Freshening up lunch options: Fairfax launches salad bars at all 198 schools

WASHINGTON (7News) — Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Food and Nutrition Services announced the launch of salad bars at all 198 schools on Thursday. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at Annandale High School at 10:30 a.m.

The ceremony featured remarks from FCPS Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid and Bonnie Moore, Executive Director of Real Food for Kids.

Attendees had the opportunity to personally experience Annandale High School’s Salad Bar and build their own healthy school lunch...

Freshening up lunch options: FCPS launches salad bars at all 198 schools | WJLA

School Food Nutrition Standards are Achievable, Report Finds

 From the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The 2021 School Meals Corporate Report Card is out. Read it here.

School meal programs have many choices for K-12 products that meet existing and proposed standards

Full story here.

The majority of K-12 school food products sold by the largest foodservice companies meet key federal nutrition standards and could meet new goals that further support children’s health, according to a new report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The 2021 School Meals Corporate Report Card analyzed nearly 2,000 K-12 products offered by 28 major foodservice companies to see if they met existing whole grain-rich (made with at least 51 percent whole grains) and sodium requirements, two areas that schools claim have been challenging to meet. It also assessed whether companies meet new proposed goals for added sugars, artificial sweeteners of concern, and synthetic dyes.

The report found that all companies had over 75 percent compliance with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) whole grain-rich requirements for the majority of grain food groups. Companies were either close to or at 100 percent compliance for USDA’s current sodium targets for lunch, the main source of sodium in school meals. In addition, most companies would meet a new standard, proposed in the report, that would require meals contain no more than 10 percent of calories from added sugars. Nearly all products would meet a proposed synthetic dye- and artificial sweetener-free standard. (Synthetic dyes are linked to behavioral issues in susceptible children, and certain artificial sweeteners should be avoided, primarily due to cancer concerns.) This means that schools have plenty of healthy choices from which they can select in their efforts to comply with the USDA and proposed nutrition standards.

"It’s encouraging to see that major foodservice companies have largely been able to deliver K-12 products that meet nutrition requirements, allowing schools to buy foods that meet federal guidelines and provide students with healthy meals,” said Colin Schwartz, deputy director of federal affairs at CSPI. “We urge the industry to continue to reformulate the minority of non-compliant products and support strong, science-based nutrition standards. We also urge the Biden administration to set stronger nutrition standards for schools.” 

Companies that sell salty culprits for lunch like pizzas, sandwiches, and burritos were virtually at 100 percent compliance with current sodium targets. In fact, none of the median amounts of sodium in any of these food categories exceeded the lunch target levels for any age. But there are exceptions. Schwan Foods, the nation’s largest school food pizza manufacturer, makes an easily compliant whole grain-rich pizza with 470 mg of sodium per slice, but also makes a personal pizza with a whopping 1,100 mg sodium (and not whole grain-rich). Two seemingly similar whole grain-rich burritos from Foster Farms can differ by 350 mg of sodium, either making or breaking compliance.

Mapping Covid-19 outbreaks in the food system

As we read about breakdowns in our food supply chain, Food and Environment Reporting Network (FERN) reporter Leah Douglas gathered the data on meat and poultry plants nationwide. Her full story, and the interactive map showing locations, and numbers of cases at each plant, is here.

According to data collected by FERN, as of May 22 at 12pm ET, at least 220 meatpacking and food processing plants and 20 farms and production facilities have confirmed cases of Covid-19, and at least four food processing plants are currently closed. At least 19,160 workers (17,360 meatpacking workers, 1,134 food processing workers, and 666 farmworkers) have tested positive for Covid-19 and at least 72 workers (66 meatpacking workers and 6 food processing workers) have died. 

***

A beef plant in Colorado. A pork plant in Iowa. A hamburger plant in Pennsylvania. Since mid-March, outbreaks of Covid-19 have appeared in meatpacking plants across the country, infecting thousands of workers. The coronavirus has also reached workers in processed food facilities, which make frozen dinners, baked goods, and dairy products. And slowly, outbreaks are arriving at farms and ranches.

