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My comments on the USDA Proposed Revisions to Meal Patterns Consistent with the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans

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Having spent the past 25+ years as an advocate, cheerleader and trainer for the best possible meals in schools, my commitment to healthy school food is long-standing and far-reaching. You may copy and paste any of my thoughts below into your comments. Go to https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/FNS-2022-0043-52985 for details and to submit a comment. Note the comment period was extended to May 10, 2023.

At this time, I sincerely believe that the current proposal for Revisions to Meal Patterns Consistent with the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans is unnecessary and potentially detrimental, especially to those children who rely on school meals as their primary source of nutrition. As a registered dietitian, a taxpayer, a mom and a grandmother, I urge USDA to “put in pin” in this proposal for two years and give dedicated child nutrition professionals a chance to take a take a deep breath.

Nearly every person who works in school food is exhausted and many are completely burnt out. After the pandemic and the resulting disruptions in supply chains and staffing, most are just now getting their feet back on the ground. What they need is support and funding for programs like universal school meals, farm to school, nutrition education, scratch cooking, culinary training, and waste reduction rather than new restrictions that make it harder to do the jobs they love. My thoughts:

  • Keep the USDA Nutrition Standards for school meals at their current levels for the next two years. School meals served under these standards have been shown to be the “healthiest” place for children to eat in the US. There are also reports that the current standards have had a positive effect on rates of childhood obesity and overweight.
  • Please consider pilot programs. Give schools the chance to develop best practices through your own programs like Healthy Schools Initiative and other efforts for change like Scratch Works by the Chef Ann Foundation and multiple state-level Team Nutrition grants.
  • Revised Dietary Guidelines are currently in progress and will be released in 2025. It would make more sense to wait a couple of years and have the most current dietary guidance line up closely with changes in school meal patterns. While there might not be dramatic changes in the next DGAs, it makes the most sense to have them on concurrent timelines.
  • School meals are NOT the problem in terms of children’s sugar and sodium consumption. Sugar sweetened beverages, high sugar cereals, and high sodium snacks are no longer served in the school meals. Children are consuming excessive amounts of these nutrients at home and in other foodservice locations.
  • No other federal programs or foodservice locations are being asked to adhere to such strict standards. What about meals served in the USDA’s Washington, DC, cafeteria and to our service men/women in the military around the world? What about congregate meals for seniors and, most important for families, SNAP benefits?
  • Few industry partners are truly prepared to provide products that meet these patterns. R-and-D takes time and smaller, local producers may be at a disadvantage in terms of both time and cost of product changes.

Thank you for reflecting on my comments. I believe that the children of our country, especially those in low-income families who rely on school meals, would be best served by delaying implementation for two years. Many programs and initiatives are underway; I believe we should give them time to show results and define best practices in different settings.

Dayle Hayes, MS, RD, EatWellatSchool@gmail.com, Bozeman, Montana

Jeanne, Dayle and HOPE after a year of COVID-19!

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This blog post is going to be a bit more personal than recent interviews with school nutrition professionals that I have been sharing. It is about hope after social isolation, friendship that thrives in a pandemic, and the heroic efforts of school nutrition heroes in Maine, Montana and every other state. Jeanne Reilly wrote the original post on TIPS for School Meals That Rock and created the fabulous School Nutrition Hero graphic. I have edited the following text for clarity only.

Friends in Maine

Our Thought for today is HOPE. This past week, we had the pleasure of being together for an in-person visit. Hanging with a friend, hiking around southern Maine, enjoying spring weather , chatting endlessly, and contemplating a new school year with a new round of waivers – everything felt hopeful and we were both refreshed by our visit! 

For Dayle a visit to Windham-Raymond School Nutrition Program and the Mobile Meals van was her first on-site school visit since before the pandemic began. Things were certainly different: We were masked and serving meals out of a van, as well as in our cafeteria and classrooms but the simple act of returning to previously “normal” activities felt good and HOPEful. 

Windham-Raymond School Nutrition Program, Mobile Meals Van

For Jeanne, it felt good to have someone to strategize with about next year, to dig into the newest round of waivers, and someone to laugh and whine and obsess about ALL of it! Nothing like a little lobster, accompanied by a healthy dose of lighthouses, fresh Maine air, hikes and bald eagle sightings to give life and a fresh perspective full of HOPE and anticipation! 

As we look forward to next year, we have HOPE that all, or almost all students will be back to learning in person; HOPE that #HealthySchoolMealsforAll will continue to be available at no cost to students next year and beyond. We certainly know that it will be a long time before things feel 100% normal, but we have HOPE that we are on the road back. 

