The Lunch Box Blog
Welcome to our Blog! This is the place to keep up on The LunchBox team's thoughts on school food and the latest school food news.
From the Blog
The New School Lunch Regulations Conundrum
January 27, 2012
The New School Lunch Regulations Conundrum
Reposted with permission by: Dana Woldow
On January 25th, amid much fanfare, First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack released the new school lunch regulations which have been over 3 years in the making. Early hopes that the original proposed rules, which were based on recommendations from the Institute of Medicine, would dramatically change school lunches from the pizza/chicken nugget/french fries model so commonly seen in school cafeterias, to something looking a little more like, well, food, were dashed when Big Food lobbyists were able to force changes in Congress allowing plenty of potatoes, and continuing the longstanding tradition of counting the sauce on pizza as a vegetable. Still, there will be some improvements.
The best part of the new school lunch regulations is that for the first time, there is a maximum limit set on calories; previously there was only a minimum number of calories required, with no maximum. As a result, many schools in the past served foods high in sugar, such as canned fruit packed in heavy syrup rather than its own juice, or extra packages of crackers kids didn...
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Exciting Announcement from the Food Family Farming Foundation!
January 27, 2012
Exciting Announcement from the Food Family Farming Foundation!
The Food Family Farming Foundation is excited to announce that on Wednesday, February 1st we will launch our Healthy Breakfast 4 Kids Grant Program.
The grant will be open from February 1st to March 31st please submit your application soon to be included in this opportunity!
You can find the application along with more information here: http://www.foodfamilyfarming.org/html/grants.html
We hope you apply!
Ann Cooper, Board President & Beth Collins, Executive Director
For more information contact us at: breakfastgrant@foodfamilyfarming.org
The Healthy Breakfast 4 Kids Grant Program
The Healthy Breakfast-4-Kids (HB4K) goal is to create and improve access to breakfast in schools nationwide as a means to lessen...
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Putting Real Food in School Lunches
January 26, 2012
Putting Real Food in School Lunches
Reposted with permission by: Dawn Undurraga
More whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables will be on the menu for 31 million children who participate in the federally-supported National School Lunch Program under new nutrition standards announced Wednesday with the hearty support of First Lady Michelle Obama.
Imagine children coming home from school with a newfound love for spinach, sweet potatoes and whole-wheat spaghetti. Hoping to turn many parents’ dreams into reality, the Obama administration unveiled new school meal standards (PDF) on Wednesday as the First Lady looked on approvingly.
Based on the Institute of Medicine’s science-based recommendations, the new standards are the first upgrade to the nutritional standards for school meals since 1995, when...
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Local Food and The Farm Bill: Small Investments, Big Returns
January 23, 2012
reposted with permission by: Kari Hamerschlagif
For too long, funding provided by the United States’ most far-reaching food and farm legislation has primarily benefited agri-business and large scale industrial-scale commodity farms that aren’t growing food. Instead, they’re growing ingredients for animal feed, fuel and highly processed food — at a high cost to our nation’s health, environment and rural communities.
Meanwhile, only meager public resources have been invested smartly to build the kind of dynamic local food economies that support agricultural diversification and help link small- and mid-sized family farms to local and regional markets.
With the 2012 Farm Bill fast upon us, Congress has an opportunity to make smart, timely changes to help fix our broken food and farm system by embracing a package of policy reforms outlined in the Local Farms, Food and Jobs bill. This legislation was recently introduced by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and is co-sponsored by 63 representatives in the House and 9 in the Senate.
The...
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Update: Check Out Our School Food Related Grant Database!
January 09, 2012
Photo by: blog.baybackpack.com
Changing school food is not as easy as having will power and drive to do so, it also takes money! We here at www.thelunchbox.org know how hard it is to serve kids good, healthy, delicious foods in a cost effective way, which is why we provide all the tools and resources found on our site at no cost to you.
Included in the array of free resources is a list of school food related Grants, found here: http://www.thelunchbox.org/resources (click on “Grants” on the right side-bar)
Browse through these grants to see if there is some money offered that you could use!
Here are some new grants recently added to our database!
1) Innovations for Health: Solutions that Cross Borders (Due: February 13, 2012)
2) Michael and Susan Dell Foundation—Helping Children in Urban Poverty (Due: Rolling)
...
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Vending Machines go Healthy and Organic
December 20, 2011
Photo from allnaturalhealthyvending.com
Written by guest blogger Elaine Hirsch
Recent studies have revealed shocking statistics on childhood obesity in the United States. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, more than a third of children and adolescents in 2008 were obese or overweight, reflecting a triple increase in childhood obesity in just 30 years. In order to combat this epidemic, the food that children have access to in vending machines at schools and other public venues has been under heavy scrutiny. This has led to the creation of a number of positive enterprises that give school children organic, low fat, low sugar, fresh and nutritious snack items.
One such California based company, Fresh Healthy Vending, has about 800 machines set up nationwide, featuring what co-creator Byron Marshall states are a “healthy versions of what you’d find in regular vending machines.” Inside these vending machines students can find options like soymilk...
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Rainbow Days - a Video!
December 16, 2011
Hosting a Rainbow Day at your school is a great way to get students comfortable with the salad bar, encourage colorful eating, and have fun with healthy foods!
On Rainbow Day, students are encouraged to "Make a Rainbow" on their plate at the salad bar. The rules are to take at least three colors (of the rainbow! No browns or whites allowed!) and then eat (or at least try) everything chosen. Once their plate is empty they are rewarded with a sticker that says "I Made a Rainbow at the Salad Bar today".
This activity is sure to work if executed properly and staff/volunteers are motivated to make it work. It is always great to invite all school staff to participate and having the principal make a salad with his/her students is a win-win for all.
Here is a short video of a Rainbow Day in action: http://youtu.be/m3CZVGSIT7o
Here are some more resources to help you create a Rainbow Day in YOUR school:
- The full Rainbow Day resource guide (everything you need to know): ...
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Is Aramark Good For Houston ISD School Food?
December 05, 2011
Is Aramark Good For Houston ISD School Food?
Reposted with permission.
By: Bettina Elias Siegel
Yesterday’s New York Times Sunday Review section had a scathing critique of the growing privatization of school food through the hiring of food service management companies (FSMCs) such as Aramark, Sodexo and Chartwells.
Written by Lucy Komisar and entitled “How the Food Industry Eats Your Kid’s Lunch,” the piece points out FSMCs “cozy relationship” with major food manufacturers like Tyson, ConAgra and Pilgrim’s, in which districts pay these companies substantial fees to turn whole commodity foods provided free by the federal government (such as fruits, potatoes and raw poultry) into highly processed, far less nutritious foods (French fries, chicken nuggets, etc.). Komisar reports that in return many FSMCs receive financial rebates from processors (which FSMCs are legally required to pass on to districts, although some have been fined heavily for failing to do...
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Update: Check Out Our School Food Related Grant Database!
November 29, 2011
Photo by: muskogeeusa.net
Changing school food is not as easy as having will power and drive to do so, it also takes money! We here at www.thelunchbox.org know how hard it is to serve kids good, healthy, delicious foods in a cost effective way, which is why we provide all the tools and resources found on our site at no cost to you.
Included in the array of free resources is a list of school food related Grants, found here: http://www.thelunchbox.org/resources (click on “Grants” on the right side-bar)
Browse through these grants to see if there is some money offered that you could use!
Here are some grants whose deadlines are coming up!
1) Fuel Up to Play 60 (Due: December 1st)
2) The Saucony Run For Good Program Grant (Due: December 13th)
3) Whole Kids Foundation School Garden Grants (...
More
