The document provides guidance for PTAs to partner with schools to support healthy school meals. It outlines goals of empowering PTAs to start conversations about school meals, form school meals teams, assess current meals/policies, and create action plans. Key areas of focus for improving school meals identified are the cafeteria environment, meal quality, student/family perceptions, supporting nutrition staff, and advocating for strong wellness policies. The document provides tools and tips for PTAs to evaluate current meals and develop collaborative plans to enhance school nutrition.
FoodFight is an educational nonprofit whose mission is to revolutionize the way we think about food. Using schools as a platform, we arm students, teachers and parents with the knowledge they need to make healthier eating and buying decisions. Join the fight!
FoodFight is an educational nonprofit whose mission is to revolutionize the way we think about food. Using schools as a platform, we arm students, teachers and parents with the knowledge they need to make healthier eating and buying decisions. Join the fight!
The Parliamentary Information Office of the Parliamentary Yearbook has been monitoring progress in Government policy relating to healthy eating in schools since Jamie Oliver’s ground breaking campaign to improve school food in 2005. This will form part of a major feature on healthy living in the next edition
A presentation of the Fresh Fruits and Vegetables: A Centerpiece for A Healthy School Environment Training. Day 2 Farm to School Programs and Building FFVP Snack Programs. www.healthyschoolenvironment.org
La autoestima es una pieza fundamental en la construcción de los pilares de la infancia y adolescencia. La autoestima no es una asignatura que se aprenda en el colegio, por el contrario, es dentro del núcleo familiar el principal factor que influye en la autoestima, donde el niño va creciendo y formando su personalidad.
The Parliamentary Information Office of the Parliamentary Yearbook has been monitoring progress in Government policy relating to healthy eating in schools since Jamie Oliver’s ground breaking campaign to improve school food in 2005. This will form part of a major feature on healthy living in the next edition
A presentation of the Fresh Fruits and Vegetables: A Centerpiece for A Healthy School Environment Training. Day 2 Farm to School Programs and Building FFVP Snack Programs. www.healthyschoolenvironment.org
La autoestima es una pieza fundamental en la construcción de los pilares de la infancia y adolescencia. La autoestima no es una asignatura que se aprenda en el colegio, por el contrario, es dentro del núcleo familiar el principal factor que influye en la autoestima, donde el niño va creciendo y formando su personalidad.
Assignment 1 Create Article -Toolkit Parent Education Home to Sc.docxtrippettjettie
Assignment 1: Create Article -Toolkit Parent Education: Home to School Connections
For this Assignment, you will create two newsletter articles to educate others on creating positive relationships. The first article is for families and caregivers on building strong home to school connections.
Assignment Directions: Write 1-page article for each of the following scenarios:
Scenario 1:The first article is for the parent newsletter that is, sent to all families.
Write a 1- Page article on creating positive relationships between school staff and families. In your article, include the following:
1. Why home and school relationships are important. Provide a rationale citing specific references to the Learning Resources and outside resources you researched.
2. Strategies for creating positive relationships between home and school. Ideas for using technology to increase interactions between home and school.
Scenario 2:The second article is for the staff-only newsletter that is, sent to all staff at the school.Write a 1-page article on creating positive school professional to student relationships. Keep in mind that all school professional to student relationships are important, including the secretary, the lunchroom aide, the custodian, etc. In your article, include the following:
1. Why school staff and student relationships are important. Provide a rationale citing specific references to the Learning Resources and outside resources you researched.
2. Strategies for creating positive relationships between school staff and students. Provide ideas for building relationships with students from diverse backgrounds.
Include a reference page of at least 2 outside resources per article (minimum of 4 resources) you used to support your articles.
Helpful Reference
Gurland, S. T., & Evangelista, J. E. (2015). Teacher-student relationship quality as a function of children’s expectancies. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 32(7), 879–904.
Wilkins, J. (2014). Good teacher-student relationships: Perspectives of teachers in urban high schools. American Secondary Education, 43(1), 52–68.
Waddell, J. H. (2013). Working with families in urban teacher education: A critical need for all students. Teacher Educator, 48(4), 276–295.