YOU are our HEROES!

As you know School Lunch Hero Day is next Friday, May 7, 2021. We have set a small goal of getting our TIPS for School Meals That Rock membership up to 17,000 by next Friday! Can you invite some of your friends who are not currently TIPS members? If every school nutrition hero invites one of their “essential” friends, we could meet and exceed 17,000 members in no time at all! There is strength in numbers – and the more members we have the better we can collaborate, share and inspire. We look forward to ALL your posts about your celebrations!

California Cling Peaches: Delicious, Convenient and Kid-Friendly

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As we wrap up National Canned Food Month and look forward to National School Breakfast Week, I want to tell you what I learned on a tour of California peach country last summer. So what is the connection between canned foods, school meals and orchard visits?

The answer is really simple, smart and delicious: California Cling Peaches (#client) are picked at peak freshness and packed into recyclable steel cans within 24 hours of leaving the trees, meaning that canned peaches offer an out-of-orchard flavor when local fruit is not in season. Popular with kids, canned California peaches can also help school nutrition programs lower costs and reduce waste at mealtimes, including school breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner.

Peach Orange and other smoothies from Eisenberg and Castle Hills Elementary, Colonial School District, Delaware

Let’s explore what canned California Cling Peaches can do to make to National School Breakfast Week #FreshAsCANBe in any school nutrition program. March is a marvelous month to celebrate school breakfast (as well as Read Across America and Dr. Seuss’s birthday) – but US-grown fresh peaches are still at least two months away. No worries – canned peaches are perfect for breakfast parfaits and smoothies. They can also make tasty toppings for pancakes, waffles and French toast sticks. Peach cobblers and crisps are always popular – and if you want to get really innovative, be like Chef Becca from Minneapolis Public Schools Culinary & Wellness Services. When faced with lots of leftover cinnamon rolls due to a schedule miscommunication, she added canned fruit and created a Cinnamon Roll Breakfast Bake with Warmed Spiced Peaches. That’s a win-win-win for hungry students, school breakfast and reducing food waste.

Minneapolis Public Schools Culinary & Wellness Services, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Honestly, I see cans of California Cling Peaches almost every time I visit a school kitchen. They are often on the menu – but always in the storeroom because, as my colleague and fellow RD Neva Cochran says, they are Convenient, Affordable and Nutritious. The affordability of canned fruit allows Chad Elliot in Decorah, Iowa, schools to BuyAmerican.EveryoneWins. His schools then have the budget to serve local hamburger on a house-made bun, with local onions, cucumbers and milk, along with plenty of other veggies. Large districts, like those in the Urban School Food Alliance struggle with aging buildings and schools without kitchens. Canned fruits also help these schools with budgeting, With canned peaches as a fruit serving, Philadelphia Public Schools can serve Chicken Cheese Steak on authentic, local Philly Amoroso’s Bakery sub rolls!

Lunch trays from Decorah Community Schools, Iowa (L) and Philadelphia Public Schools, Pennsylvania

During much of the year, canned California Cling Peaches can be an even better choice than fresh fruit. For fall seasonal celebrations like Halloween and Thanksgiving, fresh USA peaches are unavailable but canned peaches are the perfect color and flavor. Layered with canned pineapple and yogurt, parfaits like these are student favorites for school breakfast, lunch and supper. When I toured California peach orchards last summer, I enjoyed the perfect flavor and texture of just picked fruit. I also saw how quickly those same peaches are packed in light syrup or 100% fruit juice to maintain as much of the fresh-picked quality as possible. When districts BuyAmerican.EveryoneWins. canned fruit from California orchards, the products are easy to store and handle, consistently high in quality and have little or no waste.

California Cling peaches on the tree and canned peaches in Yogurt Parfaits, Austin ISD, Austin, Texas

Include plenty of California Cling Peaches on your USDA Foods purchases for 2020-2021—because when you BuyAmerican.EveryoneWins. The best way to help students learn to love fruits and vegetables is to always #HaveAPlant! Questions? Answers: Buy American Provision Toolkit at https://californiaclingpeaches.com/buy-american

Hunger Does Not Take a Summer Vacation

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When Michelle Barber (aka Dairy Mom RD) asked me to be part of an American Dairy Association Northeast campaign called #ThisIsWhyWeDairy for #JuneDairyMonth, I said yes immediately. This is a #sponsored post, but make no mistake: It is about one of the most important summer nutrition and education issues in the US. Here is why:

 

FREE Summer Meals are designed to fill the nutrition gaps for the millions of hungry children who are eligible for free- and reduced-priced school meals. However, according to the Food Research and Action Center … [o]nly one in seven children who ate a free or reduced-price school lunch during the 2016-2017 school year were reached by the Summer Nutrition Programs in July 2017. This means that millions of children are missing out on key nutrients they need to keep growing strong all summer long. Without nutritious fuel for their brains, they may also be susceptible to the ‘summer slide,’ the recognized decrease in student’s academic skill level when school is out.

