Healthy Schools Campaign

Congratulations to the Winning Student Chefs at Cooking up Change!

Congratulations to all the amazing student chefs who participated in the Cooking up Change healthy cooking contest! All of the teams created tasty, healthy school meals that wowed judges and guests at the benefit. Even more remarkable: the teams met nutrition requirements while ordering from a set ingredient list and spending just about a dollar per meal for ingredients. And they did it with less than six weeks to prepare!

HSC is pleased to offer special congratulations to the winning teams:

School Lunch Awards

First place: Tilden Career Community High School

Chicken Jambalaya with Jalapeno Cornbread and Cucumber Salad

 

Second place: Richards Career Academy

Twice Baked Sheppard's Pie with Pub Salad and a side of Cinnamon Bread Pudding with Spice Sauce

Third place: Chicago Vocational Career Academy

Mom's Chicken Salad with Farmer's Market Vegetable Soup and Harvest Apple Crisp

Audience Choice Award

Corliss High School

Cranberry-Raisin-Walnut Cookie

Cookie-preneur Awards

Chicago Vocational Career Academy

Abracadabra Bars

 

Clemente Community Academy High School

Spiced Pumpkin Cookie

Corliss High School

Cranberry-Raisin-Walnut Cookie

Many thanks to all of the team mentors, judges and culinary instructors behind the cooking contest, and to all of the sponsors and host committee members who make Cooking up Change possible!

 

Support HSC by Shopping at Any Chicago Whole Foods Market on Tuesday, Sept. 22!

Tomorrow, Tuesday Sept. 22, you can make a difference for children’s health and our environment at the same time you get your groceries!

Five percent of the day’s sales at all Chicago Whole Foods Markets will be donated to Healthy Schools Campaign to support our work on behalf of our environment, our children and education.

HSC staff and some very talented student chefs from the Chicago Public Schools culinary arts program will be on hand at different points throughout the day with cooking demonstrations, healthy school lunch tastings, and opportunities to take action to change the future of school lunch. Be sure to drop by to see us at any of the participating locations:

South Loop 1101 S. Canal St. Lincoln Park 1550 N. Kingsbury St. Gold Coast 30 W. Huron St. Halsted & Waveland 3640 N. Halsted St. Lakeview 3300 N. Ashland Ave.

We hope to see you tomorrow at Whole Foods!

You can learn more online and invite your friends to join you at the market!

Through Your Lens Photos Open Window into Nation's School Buildings

What does a school look like?

Students from across the US have been answering that question with more clarity than we could have imagined when we launched the Through Your Lens Photo & Essay Contest several weeks ago.

With powerful images and vivid stories, students are giving us all a window into what our nation’s school buildings really look like. As the contest comes to a close, we’re working to bring many of these images to Congress, with an upcoming exhibit at the US Capitol and a book documenting the remarkable pictures and stories as our elected leaders debate legislation for school building maintenance and repair.

Here, we’ve excerpted a few of the many entries. You can find all of the photos and stories online at the Through Your Lens gallery.

Bullet Hole? by Kristen from Scotts Valley

Classroom Decor. by Caitlin from Aurora.

Fresh Fruit in a Land of Fast Food. by Susana from Los Angeles.

 

Art in the Bathroom. by Reid from Charlottesville.

If you would like to share any of these photos or stories with your Congressional leaders, be sure to visit the Through Your Lens action center to send a letter and link to the image!

Welcome, HSC Worms!

by Tara Kennon, HSC communications manager

We were thrilled to see the news that Illinois Governor Pat Quinn recently signed SB99 into law, making it legal to compost commercially in Illinois and then transport the resulting mega-nutrient-rich compost to other states nationwide. Old laws restricting commercial composting -- and especially the transport of compost across state lines -- made it difficult for schools and many other institutions in Illinois to compost on any large scale.

HSC applauds Gov. Quinn and the legislators who made this sensible law a reality. As Kay McKeen, founder and executive director of SCARCE (School & Community Assistance for Recycling and Composting Education) says, "There are bills out there that are good for everyone and this is one of them." We look forward to seeing a resulting increase in composting around the state!

Here at HSC, we have been taking steps into the world of composting as well. HSC works with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to bring together the district's Environmental Action Plan Taskforce, a group of school and community leaders who make recommendations for putting the plan in action. One facet of this project involves exploring the feasibility of composting in schools. We've found that composting is one activity that brings so many benefits to a school community -- benefits for the environment, true hands-on experiences with biological sciences for students, and invaluable lessons in environmental stewardship for everyone involved.

To better understand what composting involves for a school, we decided to give it a try in our office. As our founding executive director Rochelle Davis explained, if everyone in our office can understand the challenges of composting first-hand, we'll be better able to help schools (with many more people) put programs into action.

With the help and encouragement of Kate Weinans, UIUC Extension Youth Program Organizer at the University of Illinois Extension program, we kicked off our very own Healthy Schools vermi-composting effort -- that is, the kind of composting that involves worms. Take a look at this video of the day we welcomed our squirmy, wriggly new suite mates to the office:

Through Your Lens Photo & Essay Contest: Show the World What YOU See at School

When you walk into a school, what do you see?

