School Meals

  

 News, Tips and Ideas

  •  Celebrate National Garden Month. April is National Garden Month, a great time to introduce new vegetables to students. Take a look at our tips and resources on using this celebration as a springboard for taste testing—and growing—delicious tender spring vegetables kids will love.
  • Scratch Cooking in Schools
    In response to growing interest in using more fresh foods in school meals preparation, the Alliance and the National Food Service Management Institute have collaborated to produce a webinar titled: Back to Basics: How to Incorporate Scratch Cooking into Your School Kitchen. On this 75 minute webinar, school nutrition directors and executive chefs address the benefits of including scratch cooking in school meal preparation and factors to consider when adding scratch cooked meals to the menu. The webinar also includes a 30 minute video training session on basic knife skills, sauteeing and cooking grains, which helps schools meet criterion 202 in the Healthy Schools Program Framework.
  • Applying Behavioral Economics in the Cafeteria
    One of the hot topics in school nutrition today is how to get students to eat the healthier options that school cafeterias are offering. The Alliance will offer a webinar, including presentations by lead researchers at Cornell University’s Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs.
  • HSP and HUSSC Awards: Having It All
    You spoke. We listened. For some time, school nutrition professionals have been asking how they could make changes toward healthier schools meals while meeting the requirements for both Healthy Schools Program National Recognition and the HealthierUS Schools Challenge award.
  • Meet your Healthy Schools Program School Nutrition Manager! 
  • The Alliance has new resources that will make serving healthy foods to students easier and more affordable. You can find healthier school meals products, save money and simplify the process when it’s time to restock and begin bidding. Check out the tools and share them with your school food service director or anyone who makes school meal purchasing decisions. A healthier nutrition month is literally a click away.

To learn more about the school meals tools, watch our webinar and download the following presenter slides:

More Webinars  

Success Stories 

Investing in Health Through High Quality Meals
Wayne County High School  - Wayne County, Kentucky
In the two years since Wayne County School District joined the Alliance for a Healthier Generation’s Healthy Schools Program, it has been an all-hands-on-deck approach to making changes to their school meals program. Students, school and district staff have all made improving the nutritional quality of their meals a top priority for their students- 84 percent of whom participate in the school lunch program.

Guiding Students to Healthier Choices
With the support of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation’s Healthy Schools Program, Independence School District has made incredible strides towards serving healthier school meals and helping students make better food choices. Director of Nutrition Services at Independence, Michele Crumbaugh, has led a district-wide shift in school meals and competitive foods.

We Have an Entire Movement Here
El Monte City School District - El Monte, California
The El Monte City School District joined the Alliance for a Healthier Generation’s Healthy Schools Program five years ago and in June 2011 Rio Hondo Elementary School received the National Gold Recognition Award from President Bill Clinton and the Alliance. In a recent interview, Dr. Robert S. Lewis, Director of Nutrition Services for the district, reflects on how things have changed in his community:

 

 

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