GA CCSD Joey

Joey loves summer meals in Cherokee County, Georgia

This post from Cherokee County School Nutrition shows one way to make sure kids have access to FREE summer nutrition. Joey IS smart and adorable and he can enjoy free breakfast and lunches in one of 14 sites in Cherokee County School District. However, some children can’t #BeLikeJoey because they do not have a way to get to the school, church, park, or community center where FREE meals are served. The NYC Department of Education is tackling the problem with on-trend meals, colorful graphics, smartphone apps and food trucks to serve FREE breakfast and lunches at hundreds of schools, pools, parks and libraries.

NYC Summer Meals

New York City Goes ALL OUT for Summer Meals

What do Summer Meals look like across the US? In New York City, they serve bagels, egg sandwiches, organic cereal and New York yogurt for breakfast — with deli sandwiches, cold wraps, kid-friendly kale salads, New York apples and plenty of fresh fruits and veggies for lunch. Every FREE meal comes with refreshing milk from New York dairy farms. In Fairfax (left below) and Loudon (right below) County Schools outside Washington, DC, offerings are similar — tasty, healthy and packed with the nutrients that kids need, like calcium, vitamin D and potassium. Remember these meals are FREE to everyone 2 through 18 — no registration, no documentation, no paperwork!

VA Fairfax LunchVA LCPS Lunch

Many Summer Meal sites serve much more than a FREE breakfast, lunch or supper. They also offer fun activities focused on literacy, math and other skills so that children can eat, play AND learn! It’s simple to learn about FREE Summer Meals in any location in the US: Just text 877-877 with a zip code OR address/city/state. Want to increase the meals you serve with additional activities? Check out the FREE toolkit available from Sacramento (CA) Summer Meal Collaborative and United Way at FuelYourSummer.org!CA Toolkit

10 Reasons to Ignore School Lunch Haters and Support #RealSchoolFood

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By Dayle Hayes, MS, RD

NOTE: This blog was originally posted in April 2015. Sadly, more than two years later, some of the same lunch haters are still sharing the same out-of-date photos and information. Seriously, it is 2017 and #RealSchoolFood has evolved across the USA. Read my 10 reasons below, then go help serve #SummersMeals to hungry kids in your community. THAT is where the child really meets the tray!

To all the mommy bloggers, food celebrities, academic researchers, restaurant chains and media channels who want to blame School Lunch for the ills of the US food system (while promoting their own products, endorsements and programs), it’s time to STOP. Trying to refute your inaccurate claims, staged photos, out-date sound bites and negative descriptions is a waste of precious time we could be working together to support #RealSchoolFood for real hungry kids all across America. If you really want to improve school meals, here are 10 effective ways to support the hard-working school nutrition HEROES who are reshaping local and national food systems, teaching kids about where food comes from, and feeding millions of children their best meals of the day – every day – in thousands of schools across our country.

#1: Please get some real photos of #RealSchoolFood. Your staged, stock and decades-old examples do a terrible disservice to the dedicated chefs and cooks who offer gorgeous cafeteria lines, produce bars and grab-n-go options to students every day. Need help finding photos? We’ve got your back with thousands of photos on Facebook and Pinterest. Tray Talk also features #RealSchoolFood from hundreds of districts. These gorgeous salads are from Polk County Schools in Florida.

Polk Salads

New Chopped Salads on the menu this Fall! Asian Chicken and Buffalo Chicken. Polk School Nutrition, Polk County, Florida

#2: Please move on from ‘ketchup is a vegetable.’ Seriously people, check your facts. This was a stupid proposal in 1981 which never made it into a regulation. Before you complain, learn the details of the Healthy, Hungry-Free Kids Act of 2010. There are specific requirements for five different vegetable sub-groups, including Red-Orange. This is how schools are promoting colorful produce and #RealSchoolFood to students all across Tennessee this fall.

These gorgeous banners, shown here by Chelsea Cordes, RDN, in Shelby County Schools, are a healthy collaboration between the Department of Education and the Governor’s Foundation for a Healthy Tennessee.

