Child Nutrition Employee Appreciation Week is May 5-9, 2008
Mansfield, TX – Teaching nutrition lessons, preparing healthy school meals and offering a friendly greeting are all in a day’s work for more than 200,000 child nutrition employees in the nation’s 99,000 school cafeterias and kitchens. The non-profit School Nutrition Association celebrates this professional commitment with Child Nutrition Employee Appreciation Week, May 5 – 9, 2008.
“I would like to invite everyone to take a moment and thank the professional men and women who work each day for only one reason,” says Student Nutrition Director, Jay Towell. “That reason is because they have a servants heart and they truly love the kids of MISD and they share my passion of providing a healthy breakfast and lunch each and everyday.”
The week is an opportunity for parents, students, school staff and communities to thank those who provide healthy school meals to more than 30 million children each school day.
“This year alone,” says Towell “the Student Nutrition staff will serve over 3.1 million meals to our kids and they work with a dedication and pride that is not often found in any organization. I have been in this business for quite sometime and I can honestly state that the Student Nutrition Staff is the best I have had. I am very proud and honored to work with each and every person who represents the MISD Student Nutrition Department.”
School nutrition employees must balance many roles and follow numerous federal, state and local regulations to ensure safe and healthy meals are available in schools. They are trained sanitation and food safety experts and must manage financially self-sufficient programs. School nutrition professionals also provide nutrition education to students, as well as healthy catering services to their communities. They use their creativity to make the cafeteria a fun and welcoming place all year long and perform their jobs each day because they care passionately about the children they serve.
Some examples of healthy eating promotion that the MISD Student Nutrition Depart has established:
- all candy was removed prior to the 02-03 school year
- various healthy eating promotions during the year to raise awareness of the need to eat a healthy breakfast everyday, not just test day and the benefits from a school breakfast and gave away some prizes
- coloring contests concerning fruits and vegetables and the importance that they have in daily meals
- conducted taste testings (cutting's) at several schools (12) on various menu idea's to get student opinion
- fun with Dr. Suess' B-day and had green eggs at breakfast
- the menu's model balanced nutrition and show how any food, if the right quality products are selected can be healthy
- discontinued frying in grades K-6 in the 04-05 school year
- discontinued frying in middle and high in 06-07 school year
- introduced more fruits in the menu, whole grains and lower fat products over the past 6 years
- When TDA implemented the Texas Public School Nutrition Policies, the department had to make only one adjustment. “We had to take the cheese off of a burger,” recalls Towell “otherwise we were already self policing and in full compliance with the most restrictive State nutrition guidelines in the country.”
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