Will MCPS food services roll back the healthy foods too?

The Trump administration is planning to roll back Obama era healthy food regulations for school meals. Will MCPS also roll back the healthy food now being served? We understand that MCPS has said while it will not go back on many of the old rules, they will go back on some.  For example, they will return to using white flour pasta and get rid of the whole grain pasta.

Check your child's school menus to see what MCPS is feeding them.

From CBS News, reporter Steve Frank:

New School Lunch Rules Could Mean More Salt, Sugar, and Fat. Full story here.

The dairy industry "says children don't drink as much milk if its not flavored and they really like that extra fat, the taste of it," said Mulvaney. (author's note: Lydia Mulvaney, food and agriculture reporter who co-authored the Bloomberg study, found here)

Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, who was once a consultant to milk producers, announced early on a relaxation of the rules. Higher fat chocolate milk was back, along with more white breads and pizza. "I wouldn't be as big as I am today without chocolate milk," Perdue told reporters at the time.

The Charter School Chef

From The City Paper, reporter Laura Hayes, Oct 17, 2018. For the full stort, and more on other food stories in this article, go here. To see the Elsie Whitlow Stokes ES school lunch menu for October go here. A few of the October lunch main courses are: Tikka Masala Chicken; Jerk Chicken/Jerk Tofu; Peruvian Chicken; Greek Pasta Salad.

And here's the article from The City Paper.

When students at Elsie Whitlow Stokes stream into the cafeteria this Thursday, they'll get trays with sesame noodle salad, a hard boiled egg, roasted greens and red peppers, a peach cup, and milk. The Brookland charter school only serves meals cooked on the premises. “A select few schools do scratch cooking,” says head chef Chris Headecker. “[Other schools] don’t have a kitchen in the building. They might just have warming stations or kitchenette space because they outsource their food.”               
The D.C. native who is half Brazilian and half Guyanese thought he wanted a career in criminal justice, but rechanneled his passion for helping by putting his childhood love of cooking to use. He graduated from Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School’s culinary program in 2010 and has been employed at E.W. Stokes ever since—advancing from intern to boss.

His alarm chirps at 3 a.m. so he can be in the kitchen by 4 a.m., ready for a day of preparing breakfast for 450 people, lunch for 750 people, and supper for 250 participants in the after school program. The school has students from Pre-K up through 5th grade, and staff often eat Headecker’s menu.

In dreaming up dishes like Peruvian tofu and taco casserole, Headecker must follow USDA dietary requirements, but he finds ways to stay on trend, like participating in Meatless Monday, and he lets loose on Friday by serving crowd-pleasing pizza or burgers.

MCPS RECEIVES AVERAGE RATING ON SCHOOL BREAKFAST REPORT CARD

When it comes to how well Montgomery County Public Schools is ensuring that low-income students have access to a nutritious school breakfast, the school district is just average, according to a new study.

The report was released by Maryland Hunger Solutions, a nonprofit based in Baltimore and includes a breakfast report for the 24 school districts in the state of Maryland.  With more than 55,000 low-income students in Montgomery County, 49 percent are starting their day with a healthy school breakfast, according to the study.  The school district received a C+ grade for low-income student participation.

Grades were given in three categories: low-income student participation; use of the state-funded program that provides breakfast to all students called Maryland Meals for Achievement; and adoption of the federal Community Eligibility Provision, which allows high-poverty schools to offer free breakfast and lunch to students.

“School breakfast means less hunger, better health, and improved educational outcomes for our children,” said Michael Wilson, director of Maryland Hunger Solutions. “We strongly encourage more schools across the state to offer breakfast at no charge to all students and serve breakfast after the school day begins so that more children may reap the many benefits of school breakfast.”

