A Big Thanks to School Lunch

National School Lunch Week might be celebrated October 10-14, but we think the dedicated people who feed America’s students deserve recognition every day.

The future of our country counts on kids growing up eating healthy meals, including school breakfast and lunch. Let school foodservice employees know how important they are, any time of the year.

Here are some ideas:

  • Students can:
    1. Create their own school lunch or breakfast posters (make it a contest or just a fun activity).
    2. Sign a giant thank you card and present it to foodservice staff.
    3. Write notes about or draw pictures of their favorite school meals.
    4. Give foodservice staff a big smile and say thank you!
  • You can:
    1. Take pictures of smiling students eating their school lunch or breakfast and post them in the cafeteria and/or kitchen.
    2. Encourage parents and teachers to write thank you notes to foodservice staff.
    3. Brighten up kitchens and cafeterias with salad bar clings and posters, like these:

By Hollis Bass, MEd, RD, LD

Fruits in the Art Classroom

Education is always an interdisciplinary process. Math, Science, Art, and English are learned in the kitchen. History, Math, and Science are often found in a laboratory science class. Math and Science often go together for nutrition.

Wikipedia defines it best, “Interdisciplinarity involves the combining of two or more academic disciplines into one activity.”

Art teachers may want to adopt a lesson that encourages their students to learn about color, value, shape, composition, and health at the same time! Here is one that I did to accomplish that goal:

In a study of abstract art we find many artists who deconstructed something to make a design. The most famous of course is Piet Mondrian and his work with trees.

Here is one with apples. The first image is an abstract painting with gouache that is inspired by deconstructed apples. I cut the apples and peeled them to find a variety of shapes and to study their colors. Then I produced the abstract image. This is all in pursuit of my Visual Art Certificate with UC Berkeley Extension as part of my commitment to keeping all of the products up to date with the most current styles in the art and graphic art world. I am brimming with ideas that will definitely come to fruition in 2018 and beyond!

But something happened in the studio – the students including myself began eating the apples I had in my bag and the entire classroom was filled with apples. Apples are one of the most popular fruits in the US and there are many interesting parts to them. So an art teacher could have a lot of fun using them along with their shapes and colors in drawing projects, abstract painting projects, and more of course. The apples did not go to waste! If you see the last photo I made a baked applesauce that consisted of 8 apples, 1 cup of water, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. I brought all to boil on the stove and then baked them for 20 minutes in a 400 degree F oven. When they were cool I mashed them with a potato masher.

 

 

Make Your Salad a Rainbow!

Did you know that four final rules for implementing the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA) were just announced?

In a nutshell, the USDA finalized its rules for nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools, including breakfast, lunch, and snacks.

According to a press release sent out by the USDA, “As a key component of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative to raise a healthier generation, the rules will ensure that children have access to healthy snacks and that nutrition standards for the foods marketed and served in schools are consistent. The rules will also promote integrity across the school meals programs.”

Want to help communicate the key nutrition lessons that are central to these new rules?

Check out this fantastic new salad bar sign!

After all, making healthful food available is only half the battle. We need to make it appealing to kids too.

 

This new salad bar sign is a better design and at a lower price than the previous version, and the video above offers some great inspiration on how to use it.

And that’s just the beginning. Here are some other “eat from the rainbow” resources that can help make healthful foods appealing to kids of all ages…

And here’s a free printable handout about eating a variety of healthful foods…

Rainbow Salad Handout

2 Amazing Bundles for Schools

What is it about poster bundles?

12 Lessons of Wellness and Weight Loss Poster SetThe poster bundles we have in the store are some of our very top sellers, and we’re always getting rave reviews from happy customers (check out the testimonial page for details). Since these bundles are so popular, we’re always looking for ways to combine our posters in order to make the most effective nutrition education materials.

So imagine my happiness when I got a call from a foodservice director who was strategizing poster pairings for two different age groups.

The foodservice director had noticed that her students simply weren’t eating enough fruits and vegetables, no matter what the schools tried. This was a particular issue with kids in elementary school and high school.

So, what the director wanted to do was get a bunch of different posters that promoted healthful habits and put them in the schools. She needed two sets — one that would appeal to elementary school students and another that would appeal to high schoolers.

We brainstormed for a while on the phone, and then my team and I got to work. When we were done, we had created 2 new poster sets — one for each age group.

Elementary Poster SetThe Elementary Nutrition Poster Set has 7 posters that communicate key health messages in ways that are both memorable and appealing to kids. The set includes the following posters (and the handouts that accompany them)…

These posters highlight health lessons like eating more vegetables and trying new and healthful foods. They are specially designed with kids in mind, communicating their messages creatively and effectively.

High School Poster SetThe High School Nutrition 8 Poster Set appeals to older kids. It features 8 different posters that outline and support the most important health lessons for kids in high school. The set includes the following posters and their handouts…

The foodservice director was thrilled with the combinations, which is why we decided to set up these nutrition poster sets in the store. Now you can get them too! Check out the High School Nutrition 8 Poster Set and the Elementary Nutrition Poster Set today! And remember, there’s always more in the store!

By Judy Doherty, PC II and Founder of Food and Health Communications, Inc.

Are you looking for resources to help students? Then check out this free Nutrition Infographic for Kids! It’s packed with great ideas and fun pictures, perfect for any kid who needs to learn the basics of nutrition.

NutritionInfographicKids

 

2 Weeks to Go!

The deadline is fast approaching!

MyPlateBack in February, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service proposed guidelines for local school wellness policies. Now there are only 2 weeks left to comment on them!

The rules that the Food and Nutrition Service outlined focused on what school wellness policies need to feature, including…

  • Physical activity goals
  • Nutrition education goals
  • Rules for informing parents about wellness policies
  • Assessing progress
  • Sharing updates

According to the USDA, “Parents, students, representatives of the school food authority, teachers of physical education, school health professionals, the school board, school administrators, and the general public must be permitted to participate in the wellness policy process as a part of the wellness policy team.”

This rule would also affect the marketing of snacks, drinks, and other foods at the school. Everything would have to align with the Smart Snacks in Schools rules and regulations.

So, what do you think about these proposed guidelines? There are only 2 weeks left to log your comments, so, if you have views, share them today!

For More Information:

Remember, there are tons of resources for schools! Check out the Nutrition Education Store for amazing handouts, posters, display kits, and more!

School Menu Erasable Poster

7 Elementary School Nutrition Poster Set

MyPlate Stickers