March 2003
Food service workshop focuses on adding fresh fruits, veggies to school lunches
Davis students enjoy Crunch Lunch, featuring fresh fruits and vegetables. (photo by Lyra Halprin)
DAVIS-- Improving student nutrition with fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables at the school lunch counter was the focus of a UC Davis workshop Mar. 26. The "how to" and "what to avoid" in fresh school lunches was discussed in detail at The ABCs of Adding Fresh Fruits and Vegetables to your School Lunch Program, a one-day workshop for food service staff, educators, administrators, school board members, farmers, and parents.
Participants also got a chance to see and taste the Crunch Lunch salad bar at a local elementary school. The Davis Joint Unified School District's Crunch Lunch is the centerpiece of a nationally recognized farm-to-school program that includes garden-based learning, farm visits, cooking in the classroom and recycling lunch waste.
"Increasing fresh fruits and vegetables in the school lunch program is good for children's health and good for California agriculture," said Ann M. Evans, nutrition education consultant at the California Department of Education, which was a workshop co-sponsor. "The Crunch Lunch is a great example of how one school district is reconnecting a healthy diet to the 'farm to school' cycle, which may help reverse the trend toward childhood obesity."
Evans and Carol Hillhouse, director of the UC Davis Children's Garden/California Department of Education Capital Region School Garden Resource Center, spoke about their programs' roles in the fresh produce school salad bar programs.
Gail Feenstra, food systems analyst for the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program SAREP), talked about the lessons learned during the development of the Davis Crunch Lunch. SAREP funded the workshop.
"We're happy that getting fresh food into the schools also benefits California farmers," said Feenstra. "Both the farmers and the food service professionals have learned about what works and what doesn't as they've introduced produce from local farms into the schools."
Rafaelita Curva, director of student nutrition services for the Davis school district and Janice Beach, the district's central kitchen manager, talked about the fiscal and operational issues involved in coordinating the Crunch Lunch.
Media Contacts:
Lyra Halprin, (530) 752-8664, lhalprin@ucdavis.edu