Modue 4
This is a two-part assignment:
First, complete the Goals and Objective Worksheet (supplied electronically in this assignment) on pages 45-46. If there is more than one Project Goal, complete one worksheet for each Goal, listing the Goal at the top of the worksheet. Disect each goal into objectives indicating the direction of change, area of change, target population, degree of change, and time frame.
Next, write the Program Goals and Objectives section (in narrative form) that will be included in the final Grant Proposal. You canname this several different titles, Goals and Objective, Project Goals, Programs Objectives, etc. Look at the sample proposals for examples.
Remember, use the book only as a guide. All works ...
School Lunch ProgramProblems affecting student eating habits..docxkenjordan97598
School Lunch Program
Problems affecting student eating habits.
Solution
s to problem affecting students healthy eating.
Toby Markham
Kaplan University
National school lunch program
This is a program that has been put in place to help enhance student healthy eating habit.
The program ensure the right proportions of nutrients are put in the meals.
This program has faced some challenges like students failing to pay for the program.
Students from rich families opt to take food at home and skip school food.
National lunch program is a program introduced in schools to help prepare healthy foods for the learners. This program has been faced with challenges like student not wanting to participate in the program. Mostly student from rich families do not want to participate while children from low income family want to participate. These student are stigmatized since other students are buying their own food (Gordon, 2003).
2
Issues related to unhealthy eating
Issue of obesity has been on rise as a result of unhealthy eating habits in schools
Students from rich families tends to take junks or eat at home and skip school lunch.
Student from poor or low income families tend to pay for school foods unlike children from rich families.
National lunch program has faced stigmatization.
Unhealthy eating leads to obesity which ahs become a major issue today. Student have access to junk foods which are high in calories value and forego school lunch
3
Obesity problem
Obesity condition has been at rise for the last many years.
Availability of junk foods which are high in calories value has lead to increased students cases of obesity.
Problem associated with children school diet is obesity caused by consumption of unhealthy processed food such as canning, freezing and milling.
These food are very high on calories.
Availability of junk foods in schools ahs been the major cause of unhealthy eating leading to obesity condition increase
4
Other Problems
Students from rich family view healthy eating as denial of their favorite delicacies and are not willing to let go of these foods.
In many schools there is presence of venders machine and cafes which are always ready to provide junk foods.
Students who participate in healthy eating programs feel stigmatized since others are buying their own foods.
Attitude that healthy eating habit is seen as punishment by many student and are not ready to participate in the program. Sometime they eat at home and forego school meals.
5
How to enhance healthy eating
Ensure that vending machines and café are eradicated from the school vicinity.
Directors should ensure that the cooks use right proportion in making foods.
Prices of foods in school should be reduced so that all students can afford the food.
Program management of national school lunch program should ensure continuous improvement of foods offered in school.
To solve the problem of unhealthy eating in schools cafes and vending machin.
A health and nutrition promoting schoolsMaina WaGĩokõ
This course will give you an opportunity to understand health and nutrition issues in a school. If you want to make your school child friendly go through this session.
Partnering Farm to School with the USDA Fresh Fruit & Vegetable ProgramF2C 2009 Conference
Power Point presentation prepared by Joanne Burke, Director of UNH Dietetic Internship Program, University of New Hampshire and El Farrell, Office of Sustainability, University of New Hampshire for the Partnering Farm to School with the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program.
Dal convegno "Alimentazione, stili di vita e salute dei bambini" - 4 maggio 2010, Roma. Childhood obesity in the United States: key administration initiatives - Suzanne Heinen
Approaches To Nutritional Health Awareness And First Aid In Students With Spe...John Berberich
Video: https://youtu.be/xwVOthcoA-U
Approaches to Nutritional Health Awareness and First Aid in Students with Special Needs - Amy Wang, John Berberich, Moizz Akhtar, Aviv Crish, Rahil Desai, Trivianne Franklin, Forest Gries, Navedeep Kaur, Ryan Pavelka, Catherine Shanahan, Kate Whelihan, Joy Lewis DO
AT Still University
3. 3
School Meals Leader’s Guide: Introduction
The National PTA’s School Meals Leader’s Guide was created to help local PTAs partner with their school leaders,
school nutrition team, families and students to support schools in serving healthy school meals.
The goals of the National PTA’s School Meals Leader Guide are
to help local PTAs:
• Empower PTAs, families and students to start the conversation with school leaders and school nutrition
staff to understand and support healthy school meals.