MCPS received an A+ grade for its involvement in the Maryland Meals for Achievement but did not score well in adopting the Federal Community Eligibility Provision since none of the schools that are eligible for the federal program in Montgomery County benefited from it in the 2017-2018 school year.

The report in its entirety can be viewed by clicking here.

http://www.mymcmedia.org/mcps-receives-average-rating-school-breakfast-report-card/

New York City Offers Free Lunch for All Public School Students

From The New York Times, reporters Sean Piccoli and Elizabeth A. Harris, Sept 6, 2017. For the complete story go here.

Lunch at New York City public schools will be available free of charge to all 1.1 million students beginning this school year, Carmen Fariña, the schools chancellor, said on Wednesday in the basement cafeteria of a Hell’s Kitchen elementary school. The new school year begins on Thursday.

“This is about equity,” Ms. Fariña said. “All communities matter.”

This move has been long sought by food-policy advocates and many members of the New York City Council, who said that some students would prefer to go hungry rather than admit they cannot afford to pay for lunch. Nationally, the practice of “lunch shaming” — holding children publicly accountable for unpaid school lunch bills — has garnered attention.

Father upset about quality of [MCPS] summer camp lunch @mocoboe @mcps

..."I was appalled that this is what they offered kids," he said. 

Ferguson sent an email to Montgomery County Department of Recreation, asking for answers. We reached out to them as well. It turns out that the meals aren't actually included in the camp's tuition. According to a spokesperson, the program is part of the Montgomery County Public Schools providing nutritional food to kids during the summer season...

http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/maryland/father-upset-about-quality-of-summer-camp-lunch/462889049?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_content=598a7ab600bd470007b88966&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook

Should Ice Cream be Available 5 Days a Week in MCPS Elementary Schools?

A parent had not realized that MCPS allows ice cream to be served daily in the lunchroom.  The parent set up an online poll on this topic. 

How many days/week do you think it's appropriate for RCES to serve ice cream to the kids at lunch?  Click link below to vote.  Thank you!

https://fans.vote/vote/ACnkNKPeCl4/rces-capacity-discussion/how-many-days-week-do-you-think-it-s-appropriate-for-rces-to-serve-icecream-to-the-kids-at-lunch 

Salad Bar Summit April 16th

Healthy School Food Maryland to Host Salad Bar Summit April 16, 2016

 

Featuring
National School Salad Bar Guru Rodney Taylor
Saturday, April 16, 2016

from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Universities at Shady Grove
Building II, 1432-42 Gaithersburg/Bethesda Section
9630 Gudelsky Drive
Rockville MD 20850

Coming this April, Healthy School Food Maryland’s big event, the “Salad Bar Summit,” will be held in Rockville at the Universities at Shady Grove. The Summit’s goal is to help stakeholders envision the possibility of more public schools offering salad bars and to train them in best practices.

Our keynote speaker will be Rodney Taylor, nationally-known salad bar expert, former Director of
Nutrition Services for the Riverside Unified School District in California and current Director of the Office of Food and Nutrition Services in the Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia. Healthy School Food Maryland (HSFMD) has invited school board members, food and nutrition services directors, principals, cafeteria managers, farmers, teachers, parents, students and non-profit stakeholders from public school systems in Baltimore City, and Baltimore, Frederick, Carroll, Howard, Anne Arundel, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties to take part in the full summit.

For more information or to purchase tickets please visit:

https://realfoodforkidsmontgomery.givezooks.com/events/salad-summit

Or contact HSFMD at info@healthyschoolfoodmd.org

Study finds school meals may contain unsafe levels of BPA

Students may be getting a less-than-nutritious extra ingredient in the lunches and breakfasts they eat in their school cafeterias, a new study suggests. Whether it's enough to worry about, though, is a matter of dispute.

Researchers at Stanford University and the Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health say school-prepared meals may contain unsafe levels of bisphenol A, or BPA. Often found in canned foods and plastic packaging, the widely used chemical can mimic human hormones. Research has shown it can harm the developing brains and bodies of fetuses, infants and children.