#3: Please read the research comparing school lunch to lunches brought from home. Studies from Baylor (TX), Tufts (MA) and Virginia Tech (VA) confirm that lunches brought from home rarely meet the tough nutrition standards now required in all USDA school meals programs. Many contained sugary drinks and snack foods that cannot be sold as #RealSchoolFood.

A Tufts study published Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics showed lunches brought from home had lots of packaged food and sugary drinks

A Tufts study published Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics showed lunches brought from home had lots of packaged food and sugary drinks

#4: Please dig deeper into the causes of food waste in schools. Kids throw away perfectly picked organic oranges and bento box baby bananas with cute notes written on them – just like they throw away school lunch items. Two of the best solutions to reducing food waste in cafeterias work for #RealSchoolFood and lunches brought from home: Recess Before Lunch and Longer Lunch Periods

#5: Please recognize that school nutrition professionals frequently do not have needed administrative support. School nutrition heroes have a tough balancing act with  complex government regulations, limited budgets and limited input into school schedules that affect recess options and the length of lunch periods. Like you, they care deeply about feeding children well – and are trying to do the best they can with what they have. Maybe you can work together on a grant for a salad bar or school garden? Many of the #RealSchoolFood veggies served in Kalispell, Montana, schools come directly from the school garden.

Kalispell, Montana, Schools feature greens grown at school. A fabulous director and FoodCorps Montana work together to grow ‪#‎SchoolGardens‬, serve ‪#‎RealSchoolFood‬ and nourish healthy eating habits.

Kalispell, Montana, Schools feature greens grown at school. A fabulous director and FoodCorps Montana work together to grow ‪#‎SchoolGardens‬, serve ‪#‎RealSchoolFood‬ and nourish healthy eating habits.

#6: Please talk WITH rather than AT school nutrition directors. Arrange a friendly meeting with your local nutrition director. Find out about their everyday challenges and what changes they would make if they could – maybe new equipment or more local foods. Find out how you can work together to do what’s best for kids. If you look for common ground, you are likely to find it. Believe every school should have a school garden? Get out there and help a school grow one for #RealSchoolFood to be served in your district. The amazing Waterford Edible Schoolyard has dozens of amazing volunteers, especially during the busy summer months.

THANKS to the Waterford Edible Schoolyard: "72 pounds delivered to the kitchen today - bringing our total to 175+ lbs since June! The peas are in with a vengeance , tomatos are starting to ripen, and we can't seem to pick the cucumber and zucchini fast enough smile emoticon."

THANKS to the Waterford Edible Schoolyard: “72 pounds delivered to the kitchen today – bringing our total to 175+ lbs since June! The peas are in with a vengeance, tomatoes are starting to ripen, and we can’t seem to pick the cucumber and zucchini fast enough smile emoticon.”

#7: Please be realistic because nutrition perfection is just not possible on $1.50-1.75 per meal. That’s how much the average school district has to spend directly on food. While meal prices and USDA reimbursement rates provide more money, that also goes to pay for labor, equipment and overhead costs. If you want all organic, GMO-free, clean-label, local, scratch-cooked meals, you are going to have to help schools lobby local, state and federal decisions makers to provide more money for school meals. 2015 is a critical year for child nutrition and childhood food insecurity. This fall Congress will reauthorize funding for the critical local programs that support healthy children, schools and communities, including School Breakfast Programs, National School Lunch Programs, WIC Programs and Farm to School Programs. 2015 is a time to advocate for fresh, local, delicious #RealSchoolFood rather than pointing fingers and telling families “avoid school lunch like the plague.” THIS is #RealSchoolFood lunch in Greenville, South Carolina.

On August 20, 2015, Greenville County Schools students will have the option to choose from Turkey Pot Roast with a fresh baked roll, Scratch-made Mac-N-Cheese, a Fresh Fruit and Veggie Bar with four options of fresh fruit and four options of steamed vegetables, and ice cold milk!

On August 20, 2015, Greenville County Schools students will have the option to choose from Turkey Pot Roast with a fresh baked roll, Scratch-made Mac-N-Cheese, a Fresh Fruit and Veggie Bar with four options of fresh fruit and four options of steamed vegetables, and ice cold milk!

#8: Please eat a #RealSchoolFood lunch. Send a message with your location to SchoolMealsThatRock@gmail.com and I’ll recommend a #RealSchoolFood cafeteria nearby you can enjoy hot lunch or a grab-and-go salad like these from Provo School District, Provo, Utah.

Grab n Go Salads at the secondary level and Chef Salads at the elementary level. First day choices first day delicious!

Grab n Go Salads at the secondary level and Chef Salads at the elementary level. First day choices first day delicious!