• Partner with school leaders, school nutrition staff, families and students to form a school meals team
focused on understanding and supporting healthy school meals, school wellness policies, the school
meal environment and/or the school nutrition team’s needs.
• Assess the school meals, school food environment, policies and school nutrition team’s needs to identify
areas of improvement.
• Create a school meals action plan that outlines clear steps to support healthy school meals, improve the
school food environment and school wellness policies and support the school nutrition team’s training
and equipment needs.
• Implement the school meals action plan, evaluate its effectiveness and note areas for further involvement
and support.
National PTA and School Meals
National PTA has been involved in school meals efforts for over 70 years, helping to establish the National School
Lunch Program in 1946. National PTA continues to advocate for nutrition standards in school meals and snacks,
increased access to school meals for all students, and family involvement in the development, implementation
and evaluation of school wellness policies.
“Healthy students make better learners, and school meals are an opportunity for children to receive more than half
of their daily nutrient needs. Ensuring children have access to nutritious foods in schools is critical to their success,”
— Laura Bay, President of National PTA
4. 4
National Standards for
Family-School Partnerships
Experts have identified that family engagement in school meals efforts is necessary to help provide solutions and
mobilize efforts, but establishing the collaborative partnership and identifying expected outcomes may remain
unclear. In order to answer these questions, National PTA has generated a baseline of what high-quality family
engagement in school meals may look like and the outcomes it should generate. Your school meals conversations,
through high-quality family engagement and effective partnerships, should answer the following questions:
• How can we improve the way we welcome families and encourage their involvement in the school
meals conversation?
• How can we inspire open communication and collaboration among families, the school nutrition team
and school leaders as we work to support healthy school meals?
• How can we ensure our school meals efforts always focus on supporting student success through promotion
of healthy behaviors, high-quality meals, and access to school meals?
• How are we speaking up for every child—especially migrant students and students with low socioeconomic
means—in our school meals conversations and solutions to ensure every child feels welcome in the cafeteria
and has access to high-quality school meals?
• How are we ensuring that each partner in our school meals efforts—families, school staff, school nutrition
team and students—has equal power in the deciding solutions?
• How can we engage community leaders, farmers, relevant businesses and nonprofits and other partners
to help create a community environment that promotes healthy behaviors and ensures access to food for all families?
For more information about PTA’s National Standards for Family-School Partnerships, go to PTA.org/NationalStandards.
5. 5
The Importance of School Meals
Proper nutrition is linked to improved academic performance. Unfortunately, many students today are not receiving
the nutrition they need at home. One in six adolescents are obese, while one in five face hunger on a daily basis.
For many students participating in the school meals program, these meals provide up to 50% of their daily nutrient
needs. Schools meals are a good source of the age-appropriate calories and nutrients necessary for students to grow
properly and perform well in school. Additionally, schools are where children learn and reinforce their health behaviors
that they will carry into adulthood. Therefore, it is important that the behaviors promoted in the school environment
are positive, healthy ones.
Nutrition standards—set by the federal government—ensure students receive healthy foods, including whole grains,
fruits and vegetables, low-fat milk and lean proteins, while limiting foods that are high in sodium, saturated fat and
trans-fat. Additionally, the 2010 Smart Snacks Standards work to improve the school food environment by promoting
healthy snack options and limiting unhealthy ones.
For more information on the nutrition standards for school meals and Smart Snacks, go to PTA.org/schoolmeals.
1946 1966 1968 1975 1994 2004 2010
National School
Lunch Act
established the
National School
Lunch Program.
Child Nutrition Act
is signed into law and pilots
the school breakfast program.
Child
Nutrition Act
is amended to establish the
Special Food Service
Program, which created
a pilot for
summer meals.
Healthy Meals
for Healthy
Americans Act
requires school lunches
meet nutrition guidelines
set in the Dietary Guidelines
for Americans.
Child Nutrition Act
is amended to make the
National School
Breakfast Program permanent.
The Child Nutrition
and WIC Reauthorization
Act of 2004
establishes the Fresh Fruit and
Vegetable Program as a permanent
program and requires school districts
to adopt “local wellness policies”
that include nutrition and physical
activity standards.
