Schools Serve Healthier Lunches By Cooking Local Foods From Scratch

Schools across the country are turning to their own communities and even their own campuses to source healthy foods like fruits and vegetables. More than 38,000 schools in the United States participate in farm to school programs, according to a recent United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) nationwide census. Through these programs, kids get a firsthand look at how fruits and vegetables are grown and harvested at local farms, and farms benefit from selling their foods directly to schools. These schools partner with local farms and businesses to receive fresh and healthy ingredients for their cafeteria meals, rather than getting the produce from another state or just reheating pre-packaged foods. Read on for four examples of how schools are cooking local and from-scratch meals that benefit students’ health and their communities’ wallets:

L.A. Unified School District teams up with local farmers and businesses
L.A. Unified increased the amount of local fruits and veggies in its produce budget from 9% to 75% in two years, according to a recent L.A. Times article. These partnerships with local businesses have created many new jobs, and students are getting healthier, delicious dishes like breakfast muffins with whole wheat, raisins, carrots and flaxseed. http://lat.ms/18vGwVY

Colorado’s Jefferson County School District cooks local poultry from scratch
Forget the processed foods: this Colorado School District is serving fresh, local Boulder Natural Meats chicken in its schools as a healthier lunch option for students. Read the full 9News article to see how the school district created online training videos to teach all cafeteria staff about this healthier way of cooking: http://on9news.tv/1bvpw6G

An Oklahoma chef teaches students and parents about healthy eating with local foods
Last month the former chef for Oklahoma’s governor stopped by a local high school to share easy tips for healthier eating (like adding garlic or fresh cilantro instead of salt to boost a dish’s flavor) and cooking from scratch. By serving a stir-fry with cabbage, snow peas, red onions, green and red peppers and brown rice, chef Robin Obert-Magturo hoped to excite students and families about creating delicious, nutritious meals with fresh ingredients. http://bit.ly/1jCy0wa

A Virginia Farm to School celebration opens kids’ eyes to new foods grown in their community
In November, Virginia students participated in Farm to School week by trying different varieties of local apples. Throughout the year, the schools partner with farmers to plan cafeteria menus in advance in order to ensure healthy meals are available for students. Kids are also introduced to new foods, like winter squash. Read the full Charlottesville Tomorrow article: http://bit.ly/1dfMRrD

Does your school offer any fresh and local school meals? Share your favorite cafeteria meal with us on Twitter, Facebook or in the comments below.

Related story:
Farm to School Programs Help Sow the Seeds for Healthy Kids