Healthy Schools Campaign

Friday Recipe: Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato Rice

 
They say that some of your most vivid memories are of food, and I truly believe that. This recipe is from the creative mind of my mom, who has a knack for coming up with great meals out of leftover ingredients, and it is so delicious that I still remember the first time I tasted it. I had to be younger than seven years old because I remember being in my old house and her bringing me a small sample cup of slightly orange, creamy rice spotted with sun-dried tomatoes, spices and toasted pine nuts. The experiment was such a hit that she has been making it since then, sometimes substituting the rice for pasta, but always with equally delicious results.

This recipe works well with any type of grain you want to use. You can use whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, white rice, quinoa or whatever you like -- it’s really all about the flavors you are adding that make this dish special. Serve as a side, or as your main meal; it’s a hit every time!

Ingredients

• 2 cups rice, or other preferred grain, cooked according to package
• 4 oz. goat cheese
• ¼ cup toasted pine nuts
• 1 tablespoon garlic infused oil (key for flavor!)
• 1 small jar of sun-dried tomatoes, julienned in olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Herbes de Provence
• Pecorino cheese (optional)

Directions

1. In a serving bowl, add goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic oil, pine nuts and Herbes de Provence.
2. Pour rice/grain over the top of the mixture while it is still hot.
3. Stir all the ingredients together until the goat cheese has completely melted and all ingredients are mixed throughout.
4. Top with a sprinkle of pecorino cheese and enjoy!

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Plus! Click here to see how you can make your own garlic infused oil!

USDA Releases New Nutrition Standards for School Food for First Time in Fifteen Years

Today, for the first time in 15 years, the USDA released updated nutrition standards for school food. We applaud the USDA for taking this important step and applaud the many advocates who, by speaking up for a strong reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act in 2010, set the wheels in motion for the USDA to make these critical changes.

The new guidelines draw on the latest nutrition science and take into account the health risks facing children today, including the childhood obesity epidemic and related illnesses such as hypertension and diabetes. Updates include:

• Increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables.
• Reducing sodium in meals over the next 10 years.
• Setting calorie maximums for the first time.
• Serving only unflavored 1% milk or fat-free flavored or unflavored milk.
• Increasing whole grains substantially.
• Minimizing/eliminating trans fat.

You may remember a media storm late last year about a move by Congress to intervene in the USDA’s process and insist that a small amount of pizza sauce count as a vegetable in a school lunch, or a smaller buzz over the summer when potato lobbyists urged the USDA to remove limits on starchy vegetables.

What happened with those efforts? Simply put, the frozen pizza lobby got its way. The potato lobby got its way, too. As a result, the standards that the USDA released today are not as strong as the ones it initially proposed. That said, these standards are tremendously important and a significant step forward for school food. We are glad to see this important progress and are committed to supporting schools in putting the new standards in practice.

We see much work to be done and urge everyone who cares about healthy school food to stay involved. Here’s what you can do:

Talk with your school food service director. Find out how the school food leaders in your district are responding to the new guidelines. How do they approach putting the standards into practice? What challenges do they anticipate? Knowing that the school community is following the issue and is supportive of the health-promoting changes can make a big difference in implementation.

Take the next step: consider the HealthierUS School Challenge. These new standards set the minimum requirements for school nutrition; many school districts (both large and small) do and will continue to exceed the standards. If your school community doesn’t want to count pizza as a vegetable or serve french fries four days a week, think about ways that you can use voluntary standards to go beyond these requirements. The HealthierUS School Challenge, a voluntary USDA program, is a great place to start. At HSC, we worked with Chicago Public Schools to develop a school food program that meets the gold standard of the HealthierUS School Challenge. Learn more about the HealthierUS School Challenge here.

Stay engaged as the USDA develops standards for snacks and vending. Just as the Child Nutrition Act authorized the USDA to update school food standards, it also called for the agency to update standards for “competitive foods” -- that is, foods sold outside the school meal program in vending machines, fundraisers or school stores. The USDA will take on this task next and needs advocates who care about healthy food in schools to stay engaged and lend support for health-promoting standards in this area.

