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School Spotlight: Windham Raymond School District Paves the Way!

Posted on May 18, 2012 by in School Spotlight

Although the National School Lunch Guidelines have recently changed, Windham Raymond School District seems anything but phased. They’ve already begun to implement aspects of the new guidelines and are paving the way for schools across the country.

I first read about Windham High School in April when they unveiled a 33-by-8 foot mural done by artist, Tim Clorius. According to the article in KeepMeCurrent.com, this mural was designed to represent seven concepts: “Participation, recycling, composting, human powered transportation, reusable water bottles, outdoor activity and healthy eating.” It’s a beautiful, abstract piece that is displayed along the hallway near the cafeteria.

Speaking of cafeteria, if this incredible mural promoting sustainability isn’t impressive enough, each of the seven schools in the district has its own garden! Four of them have a green house or hoop house to extend the growing season, and one has an indoor grow lab to help start seedlings. This allows for year round growth of lettuce and other greens.

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Guest Chef Lunch at Raymond Elementary School

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Fresh Fruit & Veggie Bar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

School Health Coordinator, Stephanie Joyce says “We strongly believe that connecting students to their food from start to finish will allow kids to get to know their food and in turn we hope to increase vegetable consumption.”

The best part is they’ve already noticed results. The school has seen a significant increase in school meal participation as more staff and students are choosing to eat school breakfast and lunch. Stephanie also makes a great point when she says that “not only is getting local foods from our gardens or local farmers important, it’s very trendy right now, and I think that engages students.”

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Mango Salsa

Each school participates in both recycling and composting helping students learn to be mindful of their waste.

As part of the Healthier US School Challenge, Windham Raymond Schools have been ahead of the curve with the new federal school lunch guidelines. They’ve been mindful of students’ reactions to change, so they’ve implemented the changes over time.

Coming from a marketing background, I hear time and time again that it’s all about knowing your audience. This school district has this down. They know their students, understand the various age groups, and know how to put a positive spin on these new guidelines. ” We also work hard to make these changes seem like a new and exciting trend,” says Stephanie.  “I think the more schools can engage students, staff and parents in making these healthy changes, the more these changes will be accepted.”

They believe the biggest change will be the new sodium restrictions, but feel there’s plenty of time to get creative. Something not unheard of with this school district. “We’ve started to reduce sodium by using less processed foods,” Stephanie says. ” We have done this by implementing more cooking from scratch in our cafeterias and providing out foodservice staff with training and the equipment to support them.”

Learning ZoneXpress applauds Windham Raymond Schools for their dedication and passion to child nutrition. They are impacting the choices students make every day. Choices that will stay with them for the remainder of their lives. They are truly setting the stage for schools all around the nation.

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Grab 'N' Go Lunch

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Guest Chef Day at Windham Middle School

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stephanie goes on to talk about how many adults haven’t stepped foot into a school cafeteria in years, and how most of us remember being served tater tots and mystery meat.  “Well, now they may just see pizza on their student’s menu, but what they don’t know is that it is being served with low-fat cheese on a whole grain crust, along with a salad with greens from the school garden, an apple from a local orchard and low-fat milk. Times have changed! The pizza isn’t the same as it used to be.”

Do you know what your school is serving? The more people we have involved, the stronger impact we can all have on our children’s future. We have an opportunity to make these changes positive and encourage our students to make healthy choices. Start a conversation. Host an event. Make it fun.

“For us, there is no sense in menuing new healthy items if students aren’t going to eat it. So, the more we can engage students in nutrition education, taste tests, and guest chef events, we believe it will compel students to want to try these new and healthier offerings.”

Everyone can learn something from the Windham Raymond School District. Whether you’re a foodservice director, educator, or proud parent, we all have the power to make a difference as this district is doing.

I would like to thank Windham Raymond Schools for allowing us to use them in our School Spotlight. Special thanks to School Health Coordinator, Stephanie Joyce for the wonderful information and photos. You are truly an inspiration to us all.

 

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1 Great Tray™ Educational Materials Help Schools Meet New National School Lunch Program Requirements

Posted on April 27, 2012 by in MyPlate, USDA

410149 225x300 1 Great Tray™ Educational Materials Help Schools Meet New National School Lunch Program Requirements In preparation for the new National School Lunch Program requirements that take effect July 1, districts now have a new educational tool to encourage students to fill their lunch trays with the nutritious vegetables and fruits required for USDA reimbursement.

