Celebrating What’s Right with School Nutrition
July 19, 2012
What IS right with school nutrition? An awful lot, actually. I wish you could have sat in on the Choose MyPlate with School Nutrition session at the School Nutrition Association conference in Denver.
One thing that is right may surprise you. It’s not the obvious – healthier foods being served, and EATEN, in schools across the country even before the new guidelines were established. It’s length of service in school food service compared to any other foodservice job…Others (restaurant, fast food, corner store, hospital, etc.) have high turnover rates; not so with school food service.
It is not uncommon to have staff celebrate 20, 30, or MORE years working in school meal programs and that was the case with those I had the privilege to share time with this week at the annual conference in Denver. What is the sticking point? I asked that in my sessions, over 200 attendees in one and over 100 in another and the resounding answers were KIDS and TEAMWORK.
As I shared thoughts, challenges, ideas, and humor, the nod of heads were many and the visits after the sessions heartwarming.
- These folks are ready for the changes that MyPlate, new meal pattern guidelines and the HealthierUS School Challenge program have brought to them.
- They are ready to step up and step out and provide leadership in their schools for healthier school environments.
- They need the tools and the support to make a healthy difference for the kids they serve so well.
I only hope I gave them a few tools and from my heart, the support to step up and help make healthy living a habit!
“Your ideas are so simple, so real, so right for promoting school meals, MyPlate and participating in the HealthierUS School Challenge Program. This was one of the best sessions I’ve attended here!” SFS Director, Florida
“I needed to hear this! I know my team can make a difference but no one at our school sees that. You have given me tools to step forward and not wait any more, thank you!” SFS Director, Minnesota
Want more on celebrating what’s right in school nutrition? Try these links:
School Nutrition Association Attendees Hear, See, and Do… Choose MyPlate!
What to Do When There’s Not Enough Time for School Lunch
August 25, 2011
Many kids complain about not having enough time to eat school lunch. When our organization works tirelessly to help kids “Eat, Move and Enjoy Healthy Balance,” it’s hard to read articles like the USA Today article, “Cutting short lunch time in school may lead to obesity.”
While the article brings attention to a very important issue, let’s focus less on adding to the list of what “causes” obesity, and more on finding solutions.
I wish I had THE solution to not enough time for school lunch, but the fact is, there isn’t just one. It depends on the school, and just like people, there are many factors that determine how they allot their time. Some solution starters might look like this:
1. Find the win/win situation for the school and the students. Kids who are well-nourished can and do perform better academically. Share research (and there is plenty) showing the link between healthy eating and academics. You simply can’t eat healthily if you’re only given 5-10 minutes to eat lunch.
2. Focus on the small things that can be changed. To start, recognize that scheduling all grades eating in one cafeteria every day is not simple. What if you look at how many students are in the cafeteria is during each lunch period? is it full every time, or just some of the time and not at all at other times? Can certain grade levels be combined? How do other schools fit in 30 min. or more for lunch time?
3. Consider recess before lunch. What? Yes. Before lunch. It’s successful in many schools across the nation, and the benefits are beyond what you’d expect for less plate waste, smoother lunch periods and better focus in the afternoon.
What ideas can you share?
SNA’s State of School Nutrition Report 2011: http://www.schoolnutrition.org/Blog.aspx?id=15955&blogid=564
The Relationship Between the Length of the Lunch Period and Nutrient Consumption in the Elementary School Lunch Setting
http://docs.schoolnutrition.org/newsroom/jcnm/04fall/bergman/bergman2.asp
Potatoes can still be part of healthy school lunch…
May 19, 2011
Image via Wikipedia
…just serve them with a helping of nutrition education!
Potatoes aren’t the only starchy vegetables in question. What about corn, peas, and lima beans? No matter what rules are set, we need to remember that all vegetables can be prepared in healthier and tasty ways, and kids need to have participation and ownership in any change to increase their acceptance of it.
I asked some of our other RD nutrition experts to weigh in:
“Potatoes SHOULD be part of a balanced diet. They are not high in fat or sugar. Excluding them sends the message that they are “bad” (good food vs. bad food). Prepare and serve them with less fat and added sugar. Focus on eating a variety of veggies rather than excluding a veggie.”
