With the sucessful rollout of salad bars and gardens at every school, it made perfect sense to incoporate the produce grown at each site into the lunch program. Several schools have begun to harvest things like lettuce, cabbage, peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers. Once harvested, they are sent to the central kitchen where CNS staff process and serve them in salad bars across the district. The concept is to get children to make healthier choices and eat more vegetables.
During this program, students are offered choices like fresh broccoli, sliced mushrooms, sliced olives, shredded carrots, peas, raisins, cheese, croutons, lettuce and a variety of dressings (including a balsamic vinagrette) in a “salad bar” type format that the kids really love. Salad bars are currently offered at every school two times a week, with expansion plans in the works.
The Board of Trustees, Superintendent and Director of Child Nutrition Services have all been working together to offer our students more healthy offerings. However, offering healthier foods is only the first step toward improving the wellness of our children. We have begun working on district wide programs that will incorporate healthy food choices, exercise and nutrition education.
The Child Nutrition Department also holds quarterly meetings called “Child Nutrition Advisory Meetings” and invites staff and parents to attend. These meetings address the issues of healthy choices, menu offerings and nutrition education. Please call the Child Nutrition Office for dates and times of upcoming meetings.
If you are interested in attending our “Child Nutrition Advisory” meetings or just have questions about the program, please feel free to call us at 760-943-2042.
Showcase of Healthy Lunch Offerings