It’s now easier than ever to teach and show students and staff how to make healthy choices at lunchtime with 1 Great Tray™, a series of educational materials featuring visuals of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and low-fat dairy in correct portion sizes, all placed on the tray kids see every day at lunchtime.

In February, the University of Minnesota conducted a study in an elementary school cafeteria using pictures of fruits and vegetables on lunch trays. Students who were given visual hints were more likely to choose and eat their vegetables because they thought it’s what they were supposed to do and it was what everyone else was doing. “Similar to what the university study found, we’re embracing the idea that if kids are shown, and not told, how to eat, they are more likely to make healthy choices,” said Learning ZoneXpress president and founder Melanie Nelson. “1 Great Tray educates and encourages students to make healthy choices for school lunch.”

For the past two years, Learning ZoneXpress has been providing parents and educators with 1 Great Plate®, a visual representation of what a healthy plate should look like. With new changes to the National School Lunch Program as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, Learning ZoneXpress extended the concept to school cafeterias, making it easy to help foodservice staff, students and school staff make healthy, nutritious choices.

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Chef Paulsen and Farm Owner, Greg Reynolds visit Orono High School

Posted on April 9, 2012 by in School Spotlight

Chef and Farmer Visit 2012 2 300x186 Chef Paulsen and Farm Owner, Greg Reynolds visit Orono High School

Chef Paulsen and Greg Reynolds visit with students at Orono High School.

Chef Marshall Paulsen, head chef at Birchwood Café in Minneapolis visited Orono High School on March 2, 2012. Chef

Paulsen generously donated his time, expertise and his prized recipes for fresh turkey burgers and black bean quinoa burgers topped with cilantro aioli and jalapeno mayonnaise.

Students came during their morning flex time to be part of the hands on demonstration. They had questions about entering the field of culinary arts and what it’s like to be a chef in the Twin Cities area. He said, “You really need to possess a strong passion, a real love for cooking because the reality is, it’s hard work- it’s not the glorified version you see on television with celebrity chefs”. Although, speaking of celebrity chefs, Chef Paulsen is a bit of a celebrity himself.

The March issue of “Minnesota Monthly” magazine, deemed Chef Marshall Paulsen one of the 18 upstart talents remaking the Twin Cities food scene, claiming these chefs have the fresh young talent that will define the next taste of Minnesota. Chef Paulsen is famous for making clean, good food at one of Minneapolis’s busiest sustainable restaurants, the Birchwood Café.

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Voted “Best Tasting Veggie Burger” in Twin Cities area by Minnesota Monthly Magazine.

Both burgers were sampled and voted on by the students and although the black bean burger received several positive comments the turkey burger was the clear winner. Some of the comments were: yum, super good, really tasty, loved it, everything tasted top notch and amazing- come to our school! We plan to start offering the turkey burger as a meal choice at the high school this spring. Thanks for your inspiration Chef Paulsen!

Orono High School also received a visit from Greg and Mary Reynolds, owners of Riverbend Farm, located on the North Fork of the Crow River just west of Delano. Greg Reynolds has been a longtime advocate for the MN Farm to School. His mission is to get more fresh local produce into school lunch programs. Greg was very willing to come and meet with Orono High School students to answer questions about organic produce and organic farming practices which matched well with a unit they were currently discussing in class.

Riverbend Farm has been certified organic since 1994. Vegetables are produced on 30 acres that are in a four year rotation. The main crops are tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, salad and cooking greens, radishes, onions, winter squash, and potatoes. The focus is on high quality, good tasting produce using sustainable practices and organic methods.

Their major markets are local natural food co-ops (like Harvest Moon), independent, chef driven restaurants, Farm to School, and a Community Supported Agriculture program.

Chef Marshall from Birchwood Café uses Greg’s black beans in his burger recipe and cornmeal when making Riverbend cornmeal-crusted catfish.

Birchwood owner Tracy Singleton has been a patron of the farm for the last 15 years, she encourages her employees to do “crop mobbing” at the farm. Crop mobbing is a term used to describe any group that flocks to a farm to help get a specific task accomplished. The idea behind the mobbing is to give people a “hands on/hand in view on where their food comes from.”

It’s a common refrain that people have become disconnected from the food they eat, the migration from country to city leading people away from farm fresh produce and towards frozen, ready-made dinners. Mobbing brings you back to the source.

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March Madness: More than Basketball – The “Pink Slime” School Lunch Controversy

Posted on March 30, 2012 by in USDA

blog1 March Madness: More than Basketball The Pink Slime School Lunch ControversyCreating healthy school lunches is important to many Americans and has attracted much national attention recently. In January 2012, First Lady Michelle Obama and the US Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, announced some major changes that will be coming to school lunches in the next year. These changes include offering fruits and vegetables to every child every day of the week, serving more whole-grain foods and basing portion sizes on the age of the children being served.