“Let’s not categorize foods as good or bad. Instead, eliminate (or limit) frying as a cooking method and provide a variety of vegetable choices in the school cafeteria for healthy balance.”
“Potatoes, like any food, can be part of a healthy diet…eat them in moderation, and fry them only once in awhile. They are a great source of vitamin C. The idea that they should be banned isn’t teaching children how to include them in a healthy lifestyle.”
Your thoughts?
Proposal to Cut Back on Potatoes in Schools Causes a Food Fight
Related articles
- Potatoes on the Chopping Block in Schools (abcnews.go.com)
- 2 Best Ways to Comment on USDA Healthy School Lunch Rules (healthykidschallenge.wordpress.com)
In Case You Missed It
May 16, 2011
A sampling of social media and news that caught our attention. We encourage you take it to the next level – by taking action on something you read here – to “help kids eat, move, and enjoy healthy balance.” Together we can make a healthy difference for kids.
1. We use scarves all the time, so this is a great resource to have. Download Head Start Body Start’s newest Healthy Homes, Scarf Play, from the HSBS website for a fun activity idea and family- friendly nutrition message.
2. What’s your take on this new study?
In Texas schools, a picture’s worth 1,000 calories SAN ANTONIO– Smile, schoolchildren. You’re on calorie camera…
3. Salt and sodium get a lot of press these days. Here’s an article just released in the Lancet and we have to agree “It is dangerous to jump to conclusions on the basis of single studies and ignore the totality of evidence.” Salt and cardiovascular disease mortality
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(11)60657-0/fulltext
4. New Video: How to Solve the Childhood Obesity Epidemic SPARK has developed a video that focuses on one of the solutions – getting kids moving in school- and explains why Quality Physical Education can play such an important role in ending this epidemic. Click Here to watch the video.
5. Success! We love it when we read good news! Small, simple steps can make a big difference, right?
How About a $5 Pledge for Better Health? Think Farmers Markets
Minneapolis Star Tribune, Gail Rosenblum, 05/09/2011
For up to $5 a day in SNAP purchases, shoppers got a $5 match in “Market Bucks” vouchers… Increased awareness of being able to spend SNAP dollars doubled the number of SNAP customers heading to the Midtown Market at2225 E. Lake St. But Market Bucks made it an even more welcoming attraction that kept them coming back. In fact, the dollar amount of purchases more than tripled, from about $3,000 in SNAP sales in 2009 to $9,638 in 2010.
6. You haven’t missed this one yet, it’s tomorrow: FRAC’s webinar on “Strategies for Success: Making the Most of the New School Water and Milk Requirements” Tuesday, May 24, 2011 at 12:00 – 1 p.m. EST Click here to register.
School Lunches Need Some Real Meal Appeal
February 24, 2011
School lunches have a challenge ahead! Did you see the headline in the Chicago Tribune?
You can lead kids to broccoli, but you can’t make them eat
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-met-new-school-lunches-20110220,0,6830768.story
Here’s the bottom line: Healthy foods don’t make healthier kids unless the kids eat them and kids won’t eat them unless they taste good.
Just like in changing whole-district wellness policies, you’ve got to create buy-in, even with kids. Give them some control in these inevitable changes to their lunch-time favorites. Kids love to give their opinions, right?
- Let them taste-test new menu items before putting them on the menu.
- Give them a voice by voting for their favorite fresh fruits and veggies.
- Have them create posters and collages in the classroom to support an upcoming change to the menu.
- Hold a contest to name the new menu items.
- Build cooking skills by allowing them to help when trying new recipes.
By getting kids involved in the process, they begin to feel ownership for the changes ahead. The foods become more appealing just because they helped choose or taste them in the first place.
School Challenge Spotlight on Healthy School Meals-Part 2
February 10, 2011
The Healthy Kids Challenge School Challenge Spotlight features a model school that made simple sustainable changes. Success went beyond expectations, positively affecting kids’ attitudes and behaviors!
