “In March of that year, I also spoke with Jamie Oliver.”

Wu eventually revealed her identity in a 2011 book, “Fed Up With Lunch.”

She said the issue of healthy school lunches is a complicated problem, requiring not only new ways to present healthy foods, but also food education.

“I had students when I was in Chicago Public Schools that refused to eat oranges. Well, I mean, that to me is a lack of exposure,” she said

Wu said installing salad bars and policies of allowing only fruits or vegetables as snacks in the classroom have gone a long way to making students healthier.

After challenges finding a new job – which she attributed to her food activism – Wu has started working in schools near Elgin, where a grant provides fresh fruit and veggies as snacks in the classroom.

Wu said she’s flattered the media platform group She Knows Media has now named her one of their top 20 inspiring women in food.

“It’s about being inspired to make change that’s important to you,” she said.