Kudos to the USDA for taking this important step and to the advocates and school food service directors who will work to turn these guidelines into healthier meals for our nation’s students.

Make that 10! Vermont Passes Green Cleaning Law

Green cleaning continues to sweep the nation!

Yesterday, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin signed into law S.92 that will require anyone who sells products or provides services for cleaning a school to sell or use only certified green products. The specific certifications will be determined by the Vermont Department of Public Health.

Congratulations to our friends in Vermont who have led this charge. Carol Westinghouse of Informed Green Solutions has worked on this bill since 2008.

A healthy school environment is an essential part student learning. Green cleaning promotes students’ health and their ability to succeed academically while helping sustaining our planet. It’s also a practical move for schools looking to clean their buildings in an efficient and cost-effective way. Westinghouse observes, “after making the switch, some schools in Vermont have reported fewer instances of asthma cases, nausea, and headaches, and others have even reported saving money on the cost of cleaning supplies.”

Vermont’s new bill brings the number of states with school green cleaning requirements up to ten. Currently, the following states have school green cleaning legislation on the books:

• Connecticut
• Hawaii
• Illinois
• Iowa
• Maine
• Maryland
• Missouri
• Nevada
• New York
• And now, Vermont

Learn more about this important piece of legislation here.

Kudos to the advocates across the nation who are speaking up and working with legislators to bring green cleaning to all schools.

Interested in working on a green clean schools law for your state? Contact us to learn more and talk about how you can take action.

What Do Healthy Schools Mean to You?

Recently, Parents United for Healthy Schools/Padres Unidos para Escuela Saludables hosted its sixth Principals’ Breakfast to celebrate the collaborative achievements of parents and principals working together to create healthy schools through wellness. Healthy Schools Campaign created the parent-led group to bring together parents and community advocates with the shared goal of promoting school wellness.

At this celebration, we asked several parents to share their definition of a healthy school environment. Check out the video below to hear what these dedicated parent leaders had to say.

They pointed out what every child deserves: an environment where they can learn healthy habits, are provided with healthy school food and exercise, and connect with resources to share with their families.

 

Thanks to all of the parents who shared their voices.

What do healthy schools mean to you?

Follow the Parents United updates on our blog to learn more about their school wellness efforts.

Sunday Project: Make Your Own Pasta Sauce

By Lana Buseman

 
One of my favorite meals in the world is spaghetti with red sauce. It is one of my ultimate comfort foods and brings me back to when my grandma would make everything for this meal homemade, including the pasta.

Making your own sauce is a great project for a chilly Sunday morning when you want to throw something in the Crock-pot and let it cook all day until you are ready to eat it.  We always make a really big batch, and then freeze it in individual containers that we can easily defrost for a quick weeknight meal.

For this recipe, you need two 28-ounce cans of tomato puree, one small can of tomato paste, one head of chopped garlic, one sliced onion, four to five carrots, fresh or dried herbs and one pound of stewing beef. Tomatoes are full of lycopene, which is an excellent antioxidant that is positively correlated with general good health and may have anti-cancer properties. Because the concentration of lycopene actually increasing upon cooking, tomato sauce is a great source of the antioxidant.

 
If you look on the label for most premade pasta sauces, or even old family sauce recipes, you will usually find sugar as one of the ingredients. My grandma always used to put carrots in her sauce, and I find the combination of carrots and tomatoes provide enough sweetness that you don’t need to add sugar.

The way any traditional tomato sauce starts out is by sautéing onions and garlic in olive oil. What I like to do is brown the meat in a pan first, and then cook the onions and garlic in that same pan after the meat. You will want to cut the beef into about one-inch cubes and then brown it in a pan until all sides of the meat are caramelized. When they are finished browning, put the meat in the Crock-pot and pour the tomato puree and paste over the top.

Once the onions and garlic have been sautéed, put those in the Crock-pot as well.

