Healthy Schools Campaign

GreenBuild Conference Recap: Building a Green Future, School By School

By Mark Bishop

At the GreenBuild International Conference and Expo this fall, I had to pause and marvel. With nearly 30,000 attendees and 1,000 vendors, the energy was overwhelmingly infectious -- and after three days, I’m pretty sure we all felt galvanized to change the world, one building at a time.

The size and scope of the conference is like this every year but GreenBuild 2012 had a new focus: schools.  Tens of thousands of people, all gathered with the belief that if we want to impact climate change, improve education and create a better future for our children, it won’t happen without healthy and sustainable schools.

This focus drove the conference from the beginning, when the Director of the Center for Green Schools, Rachel Gutter, (disclaimer, I am a member of the executive committee) extolled the growth of the green school movement, and USGBC CEO Rick Fedrizzi highlighted the changes students themselves are making in their schools across the country, from participating in the national green school day of service, to the promotion of green policy at colleges and universities in every state.

The excitement around schools kept rolling with workshops, a press conference and a report on the impact of green building on educational outcomes.The message was clear: through green schools, we can save money, improve the environment and create school buildings that support health and learning.

It’s not all rosy, of course. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported in 1996 that schools needed $400 billion just to bring them up to basic building codes -- forget about green, we’re just talking basic health and safety. And because there has been no coordinated national effort to provide capital improvement dollars for our schools, no one believes that there is a positive trend here, especially given the GAO’s lack of authorization to do a follow-up report.

But inspiration matters. Unity around green schools from 30,000 architects and engineers? It adds up. It builds, you might say. We’re on our way, one school at a time.

School of the Future Competition Spotlights Students' Vision and Ingenuity

By Mark Bishop, HSC vice president of policy and communications

Students can change the world – I saw it happen one day not long ago.

University Middle School students display their project

Earlier this year, I had the honor of serving as a judge on CEFPI’s School of the Future competition. In HSC terms, the School of the Future competition is like Cooking up Change, but for student architects. CEFPI challenges middle school students to design, build a model of and articulate a vision for the school of the future: a school that facilitates learning, challenges our sense of complacency, and does it all sustainably.

What these students did was incredible.

Highfield Humanitites College students share their School of the Future project

The day-long judging panel included presentations from six teams from as far away as the UK. But the ones that touched me most were the two winning teams from Tucson, Arizona and Wasilla, Alaska.

The Teeland Middle School team's project

The team from Teeland Middle School in Wasilla, Alaska saw their school of the future as an opportunity to look into their community and use their school for change. In their community they saw a crisis of homelessness, they saw an ever-expanding landfill eating up valuable land, and the saw challenges in creating opportunities for outdoor activity because it’s just so cold. Their vision for the school of the future tackled these issues by building a school on reclaimed landfill space, incorporating public housing into the school complex, and creating running and walking paths in an indoor space flooded with natural light from windows made with transparent solar cells and aerogel. 

Imago Dei Middle School student team

The team from Imago Dei Middle School in Tuscon, Arizona took a different approach. Rather than looking in, they looked out and chose to tackle problems facing students in Africa. Rather than looking to technology to solve their problems, they strived to identify simple strategies that would apply in an environment so far from their home. In the end, they created a building from materials that are readily available in the local environment -– plastic bottles with metal mesh to create supporting walls (which simultaneously addressed a big waste problem) and bamboo for interior support. By orienting the building to face the prevailing winds, their school of the future was able to harness the wind to keep the classrooms cooler and minimize mosquitoes. The students shared their lessons on the importance of simplicity and only using what is needed for design and for living.

Seneca Middle School presents their project before a panel of judges

As the day progressed, I could only think about how these students were being given tools and skills to change the world. I teared up a few times thinking about what my son will be doing when he hits the sixth grade and what he might learn that will help make our schools and our world better.

Newtown Middle School students showcase their project

I was so impressed throughout the day at the level of work, dedication, and knowledge that these students exhibited. Congratulations to them as well as to CEFPI for another wildly successful competition.

