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Enhancing School Nutrition with Seasonal and Cultural Meals

The FRESHMeals@Schools initiative promotes health by providing nutritious, appealing meals to students. Led by Sandy Curwood, RDN, MS, this program emphasizes menu planning, recipe development, and local procurement to create engaging school meal experiences. Utilizing fresh, seasonal ingredients and cultural recipes, FRESHMeals@Schools encourages students to make healthier choices. The initiative also highlights the benefits of scratch cooking, sustainability, and community connections. By fostering a positive food environment, schools can educate students on nutrition and support healthy habits for life.

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Enhancing School Nutrition with Seasonal and Cultural Meals

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  1. 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

  2. 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.

  3. FRESHMeals@Schools: • Menu Planning • Recipe Development • Procurement • Production

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. My Plate: My Tray

  7. 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

  8. Plant Part Salad- Connects to the Classroom

  9. Seasonal and Cultural Recipes • Take base recipe and add cultural components

  10. 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

  11. 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

  12. Benefits of Scratch Cooking • Health: • Control content of sugar, salt, and sodium • Known ingredients • Better taste • Environmental benefits: • Less packaging • Use local produce

  13. 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

  14. Scratch vs. Purchase Comparison

  15. Procurement • MenuRecipes Procurement • Writing specifications • Create bid document • Establish deliveries

  16. 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

  17. 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

  18. 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

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