Quantity, Quality, & Appeal – A Balancing Act
Historically, school food has gotten a bad rap for being unappetizing and even having poor nutritional value. If you haven’t been in a school cafeteria recently though, you may be surprised…
Together … We Can! Achieving Successful Partnerships
Partnerships are an excellent way to enhance programming. Decreased funding and staff hours, and increased learning objective demands can make it hard for one organization to do it all. Partnerships provide an opportunity for multiple organizations to address community challenges …
How to Prepare for a Successful Administrative Review
The Administrative Review is a comprehensive evaluation of school meals programs in school food authorities (SFAs) participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs. State Agencies are required to review each SFA every three years. The Healthy, Hunger-Free …
Tried and True Tips for Clearly Communicating Your Messages
Whether you’re doing a 3-minute TV interview or a 30-minute Back-to-School night presentation, creating a simple action plan can mean the difference between communication success and failure. Taking a few minutes to think about your audience and plan your key …
Making Healthy School Food Choices – A Parent’s Influence
The Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA) has stirred up all sorts of controversy, misconceptions and contradictory information.
While the public has every right to expect the very best nutrition for their children when they eat school lunch, offering nutritious …
Parent Engagement – A Key Ingredient for Successful School Meal Programs
What is Parent Engagement?
Parent engagement is defined as parents and school staff working together to support and improve the health, learning, and development of their children. It is a shared responsibility with schools and the community to engage parents …
Tray Waste Part III: Effectively Present Your Data
The data that you collected can tell you the percentage of food being wasted before and after you implemented a change in your cafeteria. It will also tell you how many students are selecting food items. If food waste has …
Tray Waste Part II: 5 Simple Steps to Efficiently Measure Tray Waste
Measuring tray waste can give insights into what foods kids are eating and what foods are being thrown away. In order for the healthy foods to give students nutritional benefits, they must first eat them! Before and after implementing changes …
Tray Waste Part I: Determine the Impact of Lunchroom Changes by Measuring Tray Waste
Making healthy changes to the school lunchroom is a no-brainer, but how do you know if those changes are really making an impact?
Schools participating in USDA school meal programs are faced with regulations that dictate what foods kids can …
School Food Wisdom, Straight from the Source
There are many misconceptions about school food, from what it costs, to what’s in it and where it comes from. School lunch is often accused of being a factor in the childhood obesity problem in the US. Hundreds of thousands …