#9: Please consider the consequences of your criticisms. Be respectful and ditch blanket descriptions of school food like “hideous piles of indistinguishable vegetables” and “avoid like the plague.” When you use negative and judgmental language, it makes parents feel badly about letting their children eat at school, even if they can’t afford to pack a meal from home. Dedicated school nutrition heroes deserve your respect and thanks for all their training and hard work to feed kids #RealSchoolFood every day. This is why they do it – smiling face of hungry students, like this girl in Bradley County Schools, Cleveland, Tennessee.

North Lee Elementary Pre-K. Beautiful, healthy tray for smiling faces.

North Lee Elementary Pre-K. Beautiful, healthy tray for smiling faces.

#10: Please be transparent about the companies who sponsor your post or blog or program. If your blog ends with photos of branded food products and lunch boxes, please indicate if they are sponsors or advertisers. I do consulting work for a variety of agricultural groups and a few companies, which are all disclosed below. Not a single one of them supported this post or provided input in any way.

  • Board Member/Advisory Panel
    • American Association of School Administrators (AASA) Breakfast Council
    • Kellogg’s Breakfast Council
  • Consultant
    • US Department of Agriculture and Team Nutrition Program
    • Multiple state departments of education and agriculture
    • California Walnut Commission
    • The Mushroom Council
    • Cherry Marketing Institute
    • American Egg Board
    • CLIF bar
    • Chobani Yogurt
    • Bush Beans
  • Speaker’s Bureau
    • National Dairy Council and state/regional dairy councils
    • National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and state beef councils

10 Ways School Lunch Haters Can Get Off Their Soapboxes and Support #RealSchoolFood

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By Dayle Hayes, MS, RD

To all the mommy bloggers, food celebrities, academic researchers, restaurant chains and media channels who want to blame School Lunch for the ills of the US food system (while promoting their own products, endorsements and programs), I’ve had it. Trying to refute your inaccurate claims, staged photos, out-date sound bites  and negative descriptions is a waste of precious time we could be working together to support #RealSchoolFood for real hungry kids all across America. Really want to improve school meals? Here are 10 effective ways to support the hard-working people who are reshaping local and national food systems, teaching kids about where food comes from, and feeding millions of children their best meals of the day – every day in thousands of schools across our country.

#1: Please get some real photos of #RealSchoolFood. Your staged, stock and decades-old examples do a terrible disservice to the dedicated chefs and cooks who offer gorgeous cafeteria lines, produce bars and grab-n-go options to students every day. Need help finding photos? We’ve got your back with thousands of photos on Facebook and Pinterest (some with recipes like this Roasted Edamame Salad. Tray Talk also features #RealSchoolFood from hundreds of districts.

Eating their way through the alphabet for National Nutrition Month, Windham Raymond School District (RSU#14) in Maine, served Roasted Edamame Salad (adapted from an Alton Brown Recipe).

Eating through the alphabet for National Nutrition Month, Windham Raymond School District (RSU#14) in Maine, served Roasted Edamame Salad (adapted from an Alton Brown Recipe).

#2: Please move on from ‘ketchup is a vegetable.’ Seriously people, check your facts. This was a stupid proposal in 1981 which never made it into a regulation. Before you complain, learn the details of the Healthy, Hungry-Free Kids Act of 2010. There are specific requirements for five different vegetable sub-groups, including Red-Orange.

Sautéed and Steamed Georgia-Grown Green Beans and Tomatoes, Eat Healthy Eat Local Eat at Carrollton City Schools, Carrollton, Georgia·

Sautéed and Steamed Georgia-Grown Green Beans and Tomatoes, Eat Healthy Eat Local Eat at Carrollton City Schools, Carrollton, Georgia·

#3: Please read the research comparing school lunch to lunches brought from home. Studies from Baylor (TX), Tufts (MA) and Virginia Tech (VA) confirm that lunches brought from home rarely meet the tough nutrition standards now now required in all USDA school meals programs. Many contained sugary drinks that cannot be sold in schools.

A Tufts study published Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics showed lunches brought from home had lots of packaged food and sugary drinks

A Tufts study published Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics showed lunches brought from home had lots of packaged food and sugary drinks

#4: Please dig deeper into food waste in schools. Kids throw away perfectly picked organic oranges and bento box baby bananas with cute notes written on them – just like they throw away school lunch items. Two of the biggest solutions to food waste in cafeterias work for school lunches and lunches brought from home: Recess Before Lunch and Longer Lunch Periods

#5: Please recognize that school nutrition professionals frequently do not have needed administrative support. School nutrition heroes have a tough balancing act with  complex government regulations, limited budgets and limited input into school schedules that affect recess options and the length of lunch periods. Like you, they care deeply about feeding children well – and are trying to do the best they can with what they have. Maybe you can work together on a grant for a salad bar or school garden.