The truth is, it depends on what school you’re walking into. In some schools, you may see peeling paint or a broken window. In others, you may see a well-maintained classroom flooded with natural light. In some schools, you’ll see broken water fountains; in others, bright mosaics and murals.

In nearly every school, you’ll see things that make you proud and things you want to change.

Now, we’re asking you to help us show Congress – and the world – what our school buildings really look like.

HSC is pleased to launch the Through Your Lens photo and essay contest today with our partners at Critical Exposure and the 21st Century School Fund. From Aug 18 - Sept 14, you can submit photos and stories to highlight what’s great and what’s troubling about your school building.

Your photos and stories will help inform a national debate as Congress considers legislation for school building repair, modernization and construction.

Photos and stories will be shown at a special exhibition in Washington, DC (currently planned in the US Capitol Building) and many more entries will be published in a Through Your Lens book and in an online gallery. Five student winners will also receive a Vado pocket video camcorder from Creative Labs.

Please take a moment to show the world what you see at school every day.

Learn more and enter today at www.ThroughYourLens.org.

Want to help spread the word about this effort? Click here for a badge to put on your website and tools to help get the word out!

photo courtesy of Critical Exposure

photo courtesy of National Trust for Historic Preservation

What Do You Want to Ask Lisa Jackson, Head of the EPA, About Environmental Health in Schools?

Next Fri. July 31, HSC will welcome Administrator Lisa Jackson, head of the EPA, to a forum here in Chicago. We’re excited to hear Administrator Jackson’s thoughts on the role of the EPA in making sure school environments are safe and healthy. We’re also looking forward to hearing her perspective on the role of schools in our nation’s sustainability efforts.

But now we want to know: what do you want to ask Administrator Jackson about environmental health in schools?

This is such an important and far-reaching topic –- it encompasses everything from asthma and air quality to green building (and quite a bit in between) –- that we’re interested in hearing what issues are most important to you.

Please take a moment to share your questions in the comment field below!

If you’re in the area and would like to attend the forum, click here for an invitation. If not, stay posted for updates and video from the event!

Friday Morning Recipes: The Lunch That’s Changing the Future of School Food

by Tara Kennon, HSC communications manager

We’ve been talking a lot this week about one amazing school lunch: the one designed by students at Chicago’s Richards Career Academy for our Cooking up Change healthy cooking contest last fall.

This is the meal that the students prepared on Tuesday with White House chef Sam Kass at a briefing in DC, the one that was served in the House of Representatives cafeteria and to more than 40,000 students in cafeterias around the US.

Now, courtesy of Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality and the award-winning culinary students, we’d like to share the tasty, healthy, one-of-a-kind lunch recipes with you!

Carrotquedilla

12 Tortillas (six-inch)                      
12 oz. Light Mozzarella Cheese       
12 oz. Raw Carrots, shredded              
1 ½ Tbsp. Adobo Seasoning
12 oz. Red Kidney Beans

1. Prepare 6 tortillas with 1 ounce of cheese, 1 oz of beans, and 2 tbsp of shredded carrots each.
2. Spray bottom of pan with cooking spray.
3. Place tortillas in pan and top with 6 more tortillas.
4. Turn over when the bottom of the tortilla is brown. Cook the other side of the tortilla until it is brown.
5. Remove from pan and cut each tortilla into 4 pieces.

Serving size: 2 pieces or ½ of quesadilla. Makes 12 portions.

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Stuffed Peppers

6 medium Green Peppers, raw              
24 oz. Chicken Dark Meat, raw, no skin
1 Tbsp. Ground Cumin                  
5 cups Brown Rice, cooked
4 cups Water, boiling                      
16 oz. Diced Tomatoes
3 oz. American Cheese, shredded

1. Cook diced chicken, drain and add cumin.
2. Cook rice.
3. Combine 3 cups cooked chicken, 4 cups cooked brown rice, and 1 cup of salsa until well mixed.
4. Prepare peppers by cutting in half lengthwise, removing stems and ribs.
5. Fill each pepper half with 10 ounces of chicken & rice mixture. Place in hotel pan and add enough
    water to cover bottom of pan. Cover with parchment paper and aluminum foil.
6. Bake 35-40 minutes at 350°F.

Serving size: One half pepper, stuffed. Makes 12 portions.

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Refrascante salad

2 medium Apples, raw, with skin           
2 medium Oranges, raw
2 Tbsp. Cucumber, raw, peeled, chopped       
1 Tbsp. Onions, raw
1 Tbsp. Cilantro, raw                   
1/8 Tsp. Table Salt
1/8 Tsp. Black Pepper               
2 oz. Orange Juice

1. Dice apple into medium pieces.
2. Peel orange and cucumber, and dice into medium pieces.
3. Dice onion into small pieces and chop cilantro. .
4. Combine all ingredients and add salt and pepper to taste.

Serving size: 4 oz. Makes 4 portions.

--

Enjoy!

