Kiwi Crusaders
A+ Food Programs
By Jennifer Medley
While no school food program is perfect, many come close. At KIWI, we believe success stories can inspire other schools. So we created the KIWI Crusaders Award to recognize the schools and school systems that have made a commitment to serving their students healthier, more sustainable food. KIWI and Fruitabü, our partner in this award, are pleased to announce the winners of the 2007 Kiwi Crusaders Award for Excellence in School Meals. Our congratulations go to: McNeil Child Development Center in Pennsylvania (preschool), Berkeley School District in California (public), and Calhoun School in New York (private). Each winner will receive $3,500.
The number of impressive 2007 Crusaders applicants proves that positive upgrades are possible in any type of working lunch program. As Ann Cooper, a chef and the nutrition director of the Berkeley School District in California, puts it, "You just have to start taking baby steps, make one change at a time."
Among all applicants, creativity played a crucial role in taking that first step, along with getting parents involved. Unity Charter School in New Jersey has a picnic at the beginning of each school year to introduce families to some of its lunch program’s natural foods. Louisa May Alcott School, a partner in Chicago’s Organic School Project, gathers families in the school’s vegetable garden in summer months for plantings, tastings and garden-associated craft projects. Thinking outside the box, Global Montessori Academy in Missouri offers lunches to its preschoolers from a local organic café, and the vegetarian, locally grown fare is served in reusable containers.
Greg Christian, founder and chairman of the Organic School Project in Chicago, recommends that a school’s first step be to plant a garden, so that schoolchildren get involved in the growing process. "Starting with a garden is key. It doesn’t have to be a Cadillac garden–any kind of garden, on any kind of plot, will get kids connected to where their food comes from," he says.
Schools considering change may find further inspiration from a recent University of Minnesota study conducted in 330 of the state’s public-school districts. It was found that students actually eat healthy food when it’s provided, and that higher labor costs are often offset by the lower cost of fresh fruits and vegetables, as compared with processed foods.
How does a school know when it has succeeded in making nutritious fare taste delicious? According to this year’s winning Crusaders, it’s when the staff is excited to eat school lunch, too!
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Public School Crusader
School: Berkeley Unified School District
Location: Berkeley, California
Number of Students: 9,600 (grades K–12)
Food Program Highlights: Out with processed lunches, in with healthy, fresh food. The upgrade took place in 2005, when Ann Cooper came on as the district’s nutrition director. Salad bars are now a staple in all 15 of the district’s schools, as are gardens the kids help manage. Sustainability plays a big role in the districts food purchases, with local, regional and organic food taking priority whenever possible. In the early days of the new program, the kitchen staff learned to create homemade meals (instead of simply reheating frozen fare), and menus were created around whatever equipment was available. Recipes are now kept in a database that tracks both nutritional value and costs.
Top Additions: Salad bar, from-scratch food, more fresh produce and plant-based foods
Top Eliminations: High-fructose corn syrup, refined sugar, refined flour, fried food
Lunch Sampling: Mediterranean pita pizza, oven-fried fish, tofu/vegetable stir-fry on rice, squash soup
Student Reactions:
"There’s a good salad bar, and I like those mashed potatoes. The veggies are real and not processed–you can taste them and they’re good." — Alix, age 12
"I like the fresh fruit. The tangerines are the best!" — Kema, age 11
"The Mexican food is awesome." — Lydia, age 11
"The food is good, and we need to eat during the day to keep our energy." — Laquan, age 14
Plans for Award Money: Staff development and new knives in all the kitchens.
KIWI’s Panel of Judges
Cricket Azima, food editor of KIWI magazine, kids-cooking expert and mother of one
Janice Newell Bissex, RD, and Liz Weiss, RD, nutrition consultants, cookbook authors, founders of www.mealmakeovermoms.com and each a mother of two
Matt Cohen, cofounder and CEO of Kidfresh, a retailer of kids’ meals, and father of two
Jonathan Deutsch, cookbook author, assistant professor at Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York, and father of two
Keri Glassman, RD, author, founder and president of both KKG Body Fuel (a nutrition-counseling practice) and KeriBar (a nutritional snack-bar company), and mother of two
Sara Gragnolati, editorial director of KIWI magazine
