Monthly Archives: November 2011

5 benefits to school lunch technology

News, School Lunches

Courtesy: EdWeek.org

Recently I read School Lunch Fingerprint Technology in Motion on EdWeek.org. At every school in which I have worked in Chicago Public Schools, children get laminated, paper lunch tickets with their names written on them. They turn the tickets into the lunch ladies for their lunch at the end of the lunch line and the lunch ladies make tally marks in pencil on a sheet of paper. I have wondered about the efficiency of that system…

1) Automation leads to savings I think the lunch line should be modernized to save money, as well as errors in tallying. I don’t remember where I read or saw it (maybe it was the movie Lunch Line or Chef Ann Cooper), but money is saved when when school cafeterias are automated. All I remember is that the savings are substantial. (I hate not having exact information, but I think this is important to mention).

2) Reduced stigma of free/reduced lunches With older kids who are more aware about having a lunch ticket and what that might mean about the family’s money situation, I think it would be great if all kids could simply punch in a number or use their thumbprint to get their lunch and then no one would know who paid what. Most kids that I worked with were too young to be stigmatized by holding a lunch ticket and the kids who packed their lunches didn’t seem to care, but they sure noticed what was on their friends’ trays. Trade a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for a small bag of flaming hot cheetos? Yes.

3) Moving faster in line Certainly the children who pack their lunches are able to breeze through the line and get seated in the cafeteria first. The kids with the lunch line are *usually* not slowed down by their paper tickets, but just by the sheer number of children making their way through the line. If automation gives back a few minutes, that would be valuable considering how short lunch periods are.

4) Instant data tracking What are kids buying? Are certain menu items more popular than others? Without hard numbers, administrators can only guess. Even better — let’s track food waster AFTER the meal to see what is thrown out.

5) Parents can track food consumption If the data is shared by email or online with parents, they can find out what their children are eating at lunch and whether or not they are purchasing ala carte items with banked funds. As it currently stands, parents can only wonder.

Lunch Wrap Up: Week of October 31st

Packed lunches

My son has been at his new school now for three months. I’m really happy with it. There are opportunities for enrichment including extra classes like sports, swimming (off-site), and dance. I signed him up for sports and dance (and paid extra for both), which are held during the day. He loves playing sports so choosing that class was an easy decision. I also chose the dance class because I did ballet as a child and just loved the running and jumping. I told my husband about my wanting Charlie to do dance and he said, “Great. It will help his balance.” Admittedly I enjoyed buying Charlie little black ballet shoes (living vicariously much?). I asked him who is in the dance class and he listed only girls’ names. I think he’s the only boy, though thankfully he is still too young to think of these things. I’ll take advantage of that as long as I can!

Another factor in choosing the school was the diversity. At my son’s previous school Charlie was the diversity (being that he is half-white and half-Chinese). All the reading I have done about raising mixed race kids is that they need to be surrounded by diversity so that they don’t think of themselves as different. I would say that at least 50% of the school is non-white and there are a few mixed race kids, too. When I pick my son up, I hear many parents speaking different languages spoken including Korean, Hindi, and Polish (or Russian — I can’t be sure). My son talks about his friends and it has taken me some time to learn their names because many are unusual. My son has even corrected my pronunciation! I also believe that there is economic diversity among the students, which is good, too.

His previous school wasn’t a terrible place at all, but the new school fits him better. It feels more like a school and I think it’s a great space for him. This summer I was really nervous about turning his world upside down, but I’m thrilled that we did it. Even though there was an adjustment period, I believe Charlie is happier and learning more. Goes to show you should take calculated risks.

 Charlie’s lunches

Bacon; cantaloupe; pepita seeds; pea shoots; half of a mini bagel with pumpkin butter; bar

 I asked my son if he ate his lunch and he said very excitedly, “I told [child’s name] I eat GRASS!! I ate my grass all!” I doubled over with laughter. Of course he saw the pea shoots (from Trader Joe’s) as grass!! That’s going down in history. Child care menu: Meatballs in tomato gravy, steamed rice, veggie blend, apple.