EPA Releases Draft School Environmental Health Guidelines for States

by Mark Bishop, vice president of policy and communications

In 2007 Congress charged the U.S. EPA with the task of issuing voluntary guidelines for states on how to develop and implement environmental health programs for schools. Now, we are excited to report that the draft guidelines [pdf] are out and available for public comment.

We’re thrilled that the EPA is releasing this document and emphasizing the importance of school environmental health. Providing a resource that helps states promote environmental health and support schools in addressing health issues is incredibly important and can have significant benefits for the nation’s children for years to come. Thank you to the EPA for your efforts on this work.

To really make these guidelines effective and helpful, however, we believe the EPA needs to address several key issues with the current draft. Our specific concerns are described in more detail in our comments to the EPA (available here in .doc format), but my most significant concern with the current draft is the need to connect environmental health programs with state policy.

It’s clear through our experience and research that the states with effective environmental health programming are the same states that have policies supporting the development of such programs. If the EPA wants to support states in promoting health in schools, it needs to identify best practices and recommendations for successful policy development.

In fact, in January 2011, HSC convened a meeting of stakeholders to discuss and develop recommendations to EPA on this topic. These recommendations [pdf] addressed ways to develop effective state policies that could support healthy school environments. Key findings included:

• Policies that are developed with the engagement of school stakeholders are more likely to be successfully implemented than those that are developed without input from these important constituencies.

• Mandates, even those that are unenforced or include opt-out options, can lead to more effective policy implementation than can voluntary guidelines alone. Policies that include opt out clauses with public disclosure are politically acceptable to policymakers.

• Interagency cooperation is key to the successful design and implementation of environmental health policy. Promoting collaboration and creating opportunities for NGO engagement would support more comprehensive program development and improved communication with schools.

• Policies that build on existing school policies are more likely to be adopted and implemented. (Examples include school improvement plans, school report cards, inspection protocol, etc.)

• Understanding current trends in education policy is an important step in identifying additional policy handles.
• Recognition programs can be important tools for changing school policy and practice, and there are good examples of other federal agencies that have successfully implemented these types of programs.

We are glad the EPA has released this draft, and now urge the EPA to revise the draft guidelines to include a focus on connecting school programs to effective state policies.

We encourage you to share your feedback with the EPA as well! Click here to submit your comments. Comments must be submitted by this Friday, April 20 at 4 p.m. Eastern.

Promoting Health and Learning with Green Schools: Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Speaks at the Green Schools National Conference

By Mark Bishop, vice president of policy and communications

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to attend the second annual Green Schools National Conference and speak about HSC’s work developing a guide to greening school food service. This conference offered a wonderful opportunity to connect with advocates from across the nation and learn about the wealth of new resources and exciting progress these advocates are bringing to schools. These connections invigorate our work and consistently reinforce my belief that the green schools movement is growing in breadth and bringing increasing value to schools and students across the nation. 

For me, the highlight of this conference was an excellent keynote speech by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. You can check out his full remarks online here. What stood out to me most about these remarks is how clearly Secretary Duncan, in his role as our nation’s education leader, articulated the connection between green schools and students’ learning. He said:  

In the past, skeptics of both green schools and the value of environmental literacy have claimed that reducing our ecological footprint and increasing understanding of the environment was somehow a zero-sum game.

The skeptics said, 'sure, those are nice-sounding goals.' But they warned that green schools would have to come at the expense of reading and math, of repairing broken-down schools, and offering arts and sports. I want to state unequivocally that the green schools movement is not a zero-sum game. It's really a win-win game. . . . 

When I was CEO in the Chicago schools, I saw first-hand how changes in school construction and renovation affected students' ability to learn. When children and teachers no longer had to go to school in stuffy buildings, in classrooms that were noisy and poorly lit, they felt they could do a better job of teaching and learning. Just as importantly, they felt we cared about them to create a better learning environment. In devastated and neglected inner-city neighborhoods, the symbolic impact of this work cannot be overstated.