Overshadowing these positive changes, however, is the recent public panic over the use of lean, finely textured beef (LFTB)—now commonly called “pink slime”—in school lunches. Reportedly, as much as 15% of the ground beef used in school lunches is made up of LFTB, and this has many parents and school officials worried. What exactly is LFTB and why the sudden demand to remove it from school lunches? Let’s take a look at the facts and the impact this issue could have on school lunches.

In a recent USDA blog post, Dr. Elizabeth Hagen, Under Secretary for Food Safety, issued a statement that, “The process used to produce LFTB is safe and has been used for a very long time. And adding LFTB to ground beef does not make that ground beef any less safe to consume.” Her statement was issued in response to the public outcry over the use of LFTB in school lunches. While the USDA currently stands behind their declaration that LFTB is safe, they have also stated that schools will have the option of purchasing beef free of LFTB beginning next school year.

Briefly explained, LFTB is the product obtained from trimmings left over from cuts of meat such as steaks and roasts. The trimmings go through a centrifuge process that spins most of the fat out of the meat. The remaining product has a texture similar to ground beef and is treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill any potentially harmful bacteria. LFTB has actually been used as a filler in ground beef for decades without much public concern—until recently.

LFTB was brought to the public’s attention on March 7, when an interview with two former USDA scientists referred to it as “pink slime” on the ABC evening news. Popular blogger, Bettina Siegel (The Lunch Tray), quickly started a petition to demand the immediate removal of LFTB from school lunches. In just a week and half, she had acquired 230,000 signatures. The USDA responded by stating that, starting next fall, schools will be able to choose between buying lean meat that contains LFTB or less-lean beef without the added filler. On average, U.S. schools currently buy 20% of their ground beef from the USDA and the other 80% from private vendors who have their own standards on whether or not to use LFTB.

blog2 March Madness: More than Basketball The Pink Slime School Lunch ControversyJust how is this controversy affecting school lunches? Currently many schools serve beef with LFTB because it is less expensive than meet that is free of the filler. However, several districts (including some in NY, FL, TN and NH) have already stopped offering beef that contains LFTB, and many more are exploring the possibility. With continued public concern over the issue and a number of grocery store and restaurant chains removing the product, it is likely that many more schools will be dropping it from the menu as well.

So, is LFTB really dangerous? The beef industry is quick to point out that LFTB is 100% beef and is completely safe for consumption. The USDA backs up this statement. They explain that ammonium hydroxide (the chemical used to treat the LFTB for bacteria) is found in many places in nature and is used to process many other foods such as some cheeses, puddings and chocolates. After much scientific research, the USDA issued a statement in 1974 that LFTB was safe for consumption.

However, critics are quick to voice their concerns as well. They point out that the trimmings used to make LFTB come from parts of the animal that are more likely to be contaminated with harmful bacteria (a fact acknowledged by leading LFTB producer Beef Products Inc.). And the trimmings, they say, are fit only for pet food. Another common complaint from the public is that packaged beef does not need to list LFTB or ammonium hydroxide on the ingredient label because it is considered a processing agent rather than an additive. It is estimated that as much as 70% of the ground beef sold in U.S. grocery stores contains LFTB. This makes it virtually impossible for consumers to avoid LFTB even if they wish to. Raising more possible concern, Tom Laskawy, Executive Director of the Food & Environment Reporting Network, recently wrote about the many chemicals that are used in processing meat for commercial use. He states that, “Should [LFTB] disappear from store shelves, however, we can rest assured the meat that remains will continue to be treated with other industrial chemicals.”

It is not clear whether the “pink slime” hype will generate a snowball effect that results in the questioning of the way meat is processed in the U.S. and labeled for consumption. This current debate has already had repercussions such as a loss of jobs in the beef industry and schools scrambling to change their menus, but there are positive results as well.

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USDA school lunch changes – An investment in our future

Posted on March 27, 2012 by in USDA

Earlier this year the USDA released their “Historic Improvements to Meals Served in America’s Schools.” Many parents and educators are enthusiastic about the changes. As the USDA press release indicates…

The final standards make the same kinds of practical changes that many parents are already encouraging at home, including:

  • Ensuring students are offered both fruits and vegetables every day of the week;
  • Substantially increasing offerings of whole grain-rich foods;
  • Offering only fat-free or low-fat milk varieties;
  • Limiting calories based on the age of children being served to ensure proper portion size; and
  • Increasing the focus on reducing the amounts of saturated fat, trans fats, and sodium.