Carrots and chicken; cantaloupe; baked sweet potato; crackers; bar

I have experienced the wonder of roasting a whole chicken. Now we will be buying a whole chicken every week and roasting it. It’s simple, cheap, and fast — with  plenty of leftovers. My son really likes cantaloupe, too. Child care menu: Turkey taco, cheese, lettuce, fruit, tortilla

Mini bagel and pumpkin butter; cantaloupe; hard-boiled eggs; pea shoots and blueberries

That morning I asked my son if he wanted “grass” in his lunch again and he said, “No.” My husband was right there and said, “No, you are getting pea shoots.” Sometimes I will ask and opt out of something if I’m worried that he won’t eat it. Specifically with the “grass” I didn’t want him to feel like he had to eat it. Anyway, we went with the pea shoots and after school he said he ate it. He’s at the stage where he is incapable of lying. And I know there are a lot of bagels with pumpkin butter. It’s a fave of mine. Child care menu: Chicken tenders, salad with ranch dressing, cinnamon apple slices

Pasta and sauce; baby carrots; shrimp; blueberries; cantaloupe

 I bought shrimp at Whole Foods and I asked the man behind the counter how I should prepare it. He said that I could sautee it. So I went home and Googled sauteeing shrimp. I ended up throwing a bunch of garlic in there and lemon juice. Really great — my son was a big fan. Child care menu: Turkey hot dog, steamed rice, carrots with dill dip, banana, wheat roll.

Turkey burger and ketchup; cantaloupe; mini bagel and pumpkin butter; pea shoots; rice cake

As per usual Friday’s lunch is lacking in creativity. I’m usually at my wit’s end. Child care menu: Mashed potato bowl, green beans, applesauce, wheat bread

My lunches

Bacon and a pancake; pea shoots; grapes

It looks UGLY but it was sooo good.

Chili; grapes; crackers

The secret ingredient in the chili? Leftover oven-roasted sweet potato. One can pinto beans, one can black beans, 1 pound ground turkey (browned), a little chicken broth, a can tomatoes, remnants of a bag of frozen corn, and one leftover roasted sweet potato. Simmer until hot. Amazing.

Egg salad sandwich with pea shoots; apple

Pressed for time, but the egg salad was divine. My recipe? Three hard-boiled eggs with canola mayo and a small chopped sweet onion.

Egg salad sandwich, pickles; grapes, mandarin oranges, two degrees bar

Next time I’ll chop up the “bread and butter” pickles and put them in the egg salad.

Mini bagel, pea shoots; pumpkin butter; shrimp; bar; apple

The shrimp was messy but terrific. Highly recommend sauteeing with garlic.

School lunch news: “Mix It Up at Lunch Day”

News

Recently I was walking through the hallway at work and I heard one of my favorite teachers talking to her students. She was explaining to them what “bullying” is. I missed most of what she had been discussing with them as they were coming back from the bathroom, but I did hear the last thing she said,

“It’s called bullying now, but you know what they call it when you are adults? Harassment.” 

Simple. Profound. I have since talked with her to say that her words resonated deeply with me (and hopefully with her students).

Bullying happens at school in all settings, but lunch can be one of the places where children get picked on and bullied, especially when there isn’t adequate adult supervision.

People ask me what was school lunch like for me as a kid and honestly I can’t remember the food very well. What I do remember is facing a cafeteria and not knowing where I would be able to sit and eat. My family moved around a lot, including moving across the country twice in middle school. You can imagine the stress and anxiety lunch time brought into my life.

That’s why when I read this story about “Mix It Up at Lunch Day” (Highland Park, IL), I was so encouraged. Lunch is so much more than just the food. Here’s an excerpt:

When would a group of middle school students avoid their friends at lunch and instead sit with people they barely know? When it’s Mix It Up Day, which took place November 3 for the second year in a row at Edgewood Middle School. The day is part of a national event that was started a decade ago by the nonprofit organization Teaching Tolerance, borne out of studies that show that interactions across group lines can help reduce prejudice. And as Edgewood social workers Brittany Coffin and Meghan Erwin reminded the students at lunch, not only is it about breaking down social barriers, but “it can be fun to get to know new people and make new friends.”

