Tag Archives: National School Breakfast Week

School Breakfast Trends, Peanut Allergy Facts and Keeping Students Safe

Featured

Posted on by
1

According to the Food and Research Action Center’s February 2020 Breakfast Scorecard, “14.6 million children ate breakfast at school on an average day in the 2018–2019 school year.” This is an increase of over 46,000 students per day from the previous year. Much of the growth has been outside of the traditional before-school breakfast in the cafeteria – using a variety of alternative models including breakfast in the classroom, grab-and-go breakfast carts/kiosks, and mid-morning breakfast breaks. Changes in location have led to changes in menus with increases in self-stable, packaged, and easier-to-transport items. While there is nothing inherently wrong with packaged foods (which must meet National School Breakfast Program regulations), some districts are struggling with the perception of school breakfast as lots of sugars and other carbs.

School Breakfast Trends: The expectations and perceptions of student customers, especially teenagers, is also changing. Based on the breakfast choices they enjoy in fast food and quick-serve locations, they expect to also see options like protein boxes, grain bowls and fruit smoothies at school. Savvy school nutrition directors are upping their breakfast game to be more restaurant-like with everything from omelet bars and overnight oats to homemade cinnamon rolls and specialty parfaits. Many of these new school breakfast items are specifically created to decrease sugar while enhancing protein content. Looking for ways to make breakfast stick, school chefs are focusing on the right balance of protein, fat and fiber.

PB&J Greek Yogurt Parfait https://healthyschoolrecipes.com/recipes/pbj-greek-yogurt-parfait/

The Peanut Butter Solution: With those criteria, it is not surprising that the “peanut butter solution” comes to mind. Peanut butter is popular with students and is an affordable source of protein with healthy plant-based fiber (6% DV) and good fats. Peanut butter is also very versatile from a culinary standpoint – easy-to-use in baked goods, blended items and spreadable applications. However peanut is one of the top eight food allergens so schools must implement strategies to keep students with allergies safe at school. While some studies estimate that 2% of children are allergic to peanuts, the good news is that as many as 20% of peanut allergies may be outgrown, while new treatments are being developed and tested. The peanut industry wants everyone with allergies to be safe so they support the latest research and resources at Prevent Peanut Allergies.org.

Keeping Students Safe: The goal of school breakfast is to offer as many healthy, appealing food options to as many students as possible, while ensuring that all customers with food allergies are protected. Three important ways to accomplish this goal are:

  • Training: Ensure that all nutrition staff receive regular training on all food allergies. Everyone who works with food or in the cafeteria needs to know how to avoid cross-contamination and how to recognize food allergy reactions.
  • Planning: Careful planning is the key to preventing problems. Each student with a food allergy should have an individualized plan that include school foodservice, nurses, classroom staff and coaches.
  • Labeling: Make certain that all products containing an allergen are clearly labelled with text, photo or colors, as appropriate for the age and reading level of students. Check any new products and recipes for proper labeling. 

Need helping with ideas, webinars, training videos and more? Visit Managing Peanut Allergies and click on the schools section. You can also visit the School Nutrition Association’s Food Allergy Resource Center.

Peanut butter granola bars https://healthyschoolrecipes.com/recipes/peanut-butter-granola-bar/

Peanut Butter Recipes: Delicious peanut butter recipes for school breakfast are available through a variety of sources, including the USDA Recipe Box, state department of education resources and Healthy School Recipes.  

Peanut Butter Vanilla Yogurt Dip: https://www.nationalpeanutboard.org/recipes/schools/peanut-butter-vanilla-yogurt-dip.htm

This blog post is sponsored by the National Peanut Board. Learn more about the benefits and practicalities of serving peanut products in K-12 at PeanutsinSchools.org.

California Cling Peaches: Delicious, Convenient and Kid-Friendly

Featured

Posted on by
Reply

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

School Breakfast Helps Students Make the Grade in 2015

Posted on by
4

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.

Why You Should Support School Breakfast, Even If Your Kid Eats At Home

Posted on by
Reply

It’s National School Breakfast Week and the buzz about breakfast at school is louder than ever this year. I’ve also been hearing pushback from parents who feed their children home – “our family doesn’t need school breakfast, why should we support that program?”

Every student should start the day powered by breakfast

Every parent in America has probably used this phrase many times: “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” If you recognize the multiple benefits of breakfast for strong bodies and smart brains, that’s great. If you make certain that your children never leave home without a breakfast of whole grains, fresh fruit and Greek yogurt or backyard eggs, that’s awesome for your kids. Their metabolism got a great kick-start and their brains have the fuel they need to focus on the teacher and learn new information – until lunchtime – every day.

But what about Jane, Johnny, Sam, Suzy and all the other students sitting around your child’s desk or table at school? Did they have a balanced breakfast? Did they have breakfast at all? In fact, did they have anything nutritious since they ate lunch at school the day before? Why should you care what your child’s classmates have or have not eaten? Why should you support a breakfast program at your school even if your kids will never need it?

According to Share Our Strength’s Teacher Report 2013, the answers are quite shocking:

  • Too many children are too hungry to learn. 87 percent of principals see hungry children in their schools at least once a week and 73 percent of teachers have students who regularly come to school hungry because there isn’t enough food at home.
  • Hungry children cannot listen to the teacher because they are listening to their stomachs. When children come to school without a morning meal, it impacts their ability to concentrate, their attention span, and their classroom behavior. In the Share Our Strength report, 90 percent of educators say breakfast is critical to academic achievement.
  • Even if your family is blessed with a perfect breakfast every day, other inattentive, unfocused, under-nourished children can affect your child’s ability to succeed at school. It happens directly when hungry children need more of the teacher’s time -and indirectly when your child is distracted from the lessons at hand.

PoweredByBreakfast-3

The important connection between breakfast and school performance is well known. When standardized tests are given, every school in America tells students to “get a good night’s sleep and eat good breakfast.” Unfortunately, breakfast during test week is too little too late! Children need breakfast every day to get new information and skills into their brains, not just to get them out on test day.

Here are three things that every parent can do to support breakfast, classroom performance and successful schools for every child — including their own:

  • Digest the facts about breakfast and hungry children in America. The 2013 and 2012 Teacher Reports are good places to start. You may also want to Map the Meal Gap in your state or county. A 2013 USDA report estimated that 1 in 5 American children (21.6 percent) live in food insecure homes. In my opinion, it is a moral imperative that we change this fact. Even if you do not agree, think of all the educational problems that hunger causes in classrooms from coast to coast.
  • Explore expert views on the power of school breakfast. Many forward-thinking educational groups understand the breakfast research. On March 3, 2014,
    five leading education organizations and the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) announced the Breakfast for Learning Education Alliance to encourage schools and states to increase school breakfast participation. The alliance includes the major national associations representing parents (PTA) and virtually everyone who works in schools – teachers, principals and administrators. Honestly, can all these groups be wrong about such a simple and effective program.
  • Advocate for breakfast in your community. Students from every income level benefit from a balanced morning meal every day, whether they eat it at home or school. Fuel Up to Play 60, a national program to improve school nutrition and fitness, has made healthy breakfast choices and effective school breakfast programs a priority. Check out their breakfast “plays” and you’ll find fun ways to get all students more excited about getting a smart start on every day.

While your child may not need 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.

March is National Nutrition Month – and a great time to make sure your family is powered by breakfast. My takes on better breakfast bites can be found at Make Time for Breakfast and 4 Tips for Better Breakfasts from Kids Eat Right and the Academy for Nutrition and Dietetics.

PoweredByBreakfast-2

Follow Dayle Hayes, MS, RD on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SchoolMealsRock