It is no surprise that improving the quality of our school environments can have a powerful effect on productivity and student achievement. . . .

What was common sense in Chicago then still makes sense to me in Washington today: Healthier school environments and healthier habits of nutrition and exercise make for happier, healthier, more attentive, and more productive students. And that common sense notion is now being borne out by a growing body of academic research linking high-quality physical activity and nutrition to better student performance.

What also stood out to in these remarks is how Secretary Duncan brought many concepts that we talk about as “school wellness” -- healthy eating, opportunities for physical activity -- into his discussion of green schools. We know that student health goes hand-in-hand with environmental responsibility, and I am happy to see this connection growing stronger in our nation’s dialogue about green schools. 

Thanks to Secretary Duncan and to the organizers of the Green Schools Conference for their efforts to promote green, healthy learning environments that are good for students, good for school budgets and good for our earth.

Is It Really Mystery Meat? What Can You Do? Pink Slime in School Meals

By Mark Bishop, vice president of policy and communications

School food advocates, parents and media have been abuzz the last week with the news that the USDA has purchased 7 million pounds of “pink slime” for inclusion in school meals. Also sold under the name “boneless lean beef trimmings,” this beef filler is composed of connective tissue and other beef parts that are processed and treated with ammonium hydroxide to kill bacteria and prevent food-borne contamination. 

While fast food giants McDonald’s and Taco Bell stopped using pink slime after public outcry earlier this year, the USDA has approved the product as safe for consumption. Ammonium hydroxide is considered a processing agent and is not required to be listed on food labels. Generally, the “pink slime” is mixed with other ground beef and processed into foods such as hamburgers. 

How bad is it? It might technically be safe but it’s certainly not something we want to see served in the cafeteria. We need to move school meals in the direction of real, less-processed food, not the type of highly processed products that need to be treated with ammonia. I hope the public outcry around this issue brings us one step closer to a food system that supports schools in serving healthy, less-processed meals with ingredients we understand. 

Dr. John Torres, quoted in USA Today, explains it like this: "The big concern is that this is a chemically processed food, it doesn't have nearly the nutrients of normal beef. . . It's one of those things, 'Do I want my child to have this?' On a short-term, moderate basis: maybe. On a long-term basis: no."

As a parent, I was relieved to learn that Chicago Public Schools (CPS), where my son attends kindergarten, does not include “pink slime” in the food it serves. CPS procures its beef from J.T.M. Food Group. Brian Hofmeier, senior director of school sales for J.T.M. Food Group confirmed that the food processor, “does not use ammonium hydroxide in [their] process and [they] do not purchase material from any suppliers that use ammonium hydroxide in their process.”

It’s good to know that some districts are avoiding the “slime” but many are not, as evidenced by the 7 million pound USDA purchase. 

What can you do about the issue? We urge everyone who cares about healthy school to:

Talk with your school food service director. Learn what the school food leaders in your district are doing to meet nutritional guidelines and make food healthy and appealing to students.

Raise your voice. HSC friend Bettina Siegel of The Lunch Tray has created a petition calling for an end to pink slime in school food. You can learn more and add your name here.

Learn about school food innovation efforts. Learn more about efforts to transform school food through HSC’s upcoming webinars and events on school food innovation. These exciting discussions provide a national policy perspective and highlight the efforts of on-the-ground players who are making changes with important and far-reaching results. For more information about school food, check out our latest webinar and event series. 

The effort to create a new future for school food is about more than one ingredient. But in this case, one ingredient with a particularly appalling nickname is creating an uproar that can help us all think about how important it is to serve healthy, real food for lunch. 

Wellness, Sustainability and Learning at the Second Annual Green Schools National Conference

By Mark Bishop, HSC vice president of policy and communications

Next week, the HSC team is packing our bags and heading to Denver for the Green Schools National Conference. From February 27-29, sustainability and education supporters from across the country will come together at this second annual conference. 