Slice your carrots into ½ inch chunks and throw those in the Crock-pot. Then add your herbs. If you are using fresh herbs, you will want to triple the amount you would use in comparison to dried herbs.  Stir the Crock-pot ingredients up and place the lid on top. Cook for 6-8 hours on low and serve with your favorite pasta later that night!

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Plus! Here is another great recipe that uses this lycopene rich fruit as its main ingredient!

Today: Student-Designed School Lunch Served to 20,000+ Chicago High School Students

CVCA culinary students Ciara Lawton, Sheanice Dishmon, Kaliah Hunter, Diamonte Baugh, Tatiana Rice and Jerome Sims

When high school students in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) line up for lunch today, they may be surprised to learn the recipe for the lunch on their tray was created by chefs who are young students like themselves. In November, the team of culinary students from Chicago Vocational Career Academy won HSC’s flagship Cooking up Change healthy cooking contest, which challenges high school student chefs to create healthy, great-tasting school meals. Today, the meal those students designed will be served for lunch to more than 20,000 students in high scools throughout CPS.

Student chefs Diamonte Baugh, Sheanice Dishmon, Kaliah Hunter, Ciara Lawton, Tatiana Rice, and Jerome Sims created a meal of oven-fried chicken, leafy greens and cabbage with sweet potato salad to take top honors at the contest, where they competed against teams from 11 other Chicago high schools.

“I liked Cooking up Change because everyone is working together to find things we like to eat,” said student chef Kaliah Hunter of her experience.

The CVCA team used an ingredient that is new to CPS cafeterias this year: unprocessed chicken raised without antibiotics on Amish farms in Indiana. All student teams in Cooking up Change used frozen local produce procured through the CPS farm to school program. All meals in the contest met the cost and nutrition requirements for Chicago Public Schools meals -- that is, meeting the gold standard of the HealthierUS School Challenge, a cornerstone of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative, for about a dollar per meal -- and used only ingredients available in school food service.

“Cooking up Change provides talented culinary students with an opportunity to transform how their peers, community, and families think about school food,” said Rochelle Davis, HSC president and CEO. “Their creativity reflects Chicago Public Schools’ history of school food innovation, including the recent move to include scratch-baked chicken in school lunches, a milestone in the district’s progress with school meals.”

Cooking up Change engages culinary students in Chicago Public Schools’ department of college and career preparation as well as the broader community in a dialogue about school food reform and the need for more resources for our nation’s school meal program.

The winners of the Chicago contest will compete in the national finals in Washington, D.C. in May 2012.  Student-designed lunches from the contest have been served in schools across the country as well as in the U.S. House of Representatives cafeteria. Recently, First Lady Michelle Obama met with and commended the national winners during a visit to Jacksonville, where she praised their efforts to promote healthy school food.  

“I am just so excited to see the kids cooking, the excitement in their faces, their motivation, and the light in their eyes. You could just tell, it made a big difference in their lives and what they’re going to accomplish in the future,” said CVCA principal Doug Mackin. “I’m just so proud to be here to see this miracle working within my kids. They are so deserving and they worked so hard.”

The Cooking up Change Chicago Healthy Cooking Contest is generously supported by a team of sponsors that includes Premier sponsor Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality, official travel partner Southwest Airlines and Hero sponsor Preferred Meal Systems, Inc.

For more information about Cooking up Change and to purchase tickets, please visit www.CookingupChange.org.

CVCA team members accept their first-place award at Cooking up Change

School Nurse Leadership Spotlight: Sheila Grogan

Our School Nurse Leadership Training and school nurse advocacy efforts create opportunities to connect with school nurses, who are phenomenal resources and often untapped champions for wellness in their schools. One such advocate is Sheila Grogan.

After 17 years working as a medical-surgical nurse in Chicago, Sheila switched to school nursing. For Grogan, the turning point came after she assisted a neighbor, a special needs teacher, with a party for students. Since then, special needs children have been the focus of Sheila's 22 year school nursing career. 

"I love my job, I love the people I work with. Special education teachers are some of the most hard-working, dedicated people I've met in my life,” said Grogan. “This work is giving back to society. If we are able-bodied, it's our call to help those that aren't able-bodied.”

