School Food 101 – They Ate Lunch

Posted by Robyn Shyllit

Fresh in the midst of a busy fall full of school food programs and action planning, the buzz of the Auditor General’s Annual Report referencing the ineffectiveness of PPM 150 spawned this morning’s editorial “Nutrition 101: The failed lunch” and a sour feeling in our stomachs.

FoodShare supports PPM 150, and this article was a fast reminder for some of the hurdles we still face in the school food movement a response was needed to test the three lessons outlined that just don’t make the FoodShare grade:

Nutrition 101 Lesson One: Kids won’t buy food they don’t like. When cafeterias purged French fries and burgers, students simply bought them elsewhere. Cafeteria sales plunged up to 45 per cent.

  • School Food Lesson One: Kids will eat food they like when it is beautiful, tastes good, smells good, and is the right price. Our Good Food Café models a healthy school cafeteria, serving attractive, delicious and nutritious food that students choose to eat. The Café currently operates in two French high Schools, Frere Andrée and Toronto Ouest, serving fresh, home made food daily, and also providing a daily hot lunch to Davisville Public School, serving 150 students from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 6. 

    Since opening this fall, cafeteria sales have gone up 400%. As told by Maclean’s magazine “The lineups are long, the prices unbeatably low and the bounty of fresh and fragrant foods irresistible.”

Nutrition 101 Lesson Two: School principals have better things to do than check the nutritional contents of food and drinks in vending machines.

  • School Food Lesson Two: We can create a culture of good healthy food in schools when everyone is involved. From students, parents, and caregivers, to teachers, principles, and volunteers, we recognize that it takes a village to raise and nourish a child, and that this hard work cannot fall on the shoulders of one.

    The health and wellbeing of our children and youth is one of the most important things for us ALL to think about. When we pass off the responsibility of healthy eating there are vast long-term economic, social and health implications. Learn more in our Case for a Universal Student Nutrition Program delivered to the United Nations Special Rapportuer on the Right to Food when he visited Canada last year.

Nutrition 101 Lesson Three: It’s difficult to walk and chew broccoli at the same time. Teachers rightly point out that it can be difficult to work an extra 20 minutes of exercise into a school day that’s supposed to be focused on reading and math.

  • School Food Lesson Three: Our curriculum-linked school food literacy programs offer an abundance of ideas to get kids moving and connected to what they eat and where their food comes from. How about participating in an onsite school garden, shoveling compost, or taking a walk to learn budgeting skills to the local grocery store? We know the most effective learning strategies are about cross curricular connections, and that kids will get excited when they get their hands dirty. 

    As told by FoodShare board member and No Nonsense Guide to World Food Author Wayne Roberts “school meals solve many problems that governments and society have to solve soon. As problem solving goes, school meals offer one-stop shopping. The combination of school meals, school gardens and expanded food-related curriculum addresses a wide range of challenges, from childhood obesity to childhood hunger to high costs for waste disposal to inattentiveness of students at school due to growling stomachs and “sugar blues,” to lifelong learning about healthy lifestyles. Our “Culture of Yes” comes from confidence that we’re on to something that benefits everyone.”

Learn more about FoodShare’s work in schools that gets students excited to grow, cook, and eat good healthy food at www.foodshare.net. You are also invited to join us February 27 at Recipe for Change to support this innovative work to build a healthy future.

But don’t take our word for it. Learn more and check out our FREE resources to create a culture of Yes to Good Healthy Food in Schools.

Blog originally posted here: http://www.foodshare.net/blog/2013/12/school-food-101-they-ate-lunch

Comments

It is truly a well-researched content and excellent wording. I got so engaged in this material that I couldn’t wait reading. I am impressed with your work and skill. Thanks. free movies online