The conference has more than 100 breakout sessions and panel discussions to share important information that shapes healthy school environments. Keynote speaker U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will discuss the development of the Green Ribbon Schools Award Program, an awards program recognizing schools that are creating healthy and sustainable learning environments and teaching environmental literacy. We recently shared our excitement about the vision for this program.

Healthy Schools Campaign joins more than 30 organizations in spreading the word about the event. During Wednesday’s breakout session "Greening Your School Food Service," I will share milestones in our work to promote green cleaning programs in schools. Additionally, I’ll discuss the development of our new healthy food service guide, a handbook to put sustainable practices in place. This work further demonstrates how integral a healthy school environment is to wellness and learning.

I anticipate that participants will take these shared ideas to amplify the green school movement from coast to coast.

To learn more about the Green Schools National Conference, visit www.greenschoolsnationalconference.org. 

Fresh Bread and a Fresh Take on School Food

By Mark Bishop, HSC vice president of policy and communications

One morning recently, I walked into my son’s school expecting it to smell like baking chicken -- it was a fresh chicken day after all. But to my surprise, it actually smelled like freshly baked bread. What was going on?

The school kitchen manager straightened me out. It turns out that the new nutrition standards in Chicago Public Schools allow for dessert one time per week. This year, they’ve started offering freshly baked sweet breads as part of this dessert option. These breads meet the nutrition requirements of the HealthierUS School Challenge. But what stood out to me the most was the simple fact that they are baked fresh in the school.

The kitchen manager told me that they were baking banana bread that morning. She said: “It’s delicious! I tasted a piece earlier and the kids are going to love it!” Other breads they are baking throughout the year include apple, blueberry, sweet potato, banana nut and carrot breads.

Transforming the school food environment involves so many challenges. As we think about sensible nutrition requirements, fresher vegetables and clean proteins, we can’t forget about the overall experience and the messages it sends. We want to get back to real food -- food that is less processed, food that incorporates more cooking. Baking a treat once a week, filling the air with the aroma of fresh bread, creates an environment of food that we care about. It sends a subtle but important message and can make a real different in how we approach our meals.

Students Envisioning the Schools of the Future

By Mark Bishop, HSC vice president of policy and communications

At HSC, we love talking about students changing the future of school food. Each year at Cooking up Change, I’m just left speechless by the remarkable work of students engaged in creating healthy and great-tasting school lunches that meet real-life budgets and constraints. The winning meals these students create go on to be served in school cafeterias and influence the way school leaders (and our elected representatives) think about healthy eating in schools.

Each year I’m reminded: it’s true that students will change the world.

That’s why I was so honored last year to be at another competition that puts student creativity and vision front and center, one where students design the school of the future. In this competition, I saw students design a school that is green, healthy, and safe, one that promotes community and becomes an integral part of the learning experience.

So rather than inadequately describing the School of the Future Design Competition presented by our friends at the Council for Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI), I’ll invite you to see for yourself and check out the impressive results of the 2011 competition.

For 2012, registration is open so please take a look. CEFPI is looking for a few good students and mentors to take on the challenge. Do you have a vision for the school of the future? Do you know a student or a designer ready to help transform the future of school facilities? Consider being part of the 2012 School of the Future competition: 

The annual competition, open to middle school students, challenges student teams to design their schools to enhance learning, conserve resources, be environmentally responsive and engage the surrounding community. The multi-disciplinary solution requires students to follow a planning process from the concept phase to completion of the project, with thorough documentation. The students will present their project to a jury for review.

Words don’t really capture the energy of this competition or the experience of seeing students present their ideas, the pride they show and the creativity that will guide us to a new, greener and healthier future for school design.

Net Zero | Net Positive | 100% Literate

by Mark Bishop, vice president of policy and communications

It was only last spring when U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chairwoman Nancy Sutley announced the creation of a “Green Ribbon Schools” award program at the U.S. Department of Education.

While health and environmental advocates were thrilled about this idea and collaboration, none of us understood how fast this process really could move. I mean, who could imagine the federal government could launch such a significant and broad-reaching program in less than a year?