Healthy,
Hunger-Free Kids
Act of 2010
directs USDA to update nutrition
standards for school meals and
snack foods sold in school,
increases access to the
summer meals program, and
requires higher standards
for local wellness
policies.
6. 6
The Possibilities
Although many schools are successfully managing the current nutrition standards, some schools are still facing
challenges. Schools may encounter difficulties finding products that satisfy the nutrition standards and students’tastes,
meeting school nutrition staff training needs, funding kitchen equipment needs or competing with non-foodservice
promotion of less healthy foods. These circumstances create barriers to serving appealing and enjoyable meals and
ultimately impact student participation in and enjoyment of the lunch and breakfast program. Fortunately, most of these
issues can be overcome if school communities work collaboratively to address them with simple changes, which can
make large, long-term improvements.
Throughout the School Meals Leader’s Guide we will focus on five areas that have been used by schools to success-
fully improve the perception, participation, and quality of their school meals. Your school meals team may identify
areas outside of these five to focus on, as each school’s needs and challenges are different.
1. IMPROVE THE CAFETERIA ENVIRONMENT
The“cafeteria”is where food is sold, purchased and consumed, but it may have a different name or a very
different look in different schools. How food is displayed, prepared and marketed; how the tables, chairs
and food are arranged; the amount of time students have to eat; and the overall cleanliness, comfort, look,
and name of the cafeteria can impact what and if students chose to eat. At an age where students are forming
their dietary preferences and habits, the cafeteria has the ability to promote healthy or unhealthy food habits;
therefore, it is important to make sure the environment supports the selection and consumption of nourishing
options in a safe and enjoyable setting.
2. IMPROVE MEAL AND MENU QUALITY
Taste is the primary driver of food choices. Thus, a menu that includes a range of diverse, fresh and delicious
options is most likely to appeal to the most students. Your school nutrition professionals want students to eat
and enjoy the meals they serve, but they are sometimes limited by labor hours, product availability, cooking/
preparation restraints, cost or concerns about waste. Working with the nutrition team to identify challenges
and overcome them in order to enhance or improve the menu can have a significant impact.
3. IMPROVE STUDENT AND FAMILY PERCEPTIONS OF SCHOOL MEALS
Many students and families may not even be aware of the improvements that have been made in school meal
programs and many parents may believe that the healthier option is to pack from home. Increasing family and
student awareness of the current school meal program and promoting it as a great option for all students can
begin to improve perceptions and help increase participation.
7. 7
4. ADVOCATE FOR MORE TRAINING AND IMPROVED EQUIPMENT FOR THE SCHOOL
NUTRITION TEAM.
Having adequate equipment and skills to prepare and promote delicious and healthy foods are some of the
greatest challenges facing school nutrition professionals today. Nearly 90% of school districts have at least
some equipment needs and most school nutrition professionals desire more training in nutrition, culinary skills,
and administrative processes. Addressing these needs can help school nutrition teams go above and beyond in
their cafeterias.
5. ADVOCATE FOR SCHOOL WELLNESS POLICIES
The cafeteria is only a piece of the school nutrition puzzle and it’s hard for it to be successful if it’s competing
with less healthy food options in other areas of the school. Local wellness policies—established by the district’s
local wellness committee, which includes school staff, students, parents and community members—should aid
in establishing an environment that promotes students’health, well-being and ability to learn throughout the
school. Each school district that participates in the National School Lunch Program is required to update, imple-
ment and assess their local wellness policy. Individual schools may also have a school health advisory council
that seeks to further promote a healthy school environment by establishing school specific policies. Ensuring
local wellness and school health policies promote strong nutrition standards, provides students with adequate
mealtime and preferred scheduling, including lunch after recess, and limits the sale of unhealthy food items can
help make healthier food choices the easier choices.
8. Starting the Conversation withYour School NutritionTeam
From the conversation with your school nutrition manager, they should feel that you
are not there to critique the school meals but rather to serve as an important partner
to the school meals improvement effort.
Tips for having a positive and productive conversation, include:
• Arrive at the conversation with an open mind, putting aside preconceived
notions about the cafeteria, school nutrition team, and school meals.
• Explain PTA’s commitment to promoting healthy lifestyles for every student and
that you understand school meals are a major component of student health.
• Explain the school meals initiative and what it would consist of (e.g., school meal
assessments, action plan development, implementation and evaluation).