Sheila serves 125 students in her case load and supervises nine nurses who provide direct student care to these students categorized as "severe and profound," with both cognitive and medical needs. Sheila's job includes 17 classrooms in 15 different buildings across her district.

The school nurse attributes much of her success to her colleagues. “The team I work with is very gifted, and truly care about the outcomes of their students and they help the children be the most successful in life that they could be,” she said. “Our team comes back to school each day [to think of] new ways to work with these kids. I'm very proud to work alongside the teachers in our program."

Sheila doesn't see a leader as just one person who would have many followers. She feels "leaders motivate groups to move in a positive direction so you need to be equal to the people in your group. In a school setting, not just one person can do it. My style is that I like to work with groups and to bring my knowledge as a nurse who's the only medical person on the team -- the nurse is bringing a whole point of view that you need to educate people about."  The goal is to "have happy, healthy students and families. The nurse is in the center."

Through the School Nurse Leadership Program, Grogan realized how she can become an asset to her school. Sheila says: "The program made me realize I did have leadership qualities and that I should use them. Before, I wasn't very comfortable being in charge and now I am. My nursing supervisory role certainly has grown and I'm much more comfortable with that and with guiding the group and saying, 'No I don't think that's in the best interest of the students.' I use my voice more and state my opinions.” 

Sheila was concerned about the nutrition and physical activity of her students and during the leadership course she advocated for healthier snacks in the classrooms that include all five food groups and for a movement specialist who works directly with students. Additionally, Sheila instituted family education to teach parents how to help their children become more active, including yoga classes.

Working with special needs students ages 3-25 has been rewarding for Sheila. Her goal is "getting kids to move on to be productive successful citizens. With this population with cognitive problems, you want them to be successful at whatever level they can be."

Sheila is an award-winning school nurse leader. Last year, the National Association of School Nurses made her the first Special Needs Nurse of the Year recipient and the Illinois Association of School Nurses named her School Nurse of the Year.

Kudos to Sheila for her hard work and accomplishment as a school nurse leader!

To see more spotlights on school nurses, check out our school nurse updates on the HSC blog. And school nurses, be sure to sign up for our school nurse newsletter! 

Friday Recipe: Lentil Salad

 
Do you ever get a craving for lentils? I do. I think it is because of how satisfying they are. They are a perfect stand-in for days when I feel like sticking to a veggie-only diet, but still want a filling and delicious meal.

Lentils are a staple in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine and are often served over rice. They are especially great for vegetarian eaters. The tiny pods pack a huge protein punch, with 26 grams per 3 ounces, along with high levels of fiber, folate and iron. They are also a very heart-healthy legume.They are a versatile ingredient and can be used in soups and salads or serve as a stand-alone meal. They come in green, red and brown and I like to mix them up when I cook them.

One of my favorite ways to eat lentils is in this lentil salad recipe.  It’s a recipe I threw together on a whim with the leftover veggies I had in the fridge, and it turned out to be pretty tasty. It’s a dish that can be eaten as the main course or served with fish or chicken as a side. The dressing I used comes from my favorite beet salad recipe, and I use this dressing on so many things because it complements so many different flavors, including this lentil salad. If you think about soaking the lentils overnight they will cook faster when you’re ready to make this recipe, but it’s not necessary.

Lentil Salad Ingredients

• 1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
• 4 cups water
• 1 carrot, diced
• 1 celery stalk, diced
• 1 tomato, cleaned and diced
• 1/3 cup feta cheese
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ tablespoon Herbes de Provence
• ½ tablespoon olive oil

Dressing Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/3 cup cider vinegar
• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Zest of half an orange
• Fresh parsley, chopped

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a saucepan and add carrots, celery, Herbes de Provence and bay leaf. Cook 5-8 minutes until slightly tender.
2. Add lentils and water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and allow to cook 20-25 minutes until lentils are tender. This is a salad so you don’t want the lentils to be too soft, just cooked through.
3. Drain cooked lentils and veggies and remove the bay leaf.
4. Transfer to a serving bowl and allow to cool.
5. Once the lentils have cooled, add diced tomatoes and feta cheese and pour dressing over the top.
6. Serve alone or over chicken or fish and enjoy!