Well, in just about seven months, we’ve gone from an idea to reality. This week, the Department of Education announced:

33 states and the District of Columbia have submitted intents to nominate schools for the new Green Ribbon Schools awards program launched this past September. 

Being part of the process has been exciting for me. I’ve been impressed at how the Department of Education is trying to rethink the ways it interfaces with environmental and health issues. And I for one am excited to better integrate these issues in how we evaluate school success. 

I think the recent communication from the Department of Education nicely summed up the long-term goals of the program. They are looking for schools that come closest to the ideal of "net zero environmental impact of facilities, net positive health impact on students and staff, and 100% environmentally literate graduates."

As Secretary Duncan said, this program can help schools “enhance their work to effectively prepare graduates for 21st century careers.”

Check out the press release to see if your school is participating in this inaugural year. If not, contact your state department of education leaders and tell them to get on board for year two. 

So congrats to the Department of Education, and strong kudos to our friends and colleagues who led this initiative early on including the U.S. Green Building Council, the Campaign for Environmental Literacy, the National Wildlife Federation and the Earth Day Network.

Good News from GreenBuild: Healthy, Sustainable Building is Here to Stay

by Mark Bishop, vice president of policy + communications

I’m getting tired of reading the news every day. Our global economy is in shambles, political discourse seems to be nearing an all-time low, and it feels like our environment doesn’t have too many friends. That’s why it was such a breath of fresh air to participate in GreenBuild, the US Green Building Council’s (USGBC) annual conference, last month in Toronto.

When I attend conferences, I like to walk away with some new base of knowledge, something that can help the work we do at HSC. And while I can point to the fascinating green technology displayed throughout the exhibit hall, or the numerous educational sessions highlighting the great strategies schools are using to improve sustainability, my main takeaway this year is much broader. It’s an understanding of the value that our work brings to our world, and a vision for where we’re going. It’s understanding that the economics and the politics of green schools work, and the movement has many friends.

Economics: When it comes down to it, we all need to make financial decisions that make sense. We need to build schools that we can afford, both in terms of the initial building costs and the costs of ongoing maintenance. Conventional wisdom tells us that in hard economic times, green building is a hard sell because it involves increased upfront costs with long-term payoffs that don’t benefit a capital budget. But conventional wisdom may have this backwards. I’m not sure if it’s despite of or because of the economic downturn over recent years, but green buildings have increased in new construction market share from 2 percent in 2005 to more than 35 percent in 2010. It may just be that when the economy is at a low point, investing in greener buildings and schools can be part of the solution, particularly because they tackle long term costs and reduce risk in future energy expenditures. Green buildings reduce energy and operation costs while creating more productive indoor environments for workers and students.

Politics: Federal and state politics are in disarray. I don’t know of many states where leaders are having an easy time promoting a common agenda. But green schools are proving to be a real exception. I have been so impressed by the Center for Green Schools’ work bringing together state political leaders – a group that includes the most liberal Democrats and the most conservative Republicans – to identify common strategies to promote more sustainable schools. These leaders recognize the shared values of improving health and education while reducing operating expenses. Green schools may be one of the increasingly rare political issues that can bring people together and build connections rather than creating greater divisions.

Collaborating for the environment: At the opening luncheon, the USGBC’s President and CEO Rick Fedrizzi spoke eloquently about his philosophy on improving the environment. His belief, one that we share at HSC, is that in order to create a more sustainable future, environmentalists need to partner with businesses rather than merely oppose one another. It’s a model of engagement that requires respect and listening from all partners. We understand the difference between a profit motive and a mission motive, but recognize that these don’t have to work against each other, particularly around issue such as green building or green cleaning. We need new jobs and services, but what we really need are jobs and services that support sustainability for both the environment, our workers, and the businesses providing goods and services. From our perspective, this is how we can drive healthier and more sustainable schools. At GreenBuild, I met with scores of advocates, political leaders, and business leaders who see this connection and realize that working together is the best way to move forward.

