Month: April 2024

Any parent can tell you that what their child eats has a clear connection to how easy it is for them to focus and engage. Diets filled with sugary snacks and processed food make it hard to sit still, pay attention and learn. Fresher, healthier meals, on the other hand, are directly connected to better academic performance. 

Decades of research shows that healthier eating leads to better outcomes in the classroom. Kids who eat quality school meals show improved attendance, behavior and academic performance compared to those who don’t.  

The power of healthy meals to help students succeed is clear. But how can we make sure all California kids have that advantage? 

 

The Secret Ingredient: School Food Professionals

There are School Food Professionals throughout California who are committed to improving school food to help ensure our kids are ready to learn. They recognize the benefits of providing high-quality meals to students from kindergarten to 12th grade. But providing fresh, flavorful and healthy meals to thousands of students every day requires more skills than ever before — from meal planning, sourcing ingredients and following nutrition and dietary guidelines, to cooking good and good-for-you meals that kids like to eat. 

Many schools and School Food Professionals are moving towards scratch cooking — they are developing healthy recipes using fresh ingredients and flavors kids love. Nearly 1 in 3 school districts in California report high levels of scratch cooking and momentum continues to grow. Achieving this change requires learning new skills and embracing innovative approaches, yet more and more California schools are rising to the challenge and making freshly prepared meals for their students.

School Food Professionals like RJ Lane, District Chef with Richmond’s West Contra Costa Unified School District, are making better school meals a reality. “The whole state is moving towards better, fresher meals and incorporating more scratch-cooked foods into their lunch menus,” Lane said. “That isn’t just making a difference in the school, it’s making a difference in the whole community.”

By making sure our kids are able to focus, learn and succeed in school, we’re helping them get on the path to stronger and more successful futures. Fresher, healthier school food programs that are powered by skilled School Food Professionals are key to making that a reality.  

I’ve got two missions. Day-to-day, I just want to see kids eat well with a smile on their face. But my larger mission is to raise a generation of healthy eaters.

In our school district in Santa Cruz, and in many other California school districts, they have a harvest of the month. It’s whatever’s seasonal, whatever’s local. In March, our harvest of the month feature is kale.

I had one student who every day said, “I don’t want to take a fruit. I don’t want to take a vegetable.” One day, our chef made these fresh kale chips, so I told the kid, “I have a deal for you. If you eat one kale chip, you don’t have to take a cup of fruit today. Just eat one, and we’re good.” He said, “OK, I’ll take that deal.”

He ate the kale chip. Afterwards, he lit up and did this dance. He said to me, ”I didn’t know I could be a kale chip kind of guy. Can I have some more?” I said, “Of course.” But the part I loved the most? A while later, his mom came up to one of our lunch staff and said, “Can I have the recipe for those kale chips?” 

Things that might feel small to us as adults can be a massive part of a kid’s childhood. One day, we decided to make kale chips. It seems like an insignificant decision. But now here’s this student, who didn’t even want a vegetable on his tray, much less to eat. And now he wants kale chips at home. That’s when you start thinking, “Oh, wait: We’re changing the way kids are eating.”

The school lunch that we’re serving now isn’t the school lunch that maybe you grew up with. We’re trying to do incredible, innovative things. I had a mom come up to me and say, “I’ve been feeling guilty because my kid wanted to eat school lunch, and I kept thinking, the meals probably aren’t very good. But now I see you’re serving all these great foods.” That’s why it’s so important to incorporate parents into the process, so that they see how school food is changing.

I’m just one person in one school district. But I’m part of a larger movement in California, and we’re making changes together. People are really thinking about how we teach kids to eat well in schools, so they want to eat that way for the rest of their lives. 

This job is always worth it, because you know that you’re showing up, giving kids great food and laying this very strong foundation to raise healthy eaters for life.