As students entered the cafeteria, they were randomly handed different-colored bracelets, representing their assigned table. Each table had one Edgewood teacher, all of whom volunteered to eat with students that day, along with a student leader who facilitated activities designed to get the students talking to each other. One favorite game was Would You Rather, where students were presented with two undesirable options and asked which they would choose. At one table, students were unanimous that if forced to choose between dying their hair green for a year or not washing it for a year, green was the way to go. But they had a decidedly split opinion on whether they would rather have lots of homework on weekdays and none on weekends, or lots on weekends with not much during the week.

For more information about getting Mix It Up at Lunch Day started at your school, check out Teaching Tolerance’s Mix It Up page with free downloadable resources, including this planning checklist. Could this work at your school?

Cooking up Change (Part Two)

Advocacy, School Lunches

On Thursday November 3rd I attended Cooking up Change, which is organized by the Healthy Schools Campaign. Cooking up Change is an event where high school students involved in culinary programs are challenged to create a healthy school lunch. From the Healthy Schools Campaign website:

The contest challenges students to create a great-tasting school lunch that meets nutrition standards on a tight budget, using only ingredients commonly available for school food service. Students must create recipes that include no more than six steps so that they can easily be replicated on a large scale in real school kitchens.

The event was held at the stunning Bridgeport Art Center here in Chicago. I walked in and immediately started snapping shots. The venue was perfect and I could feel excitement in the air.

Waiting for the crowds to arrive

“The winners from this evening’s event will compete in the Cooking Up Change national finals in Washington, DC in May 2012!”

I was there before the crowds showed up so I was able to walk around and chat with every team. There were 12 teams from across Chicago.

Pictured above: “Lemon Basil Chicken with Cheese Grits, Spicy Black Beans, Steamed Vegetables.” This menu (above) from Washington High School also featured a “healthy snack” (here it’s Nutella Biscotti), which was another component of the challenge. Each team had to create a snack, which was voted on by the crowd in attendance that night. I was focused on the school lunch meals so I didn’t get many shots of the healthy snack offerings.

When I chatted with the teams, I asked them how they developed their recipes and where they drew their inspiration. This team (above) from Richards Career Academy mentioned that when they were brainstorming foods to create, it was around the time when Mardi Gras was being celebrated. They embraced the idea of a Mardi Gras theme and made the following lunch…

Pictured above: “New Orleans Chicken and Polenta Napolean, Mardi Gras Confetti Salad, Royal Orange Hoppin’ John.” Polenta in a school lunch? I was impressed.

I stopped to chat with these students from Prosser Career Academy (above). Don’t you love that the students wear chef uniforms? I have visited Prosser a couple times on citywide professional development days because the school has an auditorium large enough to accommodate big groups. I asked the students if their principal is the one who plays guitar for the students and they said that he’s their guy! The principal, whose name escapes me at the moment, got up in front of a room of at least 150 CPS speech pathologists and played a song on his guitar for us. He’s a talented musician and I’ve been told he’s also an excellent principal.

So I wanted Prosser to win — I couldn’t help being biased. Luckily I was not a judge.

Pictured above: “Chicken Walk-About, Sangria Fruit Salad, Sweet Potato Chips.” I tried the fruit salad and it was great! Everything looked great on the plate.

Does Prosser win? How big were the crowds? Did anyone break into song? You’ll have to stay tuned for my next blog post because this one is already getting long…

Lunch with Mrs Q

Happening Now

Do you want to have lunch with me? On Saturday November 12th I will be at Academy for Global Citizenship (AGC) here in Chicago to eat and talk about my book. Click here for the official invite with all the details. First, we will tour this amazing school and see how they integrate sustainability into the curriculum. We’ll all sit down and eat an organic school lunch at one of the first schools to earn the prestigious Gold with Distinction rating under the HealthierUS School Challenge (scroll down for Saturday’s menu!). Then I’ll talk about my year eating school lunch — and I’ll take your questions. At the end I’ll even sign some books.

This is the only book event I have on the calendar right now — so here’s your chance to meet me in person! Blog readers will remember that I visited the Academy for Global Citizenship in the spring to eat school lunch and blog about it. I just love being at this school and it’s all because of the dedication and passion of its founder Sarah Elizabeth Ippel. We collaborated to create an event that’s in line with the purpose of the book: making a difference. All ticket proceeds benefit the Academy for Global Citizenship.

I can’t wait to see you there!

(Official invitation from AGC)