Thanks to everyone at the US Green Building Council for creating such a valuable experience for all of us at GreenBuild. I left feeling encouraged that green, healthy building is here to stay and that more and more students, teachers and school staff are experiencing the benefits of these thoughtful building and maintenance decisions. That’s good news from any perspective. 

Chicago Public Schools Serves Freshly-Baked Chicken Raised Without Antibiotics: Big News for Food Systems and Kids' Health

by Mark Bishop, vice president of policy + communications

Today, Chicago Public Schools is serving a new type of chicken. While you may recall that CPS just recently began serving fresh chicken from the USDA, this is a new and different story. CPS is now serving chicken raised without antibiotics, from an Amish family farm in nearby Indiana. The press release explains:

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) today began serving local chicken raised without antibiotics to students in 473 schools. This development comes on the heels of a fresh chicken purchase direct from the USDA earlier this fall. The district's new scratch-cooked chicken program includes about 1.2 million pounds from Amish farms that do not use antibiotics, for a total of about two million pounds of fresh chicken in the 2011-12 school year. Students will be offered bone-in chicken two to three times each month.

 

CPS' enormous purchase of chicken grown without antibiotics, made through food service provider Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality, is the first of its kind. No other district in the nation is serving this kind of poultry regularly at such a scale.

For those with an interest in food systems, the story behind this chicken is a fascinating one.

With the help of partners including HSC, the Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming, School Food FOCUS, Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality and Whole Foods, CPS identified a market opportunity and is taking advantage of it. In short, Miller Poultry, a small Amish farm in Indiana, sells much of its chicken breast meat to Whole Foods and much of its thigh meat to Chipotle restaurants. It turns out that there isn’t much of a market for the drumsticks, especially because the drumsticks are on the smaller size (about 2 ounces each). But small chicken drumsticks are a perfect fit for kids. CPS was able to use the Whole Foods distribution network and purchase these drumsticks at a price that they could afford.  And now we have, at least once a month, fresh baked chicken drumsticks for most of CPS.

While the systems behind raising and delivering this chicken is a big part of the story, another big part is what CPS is doing with the chicken once it reaches schools. A baked chicken meal a few weeks ago marked the first time in recent memory that meat prepared from scratch had been served in CPS. In a Chicago Tribune story today, Monica Eng explains:

School caterers have long avoided raw meat for food safety reasons, but upcoming USDA guidelines encourage a return to less processed foods with lower sodium in school lunches.

"Two years ago I would have said that there is no way I'm ever bringing in raw chicken into our schools," said Bob Bloomer, of Chartwells-Thompson, which caters the 473 CPS schools that will be serving the chicken. (A second company, Preferred Meal Systems, caters about a third of CPS schools but is not part of the program.)

 

"But we trained all the (CPS) cooks and managers before school started this past August to bring them up to speed on how to safely handle chicken from the time it comes into the back door to the time it's served to students on the plate," Bloomer said. "And we actually created a training DVD for ongoing education."

 

That training paid off when the district served its first bone-in chicken quarters to students last month in a recipe created by celebrity cook Rachael Ray called Yum-O! Windy City Chicken. Future preparations will include lemon chicken, barbecued chicken and preparation using Asian spices.

The story goes on to quote Laura Stanley of School Food FOCUS. "The amazing thing is how the school smells like real food, like delicious roasting chicken," she said.

I had the same reaction. While CPS made the announcement today, they actually served the chicken for the first time last week at a few schools. Luckily for me, I was able to join my son at his CPS elementary school and give the new chicken a try.

When I walked into the cafeteria that morning, it smelled like my home kitchen when we’re making dinner. To me, that’s the best part of this story: a big, diverse group of partners working together to make the school cafeteria a place where kids get nourishing food they love, a place that smells like a delicious and freshly-baked lunch.