• Give the school nutrition manager an opportunity to discuss the challenges
they are facing before discussing possible solutions and ideas.
STEP
1
STEP
2
8
Learn About Your School Meals
Before starting your school meal efforts, get to know your school meals program and the strides your school nutri-
tion team has already made. Have breakfast and lunch at your school a few times to taste the meals and observe the
atmosphere during meal periods. This will allow you to have informed conversations with your school meals team
about the school meals program.
Build Your School Meals Team
PTAs and families are an important resource and asset to school leaders and the school nutrition team in supporting
healthy school meals. Establish a high-quality partnership with school leaders and the school nutrition team from the
beginning to ensure all voices are heard and all barriers and concerns are considered.
1. Set up a meeting with your school principal to discuss your PTA’s interest in supporting healthy school meals,
gain their commitment to being a part of the school meals team and receive their approval to continue the
conversation with your school’s school nutrition manager.
2. Once approved by the school principal, schedule a meeting with your school nutrition manager to discuss your
PTA’s role in supporting healthy school meals and gain their commitment to being a part of the school meals
team. Your school’s school nutrition manager may want to gain approval from your district’s nutrition services
director—the person who oversees all aspects of foodservice in your district. The nutrition services director may
also wish to be a key member on your school meals team.
9. 9
Conduct the School Meals Assessment
Although your school meals team may have an idea of what to focus on, it is important to conduct a formal
assessment to fully understand the school wellness policies, school meal environment, quality of the school meals,
student and parent perceptions and capacity of the school nutrition team. Conducting a formal school meals
assessment will also provide direction to your school meals team so that you can prioritize your efforts. The initial
assessment will also provide a baseline to compare your end result to and illustrate the impact of your efforts.
First, complete the School Health and Safety Policies and Environment and Nutrition Services modules in the
Alliance for a Healthier Generation Healthy Schools Program assessment. This will provide an overview
assessment of the school meal environment, quality of meals provided, local wellness policies and the school
nutrition team capacity. Work with your school nutrition team to complete the assessment.
Second, depending on your primary area of focus, you will want to complete additional assessments to gain
further information about the specifics of what exactly is needed at your school to improve school meal
participation, perception or quality.
The Cafeteria
Assessing the cafeteria will provide insight into whether the layout and overall atmosphere is inviting and
promotes and encourages healthy behaviors.
How to Assess: The Smarter Lunchrooms Self-Assessment will provide a detailed look at your school food
environment, whether healthy food items are promoted and how welcoming the cafeteria is perceived to be.
Tip: While observing the cafeteria, observe how long students have to eat breakfast or lunch. Take note of the
time, from the point the last student sits down to enjoy their meal to the point students are dismissed. This will
help your team analyze your school wellness policies and ensure students have adequate time to enjoy their meals.
Student and Family Perceptions
Assessing the student and family perceptions of school meals will aid in identifying menu items that are poorly
received by students, what items students would like to have added, concerns families have about food quality
or quantity, families’knowledge of the updated guidelines and current meal quality and barriers to participation.
How to Assess: National PTA’s Student and Family Perceptions Survey can be sent home with students,
created as an online survey or distributed at Back to School night.
STEP
3
10. 10
Meal and Menu Quality
Assessing meal and menu quality will identify the meals students dislike, which are most popular and what
should be replaced or improved.
How to Assess: Work with your school nutrition manager to identify menu items that students consistently do
not purchase. Also, identify the menu items that students consistently point out as least and most favorite on
the National PTA’s Student and Family Perception Survey.
School Nutrition Staff Needs
Assessing the school nutrition training and equipment needs will help your school meals team identify possible
resources to help increase school nutrition capacity.
How to Assess: Talk with your school nutrition manager about their training and equipment priorities and wishes.
This can be an open conversation rather than a structured questionnaire.
SchoolWellness Policies
Assessing your local and district wellness policies will allow your school meals team to identify outdated or weaker
policies and ones that are not being implemented. It can also be a time to look for gaps and opportunities to
codify things that are already happening in practice.
How to Assess: Complete the Action for Healthy Kids School Health Index for a comprehensive look at your
school policies. Questions to ask of your wellness policy may include:
• Do all foods and beverages sold on campus during the school day meet or exceed USDA’s school meal
nutrition standards, competitive food, and Smart Snack standards?