"There are known sources of BPA being used in school food," said Jennifer C. Hartle, a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford and lead author of the study, which was recently published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology.

She suggested parents should press their school systems to see that their children are fed fresh rather than canned or prepackaged fruits and vegetables...

 http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/maryland-health/bs-hs-bpa-schools-20151004-story.html

Why Does MCPS Oppose Improving School Food?

 ...Testifying against the Sugar-Free Schools Act were Kate Heinrich, president of the Maryland School Nutrition Association (MSNA) and Marla Caplon, chair of MSNA’s Nutrition Committee. Mrs. Heinrich is employed as the assistant director, Division of Food and Nutrition Services (DFNS) for the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). Mrs. Caplon is employed as the director of DFNS for MCPS. Mrs. Heinrich and Mrs. Caplon also testified against the Thirty Kids Act and the Chemical-Free Schools Act. MCPS is the largest school district in Maryland with over 150,000 students...

 http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/news/2015/mar/18/letter-why-oppose-improving-school-food/

The potentially significant flaw in how schools are serving lunch to kids

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/01/16/theres-a-potentially-significant-flaw-in-how-schools-are-serving-lunch-to-kids/?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost

Real Food for Montgomery County

From The Sentinel, Nov 6, 2014, by Karen DeVitt, Real Food for Kids-Montgomery.  For the whole story go here 

What do Montgomery County parents want for their children? Access to free water in the cafeteria; fewer highly-processed meal choices; more salad bars; healthier a la carte and vending machine options; more transparency and accountability; utilization of our county’s Agricultural Reserve for fresh, local produce; less sugar; and more respect for the latest research on the dangers of chemical food additives.
 

Now that the school year is in full swing, we’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to Real Food for Kids – Montgomery (RFKM), a grassroots parent and student advocacy group promoting healthier school food in MCPS. On October 1, RFKM celebrated its 2^nd anniversary. We have much to be proud of and much work ahead of us. 

Efforts to improve MCPS food go back decades. Children, parents and school board members all come and go, but the staff at Food and Nutrition Services (DFNS) remains the same, committed to doing more of the same, with only small incremental changes and more whole wheat. “Everything we serve is healthy and meets USDA guidelines” does not answer the ongoing frustration parents feel when faced with the reality in the school cafeterias. The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 resulted in some positive changes such as more fruits, vegetables and whole grains; and the passage of the Smart Snacks rules, in effect this past July, improved some of the vending and a la carte options. But overall, MCPS lags behind other school districts that have made better school food a priority. 

We were pleased last year when MCPS agreed to eliminate strawberry-flavored milk. We were equally pleased when MCPS recently announced the elimination of certain chemical additives from school food. (A closer reading of this announcement revealed that this change will not take place any time soon, but only in future bids for contracts. And the most prevalent of all food dyes, Red Dye #40, is not slated for elimination.)     

Last year we got DFNS to acknowledge on the elementary school menu that it sells snacks in the cafeteria at lunch time, and that parents can block their child’s account from purchasing these snacks. This year, the blurb on the menu doesn’t mention the bit about blocking your child’s account. The piece of paper that goes home with elementary school kids when their lunch account needs re-filling states that parents may block their child’s account from purchasing snacks. However, most parents are still completely in the dark about the existence or nature of these snacks; school lunch menus at all levels do not mention the a la carte items sold (chips, Doritos, pretzels, ice cream, cookies, gummy candies, etc.).

Montgomery schools to prohibit certain chemicals in foods

New contracts won’t include some food dyes, sweeteners
From the Gazette.  Read the whole story here.
October 16, by Lindsay A. Powers, Staff Writer

Montgomery County students will be seeing fewer dyes, artificial sweeteners and other chemical additives in their food after a recent decision by school officials to add to a list of banned ingredients.