Of course schools’ main mission is to help kids learn, so I’ll share this quote from CPS CEO Jean-Claude Brizard: "I want to ensure that CPS children have the best nutritional options possible because it impacts their ability to be more successful in the classroom," he said. "Offering fresh chicken on school menus is another step we've taken to improve the quality of food served to our children and we will continue to bring more fresh, high-quality food options moving forward.”

Kudos to CPS, Chartwells-Thompson and the many partners -- from the farmers to the advisors to the school dining managers who prepared the chicken -- who have made this big step possible. We'll continue to share updates in the weeks ahead!

Plus: Check out coverage of this milestone in Wired, Education Week and The Hill. 

Chicken Takes Center Tray in Chicago Public School Cafeterias

by Mark Bishop, Vice President of Policy and Communcations

The headline reads “Celebrity TV Chef Creates Meal For CPS Students” and while Rachael Ray deserves a huge kudos for her work around school food, the real story here is the chicken!

The chicken? Yes, the chicken. 

Last week Chicago Public Schools served, for the first time in recent memory, fresh baked chicken in schools throughout the district. The chicken was prepared with a recipe created by celebrity chef Rachael Ray, and reports are that students loved the flavor. 

According to NBC, the student feedback was great: “I really like it.” “It tastes like heaven.” “I am ecstatic... I absolutely love it!” “It has more flavor than the average school lunch.”

While the celebrity chef brings star power to this story, I think the real star is the chicken. The district recently began ordering fresh chicken through the USDA’s commodity foods program. This is a big step in the world of school food, where most chicken is pre-cooked and heated rather than freshly baked. Fresh chicken will of course taste better, but it’s also better for you. With an ingredient label that reads just “chicken,” it has no sodium, no preservatives, no artificial additives -- just like the chicken you’d make at home.

CPS recently set in place an order for more than one million pounds of fresh chicken leg quarters for use this school year. That’s enough chicken for CPS to serve twice a month for the rest of the year. It’s an important step for what it is: hundreds of thousands of healthy fresh whole meals. It’s also important for what it represents: a major step in overcoming barriers to fresh cooking for the school cafeteria. 

And in the school my son attends, the school dining manager told me that the kids loved it. While she said it requires more work than the pre-cooked chicken, she assured me that “the kids like it more, so it’s worth it.” 

Check out this story from NBC to see the kids’ reactions for yourself. 

 

Friday Recipe, Father's Day Edition: Boys' Night Beef Chow Fun!



 

Here at HSC, our favorite recipes are ones that are healthy and a big hit with the kid crowd! Today we're featuring a fun, easy, veggie-filled recipe that got two thumbs up on a recent father-son boy's night. Happy Father's Day!

by Mark Bishop, Vice President of Policy and Communcations

Here’s the situation: one recent night, I got home at 6:04. My wife was on a business trip. My son Henry was getting home in 20 minutes. We had limited ingredients in the fridge and needed something quick, tasty, and fun.

Here’s what I spotted in the fridge: leftover steak (from dinner at my in-laws), a few carrots and a cucumber. I pulled together a few staples that I try to always have on hand: onions, whole grain pasta, garlic, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar.

With the materials at hand, dinner became a quick and easy version of beef chow fun.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 medium carrots, shredded
• ½ cup low-sodium soy sauce
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
• ½ pound sliced beef
• 1 tsp flour mixed in to a tbsp of water
• Pinch of red pepper
• Touch of powdered ginger
• ½ pound whole grain pasta

The process:

1. First things first, slice your onions, dice your garlic, shred your carrots, and boil a pot of water.
2. Add pasta to water and prepare according to package.
3. Brown your garlic and onions. Add soy sauce, sugar, vinegar and red pepper, then mix. Bring to a light boil.
4. Add the flour/water mix and stir to keep it from getting lumpy. You can also replace the brown sugar with honey or orange juice or can just use less if you prefer.
5. Add beef and mix. Let it begin to cook. Add carrots and mix again.
6. Add a little powdered ginger. If you want to get creative, add some nuts, some other veggies, maybe some chestnuts, or even some peanut butter. Experiment! This is improv cooking.
7. When the pasta is ready, add to the beef and veggies and mix well.