Stacey Vaeth Photography

High School Students Bring Healthy School Lunch to DC – and Cook with White House Chef Sam Kass

by Tara Kennon, HSC communications manager

Stacey Vaeth Photography

“When we created this recipe, we never dreamed that we would be able to share it with so many people,” said Rafael Ruiz, a Chicago high school student whose team developed the winning school lunch in HSC’s Cooking up Change healthy cooking contest: a tasty meal of stuffed green peppers, carrot quesadillas, and fresh refrescante salad.

On Tuesday May 5, more than 40,000 students across the US ate the healthy lunch in their school cafeterias; Congressional leaders and their staffers enjoyed the meal in the House of Representatives cafeteria; and at the same time, Ruiz and his teammates Alvaro Aguilar, Marquice Kent, Mike Martinez, Emmanuel Sandoval and Jose Tena prepared the lunch with White House chef Sam Kass at an HSC briefing on the future of school food.

Stacey Vaeth Photography

Kass, a longtime advocate for healthy food, worked side by side with the high school culinary students to prepare the refrescante fruit salsa salad while HSC founding executive director Rochelle Davis, CPS food service director Louise Esaian, Illinois State Board of Education chair Jesse Ruiz and high school student Rafael Ruiz addressed the need  for increased funding to make this type of healthy meal a daily reality in our nation’s schools.

The student chefs presented Kass with a Cooking up Change chef jacket like the ones they wore to the event – along with jackets for the President and First Lady. (Kass signed the students’ chef jackets and asked them to all sign his.) Kass talked with the students about cooking, culinary careers, and healthy food; the day before, he took them on a tour of the White House kitchen and the new White House garden that he helped Michelle Obama plant.

The tasty lunch and talented student chefs brought some great media attention to the movement for healthy school food: The Washington Post and CNN posted stories, and the Obama Foodorama blog covered the event with great detail and lots of photos.

We’re thrilled with the excitement of this wonderful event and so proud of the student chefs whose work is an inspiration to everyone who cares about getting good food in schools. Now, we hope to bring the excitement of this event to advocacy for healthy school meals.

This message is especially important in the weeks and months ahead as Congress begins to consider the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, which essentially determines school food policy and resources.

More than 30 million children eat lunch at school every day and many kids who rely on the National School Lunch Program – those who are at risk of hunger, qualifying for free or reduced-price meals – are also facing skyrocketing rates of obesity and related diseases such as Type 2 diabetes.

Please join HSC in speaking up for a robust and adequately funded Child Nutrition Act. Click here to take action. 

And stay posted for more photos and video of the student chefs in DC!

Stacey Vaeth Photography

Changing the Future of School Food: Student Chefs in The Washington Post

by Tara Kennon, HSC communications manager

Great news from Washington! Today, the healthy, tasty school meal designed by high school students from Richards Career Academy for HSC’s Cooking up Change healthy cooking contest was served in cafeterias around the nation and at a nearby briefing – where the students prepared the meal with White House chef Sam Kass.

The tasty meal kicks off a national campaign to change the future of school food and urge our Congressional leaders to support a strong, well-funded reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act that will make this type of healthy lunch a daily reality in our nation’s schools.

Jane Black wrote a great piece for the Washington Post about the student chefs, today’s event, and the campaign to get more money for better food in our nation’s school cafeterias. Explaining that HSC is “bringing good food and cute kids to Washington,” Black writes that:

Today six culinary students from the Richards Career Academy in Chicago will join White House Assistant Chef Sam Kass at Martha's Table, where they will cook their idea of a perfect school lunch. On the menu: carrot quesadillas, chicken-stuffed peppers and a "refrescante" (a.k.a. salsa) salad. The meal also will be served to House members and staffers at the Longworth Cafeteria and to 40,000 students at schools across the country. . . .

The message: Schools need more money to produce healthful meals.

President Obama has made healthful eating in schools a centerpiece of his domestic agenda. In his budget, he called for $1 billion to improve childhood nutrition programs.

Will Congress fork over the funds? That will ultimately be up to Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Finance Committee. The kids better hope he likes carrot quesadillas.

Click here to check out the full post and leave a comment congratulating the talented student chefs!

We'll post photos and video from the event as they're available -- for now, we have one small (and, sorry, slightly blurry) cell phone photo that a friend sent of the students cooking with Sam Kass while HSC's Rochelle Davis speaks.

Student Chefs Go to Washington!

by Tara Kennon, HSC communications manager

This morning, the student chefs from Richards Career Academy who won first place in HSC’s Cooking up Change healthy cooking contest boarded a plane for Washington, DC, where they will prepare the meal with White House Chef Sam Kass. Tomorrow, May 5, the meal will be served to more than 40,000 students across the nation and in the US House of Representatives cafeteria. Many thanks to all who made donations to make the students' trip possible!

We had a chance to chat with the student chefs as they prepared for their trip; check out the video to hear about the meal they created and their excitement about the upcoming trip:

Please join us in wishing the student chefs a wonderful trip to Washington and in contacting our Congressional leaders to make sure they eat the student-designed school lunch!