The hope is that not only will children become healthier, but they will build healthy habits. Learning ZoneXpress (LZX) supports any move towards healthy habits and healthy learning about nutrition with a range of products that more explicitly detail the healthy choices that are being made. For example portion control – it’s great to alter portion sizes based on age – but without explanation the change may go unnoticed. It’s a teachable moment, gone. We advocate for making those lessons clear to students, teacher, parents – everyone!

LZX is also pleased to see that the changes will not be confined to the lunchroom – but will have an impact on food available throughout the school and is supported in the budget…

In addition to the updated meal standards, unprecedented improvements to come include:

  • The ability to take nutrition standards beyond the lunch line for the first time ever, foods and beverages sold in vending machines and other venues on school campuses will also contribute to a healthy diet;
  • Increased funding for schools – an additional 6 cents a meal is the first real increase in 30 years – tied to strong performance in serving improved meals;
  • Common-sense pricing standards for schools to ensure that revenues from non-Federal sources keep pace with the Federal commitment to healthy school meals and properly align with costs; and
  • Training and technical assistance to help schools achieve and monitor compliance.

The investment in our kids will pay off – tomorrow, next year, and hopefully in continuing generations.

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Turning a healthy profit at the school store?

Posted on March 22, 2012 by in School Store

Imagine you’re in charge of the school store. You have two goals:

  1. Turn a profit to pay for school incidentals, such as copier paper
  2. Turn kids onto healthy food

While they aren’t contrary goals, they aren’t necessarily complementary goals either – as a recent article in Lorence Times Daily (Snack Time) points out. The problem is that kids tend to prefer unhealthy snacks. Also there’s a greater margin for profit in unhealthy snacks because healthier options cost more. So what to do?

One of the problems right now is that the answer is different wherever you go.

A recent study by Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine reported unhealthy snack foods were more prevalent in schools in the South, where obesity rates are the highest in the nation.

The report indicates that about 60 percent of public elementary students in the South during the 2009-10 school year could buy sugary snacks outside of school meals, compared with 24 percent of students in the West and 30 percent in the Midwest.

It turns out that while there are some restrictions on cafeteria options, there are no regulations for food sold elsewhere in the building…

A recent study by Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine reported unhealthy snack foods were more prevalent in schools in the South, where obesity rates are the highest in the nation.

The report indicates that about 60 percent of public elementary students in the South during the 2009-10 school year could buy sugary snacks outside of school meals, compared with 24 percent of students in the West and 30 percent in the Midwest.

The good news is that there may be changes coming up…

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to release proposed nutrition standards for all foods and beverages available outside of school meals.

Yet, while most educators want to see healthier options, there is that other goal – supplement the school budget – and the healthier options aren’t doing that…

Cherokee Elementary Principal Pam Worsham said students enjoy the fruits and vegetables, but her school still relies on proceeds from the school store. In January, the store made $700, which was a slow month, she said.“The store can generate up to $12,000 in a month, and that money goes for expenses like copier fees, paper and supplies that teachers need,” she said. “It could also be used to paint walls. It’s much-needed money.”

It’s an example of when leadership – from the USDA and perhaps the Department of Education would be beneficial because this is a conundrum in schools across the country. There has to be a better solution that would allow for healthy options that invest in our kids future as well as schools’ short-term needs.

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How Does Our Garden Grow?

Posted on February 22, 2012 by in Uncategorized

gardening e1329874583937 How Does Our Garden Grow?We started an Orono school garden project last spring with all of our 3rd grade classes. Each class is assigned a garden plot to plant and tend to during the spring and harvest in the fall.

A parent in the district donates “The Little Acres” raised garden beds and local community businesses and farmers donate the seedlings and plants. It truly is a community event with dedicated volunteers lending a helping hand.

The district has an organics recycling program where the student’s cafeteria food scraps are converted into organic soil. This extremely fertile soil that the students create is used to fill the garden plots. Spinach and radishes are early sprouters, so students can literally watch their garden grow soon after planting day.

To share the energy and enthusiasm of starting a school garden, I created a video of the event and linked it on our school’s lunch web page. It’s a fun way to put pictures into action and the students love seeing themselves reliving the day. Check out the link How Does Our Garden Grow?

The lessons gained from having a school garden are limited only by one’s creativity. This is a perfect time of the year to plant the seed for organizing a school garden in your district!