As Montgomery County Public Schools enters into new contracts with food vendors, the system will require that foods be free of the Blue 2, Green 3, Red 3, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 food dyes, aspartame, acesulfame-potassium, butylated hydroxyanisole, potassium bromate, propyl gallate, saccharin, sodium tripolyphosphate and tert-Butylhydroquinone, said Marla Caplon, director of food and nutrition services for the school system. Existing contracts won’t be affected.

And:

Lindsey Parsons, co-founder of Real Food for Kids-Montgomery, said the change marks “a huge step.” Her organization, which includes more than 3,500 members, has advocated for healthier foods in county school cafeterias.

She said Real Food appreciates the school system’s decision given the number of items that will be affected.
“We recognize that that’s a big give for them,” she said.

The organization still wants to see other chemicals banned as well, including other food dyes and substances similar to MSG. Parsons said Real Food’s main concern is that the chemical additives that remain in school foods might be carcinogenic. Members are also concerned the food dyes might cause hyperactivity in some children.

Finally:
[Marla] Caplon [MCPS Director of food and nutrition services] said some chemical additives are more prevalent in cafeteria foods and the school system thinks there are good reasons for keeping them.

Providing an example, she said that a caramel additive is used in nearly all the fully cooked meat items the school system serves. The system buys fully cooked meat due to safety reasons.

Montgomery County is establishing a 7,200-square-foot garden to grow its own produce.

The Washington Post:  Back-to-school: School lunches are packing a healthier punch

Making School Lunch Healthy Is Hard. Getting Kids to Love It Is Harder. This Lady Did Both.

From Mother Jones. reporter Kiera Butler, Fri. July 18, 2014  for the whole story go here.

Striding past samples of Pop Tarts and pizza and cookies, Jessica Shelly made a beeline for a booth selling individually packaged sliced fruits and veggies. She picked up a pouch of sliced peaches and let out a yelp of delight. "This could be really fabulous," she said. "I'm thinking yogurt. I'm thinking granola. I'm thinking make-your-own breakfast parfait!" She waved the peaches around in the air triumphantly. People began to give us odd looks.

Before meeting Shelly, I hadn't known it was possible to muster quite this much enthusiasm for sliced peaches. Then again, someone with any less energy probably wouldn't be able to do Shelly's job: As the director of food services for Cincinnati's public schools, she is wholly responsibly for providing nutritious breakfast, lunch, and snacks to 34,000 public school students, three-quarters of whom are on free or reduced-price meals.

Here in the exhibition hall at the annual conference of the School Nutrition Association (SNA), the group that represents the nation's 55,000 school food professionals, Shelly wasn't the only one with a tough job—all 6,500 attendees had their work cut out for them. They had to find food that would appeal to kids, otherwise it would go right from a child's tray to the garbage can. The food must be easy to prepare; some school kitchens are too small to do anything more than heat up a prepared meal. It also has to be very, very cheap. Most of the nutrition directors told me that once they pay overhead costs, they are left with only a dollar or two per student.

This month, their job got harder still. A new set of federal nutritional standards—including a requirement that students must take a fruit or vegetable with lunch and a rule that half of foods served must be composed of at least 51 percent whole grains—went into effect on July 1. Even stricter rules are coming: In 2017, the sodium limit will be further reduced. * (Read Mother Jones' Alex Park's guide to the food companies that lobbied on the new rules here.)

and:

...Shelly has found that with a little creativity, it's possible to tempt kids to the lunchroom. Ohio tightened its nutrition standards several years ago, so Shelly has had some time to develop tricks. One winning strategy, she says, is to encourage kids to personalize their meals. She worked with her produce distributor to create affordable salad bars, where kids can load up on the veggies they like. She also installed spice stations—think ranch, lemon pepper, and hot chili—so that kids could decide how to season their food. One day a week, she invites teachers into the lunchrooms to model healthy eating. On these mentoring days, teachers eat free.

