The last few weeks have been busy ones in the world of School Nutrition. One of the highlights was National School Lunch Week (October 12 -16). I would love to share some pictures with you......and if I had charged the batteries in my camera for that week I would be able to. ;)
Each year, during the second week in October, we take time to recognize the contributions that school lunches make in the education of students. Did you know that over 31 million lunches are served to students each day in schools across America? Last school year, we served 588,503 lunches! In fact, eating school lunch is the popular choice among Harrisonburg students with over 78% of students dining with us each day.
Despite what you may have heard, school lunches are healthier than ever and are set to become even healthier in the near future. 2009 is a reauthorization year for federal feeding programs. The Institutes of Medicine (IOM) recently released a set of recommendations for nutrition standards for school meal patterns. The School Nutrition Association is in full support of these recommendations, which include increasing fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and decreasing sodium content of school meals.
Although our official week has come and gone, our continued goal is to provide fresh, nutritious choices to our students all year long!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Farm to School Update
It's hard to believe that September has already come and gone! The end of summer/early fall harvest has been plentiful and our cafeterias have been able to incorporate many locally grown/produced items into our fall menus.
The majority of the locally grown produce served this fall has been purchased from the Shenandoah Valley Produce Auction in Dayton. Hydroponic bibb lettuce is purchased from Portwood Gardens in Dayton, a portion of our ground beef comes from T & E Meats in Harrisonburg, and most recently, pork roasts were purchased from Baker Farms in Shenandoah County.
As the weather cools and Virginia's growing season ends, more of our produce will need to be "shipped in" from warmer places. Thanks to the magic of greenhouses, we can continue to offer locally grown lettuce all winter. We'll also continue our beef and pork purchases throughout the cold months.
Our farm to school program is still in its beginning stages, so stay tuned for future updates!
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