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Starting from Scratch in School Kitchens

Posted on February 9, 2012 by in Uncategorized

Today’s guest blogger Christine M. Cliff comes from Nutrition Notes by LZX. Christine is a registered and licensed dietitian. For six years, she has been the Training Coordinator and Senior Nutrition Specialist for the Illinois Nutrition Education and Training (NET) Program. She creates and coordinates statewide nutrition trainings for school and childcare staff throughout Illinois…

On January 25, 2012, the final school meal rules were rolled out. Prior to these rules being finalized, schools around the nation have been striving to enhance the quality of the meals that they serve to their kids. Some improvements include decreasing the fat and sodium in the recipes and increasing the number of fruits, vegetables and whole grains being served. Taking it one step further, many schools are literally starting from scratch…scratch cooking that is…as a way to enhance the nutritional quality in their meals.

A few weeks ago, I listened in on an enlightening webinar- “Back to Basic: How to Incorporate Scratch Cooking Techniques into your School Kitchen.” Several school nutrition professionals discussed how they included scratch cooking methods and its benefits. I want to highlight a few of those benefits that Dr. Robert S Lewis from Elmonte City School District in California addressed.

  1. Lower food costs- They utilized several USDA Foods (formerly known as commodities), including whole wheat flour, sweet potatoes, eggs, fresh and frozen fruits and veggies. Dr. Lewis’ staff used the whole wheat flour to make their own sub rolls. Each scratch baked roll cost $0.06 vs. $0.30 for a premade roll. The labor costs of scratch cooking are still a cheaper option. Not only is there less waste, but foods taste fresher.
  2. Better eye appeal- Elmonte Schools enhanced the presentation and added more color when they created the recipes. Presentation is key to drawing the kids in and enticing them to try new healthy foods.
  3. Increased sales- Students know what is hip and trendy. Elmonte Schools appealed to students’ consumerism and served more “adult” foods like chicken teriyaki with broccoli and brown rice. Also, they asked students to taste test new recipes, which need to meet 70% approval before being added to the menu.
  4. Nutritional quality-When Elmonte Schools make their own recipes; they have more control over the amount and types ingredients used. Cooks can choose to use better quality foods and decrease ingredients like salt and fat to make them healthier.

Scratch cooking has many benefits to enhancing the quality of school meals. Though it may be a challenge to have all items made from scratch, schools can start small. Look at your menus and discuss with your staff which items can start to be made quick-scratch versus buying it prepackaged. Remember to take one step at a time…the students and parents will thank you for it.

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“Color Your Tray” encourages students to use MyPlate

Posted on February 1, 2012 by in Uncategorized

The following post was contributed by food service professional, Kris Diller.WritingMenu 300x192 Color Your Tray encourages students to use MyPlate

I have developed an idea using “color my tray” as a nutrition learning tool that I would like to share. Our new “color your tray” menu board will be used to teach students about the 5 school meal components: meat/ meat alternate, milk, fruit, vegetable, and bread, by relating the colors on the poster to the food being served.

Students are encouraged to take all 5 food components each day but a minimum of 3 to = A Healthy Tray.

The colors of the food groups will be represented by corresponding colored fish which have been clipped on the serving pans. Students may be encouraged to choose a “red fish” or “blue fish” depending on what food group is missing from their tray. We’re excited and hope the message really catches on!

Vegetables 300x211 Color Your Tray encourages students to use MyPlateFruit 300x265 Color Your Tray encourages students to use MyPlateGrains 300x202 Color Your Tray encourages students to use MyPlate

In addition, I did a one page informational flyer for lunchroom supervisor’s, teachers and our food coaches who are in our cafeterias, so all the folks involved provide a consistent message to our students.

The fish food chart will sit next to our cashier giving them a handy tool to refer to when encouraging a student to go back and pick up food item from the serving line. If a student does go back and get something, the cashier has been giving the student a “color your plate” sticker as a reward. So far, it’s working really well. It’s a fun reminder to the students to build a healthy tray.

CashierSign 300x285 Color Your Tray encourages students to use MyPlateWe are in our second week of using the menu board with the fish attached to the foods in the serving line. It seems like the kids are really catching on fast to the idea. We have volunteer food coaches in our serving area teaching our students as they come through the line, and our lunch room supervisors are discussing it with students in the cafeteria. In addition, our PE teachers requested Learning ZoneXpress posters to show their classes how the color my plate works. They plan on using it for Fitness Fever coming up next month.

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