Another part of the job, she says, is marketing. She regularly asks students to score foods served in the cafeteria. When she changed the name of a sandwich from "chicken patty on a whole grain bun" to "oven baked chicken sandwich," the students scored the sandwich three points higher on average. She also made lunchrooms more inviting, ditching the long tables for booths she picked up for cheap at restaurants that were going out of business. During a conference session she led, she underscored the importance of letting parents know that healthy food was available at school. "They don't know," she said. "They think we're feeding them carnival food. They think I'm making mystery meat in the back kitchen with road kill."

Her tactics seem to be working. While the rest of the nation's lunchrooms have seen historic declines in attendance over the last few years, cafeterias in Shelly's program have actually grown more popular—and turned a $2.7 million profit.

Real Food for Kids: Screening of "Lunch Hour" May 3rd

If you care about what your kids are eating at school, you won’t want to miss this compelling  new movie. On Saturday May 3, Real Food for Kids – Montgomery (RFKM) is  hosting a screening of “Lunch Hour”  (http://www.lunchhourmovie.org/), a feature-length documentary that explores the national school lunch program, childhood obesity, and our addiction to unhealthy food (starring Rachel Ray, Robin Quivers, Marion Nestle, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Amie Hamlin, Peter Eisler, and Alex Jamieson). 

 

Following the film, James Costa, writer and director of “Lunch Hour,” will be on hand to lead a discussion.

 

Details:

May 3: 6:30-9:00 p.m.

Takoma Park Community Center

7500 Maple Avenue

Takoma Park, MD 20912

 

Suggested donation: $10 per person.

Appropriate for ages 14 and older.          

 

Please sign our petition for better school food in MCPS!

 

We will be delivering our petition to the Board of Education and Supt. Starr at the June 3rd Board of Education Meeting.  This is your chance to have your voice heard.  Click on this link to sign:   online petition, have your spouse and kids sign, share it on Facebook, tweet it and e-mail it to all your friends in MCPS. 

 

Real FoodFor Kids - Montgomery is a grassroots, parent advocacy group promoting whole, delicious, fresh and nutrient-rich foods in the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). Formed in October of 2012, we currently have parents representing 69% (140) of MCPS' 202 schools - and over 1800 supporters. If you support our mission, please email us at realfoodMCPS@gmail.com.  For more information, visit our website at www.realfoodforkidsmontgomery.org

 

Thank you!

 

Karen Devitt and Lindsey Parsons

Co-Founders

Real Food For Kids - Montgomery

MCPS Says It’s Doing A Lot To Make School Menus Healthier

http://www.bethesdanow.com/2014/03/17/mcps-says-its-doing-a-lot-to-make-school-menus-healthier/

Sign the Petition!

From our friends at Real Food...

Real Food For Kids - Montgomery (RFKM) is a grassroots parent advocacy group promoting whole, delicious, fresh and nutrient-rich foods in the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). Formed in October of 2012,  it has now grown to over 1200 supporters and members in 128 schools in MCPS.

 

Over the last year, RFKM has been building its grassroots support to advocate for better school food for our children. Now is the moment that we are bringing it all together with an online petition designed to show support for our priorities by parents, students, community members, businesses, churches, health care providers, organizations and educators in the county. We will collect signatures over the next 2 months, then plan to deliver them to the Board of Education and Superintendent Starr at a BOE meeting in May, with hopefully many of you in attendance. 

We are counting on our supporters for this advocacy campaign to be a success! Please sign, have your spouse and kids sign, share it on Facebook, tweet it and e-mail it to all your friends in MCPS.  To sign, go to:

http://tinyurl.com/lcunonn.

For more information about RFKM, see www.realfoodforkidsmontgomery.org or call 301-202-4812.

Thank you! 

Karen Devitt and Lindsey Parsons

Co-Founders

Real Food For Kids - Montgomery