• For food and beverages that are marketed in the school place, do they meet the Smart Snack standards?
• Do students have at least 10 minutes to eat breakfast and 20 minutes to eat lunch, counting down from
the time they are seated with their food?
• Does lunch period follow recess?
• Are there specific goals for nutrition promotion and education?
11. Develop Your School Meals Action Plan
Now that you have completed the school meals assessments, you are ready to create your action plan. The action
plan should be developed with input from all of the school meals team members in order to utilize all viewpoints
and knowledge.
Follow these steps when developing your plan:
1. Set up a meeting with your school meals team to share results from the assessments and brainstorm possible
solutions and challenges
2. Identify your long-term school meals objective
3. Identify short-term goals and action steps for implementation
4. Develop a timeline and budget
5. Determine roles and responsibilities
6. Plan for long-term sustainability
7. Review your action plan to check for completeness
Tip 1: Most PTAs have a limited budget and must plan carefully to achieve their goals for the year.
Ideally, school meal improvement activities will be included in your PTA’s annual budget process from
the beginning. If that’s not possible this year, don’t worry! Much can be accomplished with a small
budget, particularly with the help of volunteers and by collaborating with community members.
Tip 2: Use National PTA’s School Meals Action Plan Template to help map out your school meals
action plan and for an example action plan, see National PTA’s School Meals Example Action Plan.
Expand Your Team
During action plan development, think of other people in your school community who
can help your school meals team review your action plan, think of additional solutions
and aid in achieving your goal. While this group may not be content experts, they may
be able to provide resources, training, and feedback, gain support from the school
community or help with implementing your action plan. Additional school community
members may include:
• Students (student council president, engaged students, etc.)
• School staff (school nurse, health and physical education teachers, janitorial staff,
other school members with an interest in health)
• School board members
• Local business or community leaders
• School business official or chief financial officer
• Local universities or colleges
• Chefs, restaurant owners and farmers
STEP
4
11
12. 12
Consider These Strategies
Depending on what your school meals assessments unveiled, the strategies below may provide direction when
developing your action plan. Be creative and use the strengths of your school and community, but also be realistic.
Taking smaller, achievable steps are better than developing one large goal that is impossible to achieve.
The Cafeteria
Work with your school nutrition team and try these researched lunchroom techniques to promote
healthy behaviors in your cafeteria.
• Offer attractively displayed fruits and vegetables at the start of the service line.
• Place white milk before chocolate milk in the milk cooler.
• Ensure that water is readily accessible to all students.Try providing fruit and vegetable-infused water to encourage
water consumption.
• Place a variety of fruit at the point of check out.
• Ensure the school nutrition team is trained to politely prompt students to select and consume the daily vegetable
option. Or recruit family volunteers to help welcome students to the cafeteria and encourage them to eat
their food throughout the meal service.
• Give fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods fun names, such“power peas”or“dinosaur broccoli trees”
• Ensure the daily fruit and vegetable option is bundled in the grab and go meals.
Create a welcoming cafeteria environment so students enjoy spending their meal times in the cafeteria.
• Paint murals in the cafeteria that illustrate healthy behaviors – kids playing sports, eating fruits and vegetables
and/or cooking with friends. See if there is a local artist, parent, art teacher or student who would like to lead
the mural efforts.
• Hold a contest to rename the cafeteria something new and exciting.
• Collaborate with the art teachers to
highlight students’artwork in the cafeteria.
• Advocate for additional funding or considering
fundraising to replace outdated tables, seating and
other cafeteria fixtures.
• Organize regular cafeteria activities that
allow students to try new foods and
provide feedback on what they would
like to see in the school meals. Try a
smoothie station, around the world
fruit and vegetable stand, meat alternative
tastings and other fun, healthy activities.
Meal Quality Resources
The Let’s Cook Healthy School Meals
ef-inspired compilation of school meals
s that can be used for swapping in new
es to revamp your school meals menu.
Cafeteria Resources
1. The Smarter Lunchrooms Movement
provides researched techniques that nudge
students towards engaging in healthy eating habits.
2. Action for Healthy Kids provides activities
and strategies for improving the cafeteria.
13. 13
Meal and Menu Quality
Swap out unpopular lunch or breakfast items for newer, revamped
entrée options.
