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FRESHMeals@Schools : Seasonal and Cultural Menus “Begin with the end in mind”. Sandy Curwood, RDN, MS Director, Child Nutrition Services Conejo Valley Unified School District. School Food.
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FRESHMeals@Schools: Seasonal and Cultural Menus“Begin with the end in mind” Sandy Curwood, RDN, MS Director, Child Nutrition Services Conejo Valley Unified School District
School Food • School is an ideal setting to promote health because of the amount of time that children spend at school each day. • School meals support nutrition by offering healthy meals served by caring staff, with an education reinforcement environment (marketing materials), and modeling healthy behavior.
FRESHMeals@Schools: • Menu Planning • Recipe Development • Procurement • Production
Menu Planning Menu planning begins with what you want to accomplish: • Healthy meals students will enjoy • Comply with the NSLP guidelines • Meet budget parameters for your district • Can be done with staff capacity, facilities, and equipment that you have
Salad Bar to Enhance Vegetable Subgroup Offerings Salad bars can offer vegetable subgroups: • Fruit • Seasonal crops • Marketing opportunity with signage • Educational materials • Align with the other meal components • Harvest of the month recipes • Specialty salad
Recipe Development • Fresh, seasonal ingredients • What is available in your region? • Utilize FRESHMeals@schools’already standardized, kid-tested recipes • USDA Foods–stretch your food dollars
Seasonal and Cultural Recipes • Take base recipe and add cultural components
Why Eat More Fruits and Vegetables? • Low in sodium • Eating fruit may lower the risk of heart disease • Provides antioxidants • Source of key nutrients • Local produce is fresh
Benefits of Using Local Produce • Sustainability–Seasonality • Increased varieties of crops • Keeping food dollars in our local economy • Less transportation reduces fuel use (carbon footprint) • Less packaging • Preserves open space • Connects you with your community • Good marketing tool
Benefits of Scratch Cooking • Health: • Control content of sugar, salt, and sodium • Known ingredients • Better taste • Environmental benefits: • Less packaging • Use local produce
Scratch vs. Purchase Comparison Scratch made Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich vs. Uncrustables • Scratch (4.8 oz) = $0.42/sandwich • Loaf of bread = $ 2.00 (28 slices, 2 slices per sandwich) = $.14/sandwich • Jelly Jar = $45.27 for 6, #10 cans. $7.54 per can (can contains 128, 1 oz servings) = $.07/sandwich • Peanut Butter Jar $ 51.96 for 6, 5# pails. $8.66per pail (pail contains 40, 2 oz servings) = $ .21/sandwich • Uncrustable (2.04 oz) = $0.74/sandwich
Procurement • MenuRecipes Procurement • Writing specifications • Create bid document • Establish deliveries
The “BIG” Production: Pulling It All Together • Use menus and recipes to build menu production worksheets • Consider staff, meal times, and flow of kitchen • Create production schedules • Aggregate prep to have items ready for daily production
The Opportunity: Our Work • Making school lunch the “Meal of Choice” • Providing access to healthy foods • Providing learning opportunities for students to make healthy choices • Giving children hands-on experiences with fresh fruits and vegetables • Teaching children the agricultural foundation of their food • Building a relationship between the school community and local agriculture • Supporting parents as they promote healthy choices with their children • Promoting buying in-season and local sustainably grown produce
Conclusion Promoting “healthy eatingis entirely consistent with the fundamental mission of schools: educating young people to become healthy, productive citizens who can make meaningful contributions to society.” Weschsler, H., McKenna, M., Lee, S., & Dietz, W. (2004, December). Role of schools in preventing childhood obesity. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/physicalactivity/pdf/roleofschools_obesity.pdf