Moss Park Elementary Changes School Lunch Choices & Participation
Kids who choose healthy foods in the cafeteria at lunch were recognized by having their name recorded on the “Wellness Wall” scroll posted in the cafeteria.“Veggie Dippers” went from 100 to over 200 portions served. Overall lunch participation increased from 550 to slightly under 600 daily, a 10% increase! Read success story.
Congratulations! Moss Park was a School Challenge school in the HKC-CIGNA Making Strides Program recently.
School Challenge Spotlight on Healthy School Meals
February 7, 2011
The Healthy Kids Challenge School Challenge Spotlight features a model school that made simple sustainable changes. Success went beyond expectations, positively affecting kids’ attitudes and behaviors!
Jackson Middle School Improved Fruit & Veggie Consumption
Expanding their healthy eating options and offering more choices of vegetables at meals had a healthy impact on fruit and vegetable consumption! Middle school students (600 total enrollment) are now eating over 400 more servings combined of fruits and vegetables at lunch each day! Read success story.
Congratulations! Jackson Middle School was a School Challenge school in the HKC-CIGNA Making Strides Program recently.
It’s Time For Healthy School Lunches
September 14, 2010
Healthy school lunches are a major component of solving the childhood obesity issue. As with many potential solutions to the childhood obesity epidemic, it is up to all of us to work together – schools, organizations, parents, to name only a few – to produce healthy, yet tasty, school lunches for our children.
For schools, we know the U.S. Senate has passed a $4.5 billion bill, S. 3307 the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010, which requires healthier school meals and snacks. A great description of “what the bill will actually do”if Congress passes it can be found at planetgreen.com.
The House bill, H.R. 5504 – Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act, has been described as improving meal quality, expanding access and filling nutritional gaps by the House Committee on Education and Labor. These are undeniably important pieces of legislation for our entire nation of children, but I have to say they are only a first step because Congress has not acted yet to pass anything into law. After that occurs, and I believe it will, it will be up to the USDA to decide the details such as what the National School Lunch program standards will look like from now on. I’ve already blogged about the outdated standards and just one simple solution we offer for school meal programs here: Solutions: School Meal Policies.
Some interesting healthy school lunch articles recently include:
1. School Nutrition: Healthier Ingredients, More Education For 2010-11
2. Fresh Fruits, Vegetables For 188 Illinois Schools
3. A Nibble Here, and a Nibble There
All this says that school lunch is a hot topic, and at the risk of repeating myself, it’s going to take all of us working together to get it right. So, let’s move away from the schools themselves for now and look at some organizations who are already taking action.
Of course I have to mention your very own Healthy Kids Challenge has resources, success stories, such as School Foodservice Makes a Healthy Impact, and can provide training to help make school lunches healthy.
Others include the School Nutrition Association’s new website Tray Talk. It features school nutrition success stories, and they want you to sign up for updates on how Tray Talk works with parents and partners to provide the best possible school meals. Have I mentioned working together somewhere before? Now, give just 2 minutes and 11 seconds of your day for an absolutely inspiring Tray Talk video.
Remember that Let’s Move and the USDA have announced the Recipes for Healthy Kids Challenge. That’s right – read it again – It says Healthy Kids Challenge, but it’s a whole new challenge now for all of us to create recipes for healthy kids to be included in school lunches across the country.
Healthy Kids Challenge proudly joins Let’s Move in taking the Challenge for school nutrition professionals, students, parents, and others to create recipes for healthy kids. In fact, if you have participated and/or won our National Middle School Recipe Contest, Stirring Up Health, we encourage you to submit your recipes to this new contest.
The deadline for the Let’s Move Recipes for Healthy Kids Challenge is December 30, 2010.
The deadline for the Healthy Kids Challenge Stirring Up Health Recipe Contest is March 12, 2011.
Finally, parents, do you need some ideas for healthy school lunches? Here are 3 simple tips:
1. Include foods from at least 3 different food groups: Lean protein foods, whole-grains, and a fruit and/or vegetable.
2. Involve the kids. Involving kids in making lunch choices, and even preparation, increases the likelihood the lunch will be eaten.
3. Keep a list of simple meal ideas handy, such as the ones on Healthy Meals…Fast
Let’s work together everybody. Let’s Move!