• Work with the school nutrition team to revamp the menu to make meals
more enjoyable and nutritious. This doesn’t mean your team has
to develop new recipes from scratch; check out the great
recipes and menus already available on the web.
• Work to incorporate more fresh fruits and vegetables
into the breakfast and lunch program. Investigate the
possibility of a salad bar, school garden and/or a farm
to school partnership with local farmers.
• Encourage student involvement. Start a school meals
student recipe contest that encourages students to
submit a recipe that meets the school meal standards
(within a budget) that they would like to see served in
the cafeteria. Have the school nutrition team choose a
recipe they will highlight the following month.
• Provide taste testing activities with students to see how
they prefer fruits and vegetables to be prepared.
Meal Quality Resources
1. The Let’s Cook Healthy School Meals is a
chef-inspired compilation of school meals recipes
that can be used for swapping in new recipes
to revamp your school meals menu.
2. Alliance for a Healthier Generation provides
sample recipes and menus that can be used
as ideas for new menu items.
3. The Let’s Move School Garden Checklist
will help you plan for a school garden.
4. Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools
donates salad bars to schools.
14. 14
Family and Student Perceptions
Improve family and student perceptions of school meals by informing them of the school meals
updates, hosting fun and interactive school meals activities and getting them involved in your efforts.
• Incorporate a school meals session or booth at your back to school night, new student orientation, parent
teacher conferences or other school activities that allows the school nutrition team to present to families and
students what the school meal program is, the updated nutrition standards and changes and updates in the
cafeteria. This will allow families to better understand the school meals program and give the school nutrition
team an opportunity to explain their efforts.
• Create a monthly newsletter and use social media to highlight activities in the cafeteria, new meals that are
being tested out that month, nutrition tips promoted in the cafeteria and additional information the school
nutrition team wants to relay to families.
• Invite families to eat the school lunch with their kids so they can better understand the quality of the meals served
and participate in the school meals conversation.
• Create a system that allows families and students to provide feedback.
Try a biannual community forum, online system
or a comment box in the front office.
• Involve students in the school meals
activities and discussions to promote
a sense of student responsibility.
• Some school meal programs offer
catering services—consider
catering your PTA events
through the school nutrition
department.
15. 15
• To strengthen your case, present your school meals team’s plan for
strong implementation of the policies in your school. Your school
could serve as a model for other schools in the district.
• If a school wellness team doesn’t exist at your school, start one!
School NutritionTraining and Equipment
Help your school nutrition team gain additional training and/or
school nutrition equipment to ensure their school meal efforts
are fully supported.
• Identify grants that your school may be eligible for and help your
school nutrition manager complete the application(s). If there is a
grant writer employed by the school district, work with them to
apply to grants your school meals team has identified. If your school
district does not have a grant writer, see if there is a parent or
community member who is a successful grant writer who can aid
in that process.
• Find a time to get on the school board agenda to present equipment
and training needs and advocate for additional funding.
• Organize a healthy fundraiser to help purchase school nutrition
equipment.
• Ask if there is an additional role PTA members and families can fill
during meal times that will allow the school nutrition team to focus their efforts on providing school
breakfast and lunch.
SchoolWellness Policies
Work to ensure your district and school have strong wellness policies
that promote healthy snacks, meet healthy marketing guidelines,
promote healthy fundraising and set adequate mealtimes.
• Get involved in your district’s local wellness committee, your
school’s school health advisory council, or both. In the meetings
you can present the evidence for strong wellness policies that will
improve the school food environment, nutrition standards, lunch
time scheduling and nutrition education plans.
SchoolNutritionTraining
andEquipmentResources
i. The School Nutrition Association
equipment grants provide resources
that your school may be eligible
to apply for.
ii. USDA’sTeam Up for Child
Nutrition provides training
resources for the school
nutrition team.
School Policy Resources
i. Model School Wellness Policies
pulls together resources
for understanding and
implementing local wellness
policies, including
model wellness policies.
16. 16
Measure Your Progress
Evaluation is a critical part of wrapping up your program. It is important to understand what worked and what didn’t
so that you can plan for an even more successful school meals initiative next year. You can engage more people in
the school conversation when you measure your progress and publicize your results. Depending on what your team
focused on, you can repeat your previous assessments to document what your school meals team improved and
identify areas that your team still needs to address. Share your results at a school forum or parent night to generate
support and further commitment.