Poudre School District, Fort Collins. Colorado, offers daily produce bars with extensive choices.

Poudre School District, Fort Collins. Colorado, offers daily produce bars with extensive choices.

#6: Please talk WITH rather than AT school nutrition directors. Arrange a friendly meeting with your local nutrition director. Find out about their everyday challenges and what changes they would make if they could – maybe new equipment or more local foods. Find out how you can work together to do what’s best for kids. If you look for common ground, you are likely to find it. Believe every school should have a school garden? Get out there and help a school grow one.

Colonial School District, New Castle, Delaware, gets middle students excited about planting and growing vegetables.

Colonial School District, New Castle, Delaware, gets middle students excited about planting and growing vegetables.

#7: Please be realistic because nutrition perfection is just not possible on $1.50-1.75 per meal. That’s how much the average school district has to spend directly on food. While meal prices and USDA reimbursement rates provide more money, that also goes to pay for labor, equipment and overhead costs. If you want all organic, GMO-free, clean-label, local, scratch-cooked meals, you are going to have to help schools lobby local, state and federal decisions makers to provide more money for school meals. 2015 is a critical year for child nutrition and childhood food insecurity. This year Congress will reauthorize funding for the critical local programs that support healthy children, schools and communities, including School Breakfast Programs, National School Lunch Programs, WIC Programs and Farm to School Programs. 2015 is a time to advocate for fresh, local, delicious #RealSchoolFood rather than pointing fingers and telling families “avoid school lunch like the plague.”

Oakland Unified School District, Nutrition Services participates in CALIFORNIA THURSDAYS™ Day, along with many of the state's largest districts. So many delicious reasons to SMILE about ‪#‎SchoolMeals‬ in OUSD!

Oakland Unified School District, Nutrition Services participates in CALIFORNIA THURSDAYS™ along with many of the state’s largest districts.

#8: Please eat a #RealSchoolFood lunch. If you need a recommendation for a school cafeteria near you, send me an email at SchoolMealsThatRock@gmail.com.

Trish McDonald from Sky Oaks Elementary School (Minnesota District 191) sent this, saying that their kitchen "makes the BEST Vegetarian salads!"

Trish McDonald, Sky Oaks Elementary School (Minnesota District 191) says they “makes the BEST Vegetarian salads!”

#9: Please consider the consequences of your criticisms. Be respectful and ditch blanket descriptions of school food like “hideous piles of indistinguishable vegetables” and “avoid like the plague.” When you use negative and judgmental language, it makes parents feel badly about letting their children eat at school, even if they can’t afford to pack a meal from home. It also makes dedicated school nutrition heroes feel like just giving up.

The are no hideous piles of veggie in Reynolds School District, Portland, Oregon. There are beautiful cups of eye-appealing produce for students to grab.

There are no ‘hideous piles’ of veggies in Reynolds School District, Portland, Oregon. There are beautiful cups of eye-appealing produce for students to grab.

#10: Please be transparent about the companies who sponsor your post or blog or program. If your blog ends with photos of branded food products and lunch boxes, please indicate if they are sponsors or advertisers. I do consulting work for a variety of agricultural groups and a few companies, which are all disclosed below. Not a single one of them supported this post or provided input in any way.

  • Board Member/Advisory Panel
    • American Association of School Administrators (AASA) Breakfast Council
    • Kellogg’s Breakfast Council
  • Consultant
    • US Department of Agriculture and Team Nutrition Program
    • Multiple state departments of education and agriculture
    • Idaho Barley Commission
    • Mushroom Council
    • American Egg Board
    • CLIF bar
    • Chobani Yogurt
    • Bush Beans
  • Speaker’s Bureau
    • National Dairy Council and state/regional dairy councils
    • National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and state beef councils

School Breakfast Helps Students Make the Grade in 2015

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By Dayle Hayes, MS, RD

While the buzz about National School Breakfast Week, is now behind us, the reasons to expand morning meals at school sit in America’s classrooms every day. Many children are still coming to school too hungry to focus on their teachers and too hungry to learn. In the 2015 Hunger in Our Schools Report from No Kid Hungry, 3 out of 4 public school teachers say that students regularly come to school hungry and 81% say this happens at least once a week. Educators report that hunger results in an inability to concentrate (88%); lack of energy or motivation (87%); poor academic performance (84%); and tiredness (82%).

Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC). McMinnville, Oregon

Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC). McMinnville, Oregon

Fortunately there are solutions. USDA’s School Breakfast Program, which is growing across the country, is the front line in helping all students be well-nourished and ready to learn. Every year the FRAC School Breakfast Scorecard lists participation rates for every state and the District of Columbia. On the plus side, the 2015 report (data from school year 2013-14) shows steady increases since 2003, with a total of 320,000 more low-income students eating a school breakfast each day compared to the prior year.

Sadly, significant school breakfast gaps still exist for low-income children in many states. This is a serious problem because breakfast improves students’ nutrition, health and their ability to focus and pay attention in class. Hungry children cannot listen to their teachers – because they are listening to their stomachs. The just-released Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee reinforces the importance of breakfast for young people noting that “[B]reakfast eating is associated with more favorable nutrient intakes compared to nutrient intakes from other meals or snacks. Adolescents and young adults are the least likely to eat breakfast, and targeted promotion efforts are needed to reach these groups. For children and adolescents, the school breakfast program is an important venue for promoting breakfast consumption and efforts are needed to increase student participation rates.”

As a mom and a child nutrition expert, my mantra is simple. Breakfast. Every Child. Every Day. Research clearly shows that breakfast helps everyone be ready to succeed – and you probably make certain that your family enjoys these benefits every morning. I believe we all must go beyond our own families and support breakfast in every school – even if our kids eat at home. Here’s what you can do to help:

While your child may be able to opt out of a school breakfast program, their friends and classmates may not have that luxury for a myriad of reasons. Breakfast is a simple, cost-effective way for high-performing schools to help every child be well nourished and ready to learn. That’s a strategy that I support as a mom, a Registered Dietitian (RD) and a taxpayer.

Apple-Maple French Toast, Windham-Raymond RSU #14, Maine

Maple Apple French Toast, Windham-Raymond RSU #14, Maine. Recipe from Vermont FEED, New School Cuisine Cookbook (http://www.vtfeed.org/materials/new-school-cuisine-cookbook)

This blog post originally appeared on the Midwest Dairy Makes Sense blog as School Breakfast Makes the Grade.

31 Days of #RealSchoolFood: Protein Recipes for Success

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If you’d like a few new entrées for your 2015 menus, I have three resources that you should definitely check out. At school (and home), proteins are usually at the center of the tray or plate. With these on-trend recipes, you can please your customers and effectively manage your school food budget at the same time.

It has been my pleasure to work with the American Egg Board (AEB) over the past couple of years. The Incredible Edible Egg truly is a popular, versatile, cost-effective way to add protein to any school meal. In the Eggs in Schools White Paper, I discuss these top three reasons to incorporate eggs: (1) Popular egg dishes can help increase Average Daily Participation (ADP); (2) The affordability of eggs allows more menu flexibility; and (3) Eggs provide versatile vegetarian and gluten-free options.

With input from hundreds of school nutrition professionals and the creativity of Malissa Marsden, AEB now offers dozens Egg Recipes for breakfast, lunch and snacks. Complete preparation instructions, meal equivalencies and nutrition analysis are provided. You can shake things up with this fun salad or power up with a Protein Box Lunch K-8. 

EggThere is also plenty of protein power – along with layers of ethnic flavors – in the nutrient-rich school lunch beef recipes developed by The Beef Checkoff. To help schools include high-quality protein, like beef, on the menu, I was honored to work with team of culinary experts who developed five new beef ground recipes that can be easily incorporated into any school lunch menu. The recipes were tested by real school cooks in real kitchens with real students – and you can read their comments online.

While I like all five recipes, the Sweet Potato Beef Mash-up is my personal favorite with  southwest-seasoned ground beef and sweet potatoes served hash-style and topped with a mixture of plain yogurt and hot pepper sauce. It can be served in a whole wheat tortilla or in Romaine lettuce cups for gluten-free option.

Beef

The final protein resource comes from the sea – from another commodity board whose product is available as a USDA Food – the Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers. From the more familiar Fish Tacos to an innovative Alaska Pollock Po’Boy, there are some delicious looking recipes on this site. I especially like the fact that they include sauces and side dishes for each of the pollock entrees. Like the other commodity groups featured, the pollock producers offer success stories and wonderful recipes that meet the meal pattern guidelines. There’s nothing fishy here – just proven ways to help students enjoy the health benefits of seafood at a reasonable cost and they can help with merchandising too.