School Indoor Air Quality in the Spotlight this Weekend with CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta

One of the most basic promises of a school building is that it will provide a safe environment where students and teachers can focus on learning. Very simply, the school environment should not put students’ health at risk. But what happens when schools fall into disrepair and no longer fulfill that promise?

This weekend, CNN will bring much-needed attention to the issue of indoor air quality in schools, exploring the ways this widespread and often overlooked problem affects kids’ health and their long-term academic success. In this segment, CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta will visit schools across the country to examine the impact of poor indoor air quality.

Check out this behind-the-scenes preview:

For the past several years, HSC has partnered with Critical Exposure and the 21st Century School Fund to present Through Your Lens, a photo contest and exhibit in which students and teachers share photos of their school buildings. One of the most striking impressions from the photos is that so many schools need so many basic repairs to address issues -- from leaky roofs to moldy walls -- that affect the quality of the air students and staff breathe every day.

While this is a massive issue, it’s one that is often overlooked -- especially at budget time. The national backlog for this type of school repair is estimated to be in the range of $200 billion, a number that’s expected to grow as states and school districts face shrinking budgets and postpone facility repairs rather than cut classroom budgets.

What can you do? We encourage you to join us in leveraging this opportunity to make a difference in the air children breathe in our nation’s schools:

• Watch CNN’s segment this weekend and join the conversation online. It will air this Saturday, January 14 at 8 p.m., 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. EST, and again this Sunday, January 15 at  8 p.m., 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. EST.  Then raise your voice to tell CNN and the online community how important this issue is. You can share your reactions via Twitter (to @cnnpresents or @sanjayguptacnn) or online at www.CNN.com. 

• Tell Congress to fix schools in need of repair as part of its jobs-creation effort. The Fix America’s Schools Today (FAST) Bill would provide funding for much-needed school repairs while creating jobs in sectors especially hard-hit by the economy. Learn more and send a letter to your Senators and Representative at www.fixamericasschoolstoday.org.

• Check out student and teacher photos in Through Your Lens. This striking collection of images shows the reality of schools in need of repair; it also shows the potential of safe, healthy schools that support learning, including many older buildings that have simply been well-maintained over the years. See the photos at www.throughyourlens.org.

Safe, healthy indoor air is a simple and fundamental part of a good learning environment. We’re looking forward to the segment this weekend and applaud CNN and advocates across the nation who are working to bring attention to this critical issue.

The Chicago Community Trust Spotlights Cooking up Change and Tilden Culinary Instructor Keith Morris

Last year, students studying culinary arts at Tilden High School participated in Healthy Schools Campaign’s Cooking up Change healthy cooking contest. The talented group and their culinary instructor, Keith Morris, were chronicled by The Chicago Community Trust.

In this video, Morris reflects on how valuable the opportunity has been for the students. He says: “Thanks to the Chicago Community Trust and Healthy Schools Campaign, there are contests like this that inspire the students, challenge their creativity, and give them the experience they need to succeed in life.”

 
Tilden High School has participated in Cooking up Change since 2007. In 2009, the students won first place and traveled to Washington D.C. to present their meal at a Congressional briefing on the future of school food. Their journey was featured in the documentary film "Lunch Line."

At Tilden, the culinary arts and hospitality program prepares students for careers or further education in a field that calls on them to have skills ranging from verbal presentation to mathematics and creative expression. Cooking up Change gives students a chance to practice and showcase those skills while being part of the national dialogue around healthy school food. 

Kudos to all of the remarkable culinary instructors like Keith Morris and the student chefs who bring their talents and passion for culinary arts to Cooking up Change. 

Many thanks to The Chicago Community Trust for their ongoing support and for sharing this story!
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Plus: Check out this HSC video of Chef Morris from Cooking up Change 2010!