Sustain Your Efforts
Now that you have created your school meals team, conducted a schools meals assessment, implemented your
action plan and measured your progress, it is important to continue these efforts to ensure your successes create
long-term, sustainable changes at your school.
• Ensure your initial efforts do not get forgotten when moving forward to focus on additional areas of school
meals. When creating your next action plan, include steps to ensure your previous efforts are sustained.
• If you conducted a pilot program such as a school garden, breakfast to-go program or salad bar, make sure to highlight
your successes to the school administration and community in order to expand or make it a permanent program.
• Showcase any successes on social media or school/PTA newsletters. Invite reporters to check out the progress
first hand at your school.
• Advocate to have your strategies added as an action plan item to your school’s improvement plan to ensure it
continues to be implemented and evaluated.
• Identify areas of weakness in your school meals efforts in order to prevent them from happening again as you
move forward with your efforts.
• Make sure any school meal improvement efforts will be included in your PTA’s budget planning process for the
next school year.
• Make notes and introductions for next year’s PTA chairperson or Healthy Lifestyles Chair so they can continue the
partnership with school leadership and plan realistically.
• Present your progress at a school board meeting and propose ways in which the district can continue to support
school meal efforts.
STEP
5
STEP
6
17. 17
Looking Forward
Now that you have focused your efforts on one or all of the five components discussed in this guide, think about
addressing other school meals issues.
Summer Meals
For students who rely on school meals, summertime may be a time of hunger. Working to ensure your community
has a summer meal site can help combat childhood hunger, or better yet, talk to your school leaders about your
school becoming a summer meals site. Once you have an identified site, help get the word out about the program
through school newsletters, announce it at school or community events, send out an email blast and share the
information on social media.
Community Eligibility Provision
The community eligibility provision (CEP) allows eligible schools and school districts to serve school meals, free of
charge, to all students.This helps reduce the stigma for the students who receive free or reduced lunches, provide lunches
for students whose family member may have not filled out the paperwork and reduces administrative burden. If your
school has a high percentage of students who receive school meals for free or at a reduced price, you may be eligible
to become a CEP school. Talk with your nutrition services director and school leaders to see if your school is eligible.
Healthy Fundraising
To further promote a healthy environment, work to ensure fund-
raising in your school promotes a healthy message. Work with your
local wellness committee to create healthy fundraising policies
that your district and/or school will follow. Make sure to
set the same example in your PTA fundraising events.
18. 18
References
Institute of Child Nutrition. (2016). Interactive Timeline.
Retrieved from http://www.nfsmi.org/Templates/TemplateDefault.aspx?qs=cElEPTM5
Centers for Disease and Prevention. (2015). Childhood Overweight and Obesity.
Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/childhood/
Feeding America. (2016). The Impact of Hunger and Food Insecurity.
Retrieved from http://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/impact-of-hunger/
United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service. (2016). School Meals.
Retrieved from http://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/healthy-hunger-free-kids-act
The Pew Charitable Trusts. (2015). Serving Healthy School Meals.
Retrieved from http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/2015/08/
serving-healthy-school-meals
Smart Lunchrooms Movement. (2016). Smarter Lunchrooms Movement.
Retrieved from http://smarterlunchrooms.org/
National PTA. (2015). Smart Snacks and Child Nutrition.
Retrieved from http://www.pta.org/smartsnacks
National PTA. (2016). School Meals.
Retrieved from http://www.pta.org/schoolmeals
School Nutrition Association. (2016). Parents: Learn About Your School Meals Program.
Retrieved from https://schoolnutrition.org/AboutSchoolMeals/Parents/
School Nutrition Association. (2016). Get Involved.
Retrieved from https://schoolnutrition.org/AboutSchoolMeals/GetInvolved/
Action for Healthy Kids. (2014). School Meals: Challenges and Opportunities.
Retrieved from http://www.actionforhealthykids.org/storage/documents/parent-toolkit/
parent-leadership-series/schoolmealsvfinalx2.pdf
This opportunity is made possible through funding from the Kids’Safe and Healthful Foods Project,
a collaboration between The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
All information is the product of the PTA and does not necessarily imply endorsement by either
organization.