Pollock

 

Honestly, there is no reason to keep serving the same recipes cycle after cycle – with all the recipes and resources available online, it’s easy to mix-up your menus and offer new, exciting dishes to your customers!

31 Days of #RealSchoolFood: Recipes from Commodity Boards

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By Dayle Hayes, MS, RD

Just three more days to wrap up 31 Days of #RealSchoolFood – and I want to continue sharing school recipe resources. There’s no reason to spend time reinventing recipes that have already been developed. Your valuable time is much better spent making farm to school contacts, arranging culinary training for your staff or providing nutrition education to students.

Rather than starting from zero with a new menu item, find an existing recipe – and adapt it, if necessary, to fit the needs of your customers. Commodity boards – the marketing side of agricultural producer groups – are delicious sources of school recipes. They are eager to have schools incorporate their products into school meals – and offer lots of creative recipes to help you do that. The Mushroom Council has gone all out with a website devoted to Mushrooms in Schools, where they offer newsletters, success stories, complete menus and wonderful recipes. This Vegetable Flatbread offers a colorful combo of on-trend veggies and is perfect for Meatless Mondays.

Vegetable Flatbread

NOTE: Both Malissa Marsden, my webinar co-presenter, and I consult for The Mushroom Council. You can also find more mushroom inspiration on the School Meals That Rock Pinterest page on the Mushrooms in Schools board.

Speaking of olives, Malissa has also helped the California Olive Committee create some really outstanding recipes. Many of them, like this Southwestern Stuffed Baked Potato, are very cost-effective because they use multiple USDA Foods in one recipe. There are recipes for all grade levels and all taste buds. All the K-12 California Ripe Olive Recipes are designed to meet current meal pattern guidelines – and to please your most discerning customers!

Olive

I’ll cover some protein commodity groups, including beef, eggs and dairy, tomorrow. Here are two others that have outstanding resources for school nutrition professionals.

31 Days of #RealSchoolFood: Recipes from Your Colleagues

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As 2014 comes to a close, we’re talking #RealSchoolFood recipes that you might want to incorporate in 2015. The overall goal is to offer you some great scratch recipes, saving you the time, money and hassle to creating your own recipes from scratch. Remember the recorded USDA webinar on Finding and Creating School Recipes for Success with USDA Foods (featuring Malissa Marsden and me) is available on YouTube. Several colleagues have suggested that this would make a great (and free) January in-service to share with your staff.

Another wonderful source of recipes is your friends and colleagues in the school food world. Most school nutrition professionals are more than willing to share recipes – just ask nicely and be sure to say thank you! Here are three examples of recipe sources from colleagues you can trust.

The Washington State Schools “Scratch Cooking” Recipe Book is packed with delicious contributions from school cooks across Washington. More than 20 districts contributed recipes to this September 2013 publication (all recipes meet new meal pattern guidelines). The book has lots of interesting main dishes, from basic Chicken Fajitas to Italian Baked Fish w/ Provencal Sauce, as well as grains, fruits and vegetables. 

WA ChildNutritionRecipeBook Cover

Provo School District in Provo, Utah, is an outstanding example of scratch cooking with locally sourced ingredients. They are also incredibly generous with sharing their food art on Facebook – and their recipes as well. In May 2014, they shared six recipes that featured local meat, poultry, veggies, fruits and even mushrooms! You can download them at Provo City School District Recipes with Local Food Items from the National Farm to School Network database (where you can also search for other recipes and resources).

I can personally recommend the Roasted Asparagus, which I once had the pleasure of both eating and serving this recipe to middle school students. Many of them asked how many spears they could have!

Asparagus

 

As a final treat, Windham Raymond School Nutrition Program, RSU #14 in Maine, has been kind enough to share their recipe for the Whole Grain Rolls served at their Thanksgiving meal in November. Here is what Director Jeanne Reilly wrote to go with these yummy photos: “Yesterday was such a great day, with so many of our students and staff taking part in our Thanksgiving Feast throughout our entire district. Our “homemade” school baked rolls were a huge hit and many have requested the recipe. Our rolls (unlike the original recipe) were whole grain and we substituted a portion of the white flour with100% whole grain white flour.” That is district Chef Samantha forming the rolls in the top left.

Thanksgiving Rolls in Windham-Raymond Schools, Maine

Thanksgiving Rolls in Windham-Raymond Schools, Maine

Here is a JPG of the recipe that Jeanne shared with me. If you cannot read it well enough in this format, send an email to SchoolMealsThatRock@gmail.com, I will send the recipe PDF to you. Thanks to Jeanne and all the other directors for being willing the share the goodness of from their kitchens!

Rolls