The end result is sweet, tangy and a real kid pleaser. It has veggies, whole grains and protein without much oil. And a little meat really goes a long way in terms of flavor here.  I was able to finish the prep and cooking in 21 minutes and had dinner ready to go. Henry gave me the double thumbs up on the meal!

Big Smiles for Breakfast in the Classroom

This week was the roll-out of the breakfast in the classroom program in my son’s school. (Yes, this is the last week of the school year.) When my wife took our son to school, she saw the program in action as students had the option of taking a hot or cold breakfast when they arrived at school. She described some chaos, a little frustration and a lot of food. The chaos, she said, was not significantly more than a normal morning of kids arriving at school; the frustration seemed to be related to integrating a new initiative during a busy time at the end of the year; and the food part went pretty well.

This report about breakfast in the classroom didn’t surprise me; we’ve heard from teachers, principals and parents across the country that it’s a great program but sometimes takes time to iron out the implementation.

What did surprise me was the energy, the excitement and the huge smiles it brought.

My son had already eaten breakfast, but he was so excited by the new program that he grabbed a breakfast bag anyway. The breakfast was composed of a bowl of Raisin Bran, a whole wheat roll with a pack of jelly and a cup of 100 percent apple juice. Now I would have preferred whole fruit rather than juice, but all in all, this is a reasonable breakfast. My wife left the school that morning feeling good.

The experience made me think of the anonymous teacher Mrs. Q, who blogged about breakfast in the classroom and said that any initial concerns about the program “melted away” as it was actually implemented at school. She too talked about the energy and smiles the program brought to her school in the morning: “The kids love it,” she wrote. “How great is it to walk into school and get food? The kids have big smiles on their faces when they are carrying their paper bags and milk to their classrooms.”  

My family is fortunate enough to have the time and resources to eat a healthy breakfast in the morning. But what if we are running late and don’t have time for breakfast? This is a great back-up for us and I’m glad that we’ll have the option.

But more importantly, there are so many kids who aren’t as fortunate as we are and don’t get a good breakfast before school. This welcome breakfast at school will provide the nutrition they need to focus and pay attention in class. Quite simply, kids benefit from having a daily breakfast -- that’s the real power of this program.

But as I mentioned, Henry had already eaten. After grabbing a breakfast out of sheer excitement, he decided to not eat his breakfast in the classroom, but instead put it in his backpack and brought it home. He was so excited about it that he decided to forgo the dinner I made and eat his breakfast in the classroom for dinner! Of course that won’t be the regular plan in our house, but I couldn’t get over the big smile this simple bagged meal brought to his face.

Cereal with milk, a whole grain roll and juice for dinner. Not our everyday meal, but as a breakfast in the morning for thousands of Chicago kids? It looks pretty good to me.

Creating a Vision for the Green Ribbon Schools Program: Join the Effort!

by Mark Bishop, Vice President of Policy and Communications

Yesterday, Healthy Schools Campaign along with 15 other non-profit organizations and 10 representatives from four federal agencies met to create a framework for the new Green Ribbon Schools (GRS) program. It seems that a new day is dawning for green schools.

Last month, the Department of Education (ED) announced the establishment of a new awards program to recognize excellence in school environmental programs: Green Ribbon Schools. Kudos to the advocates at the US Green Building Council, National Wildlife Foundation, the Campaign for Environmental Literacy and the Earth Day Network for taking the lead on this.

So with the early legwork done, what is the Green Ribbon Schools program going to look like? Well, we’re not sure yet. . . but here’s what we do know:

• The Green Ribbon Schools program is modeled after the successful Blue Ribbon Schools program – ED’s award program for recognizing excellence in education. This program will most likely be similar in the sense that it will be a highly competitive program that is a partnership between state agencies and the federal government.
• The program will have three main areas: environmental education, energy efficiency and healthy environments. Under these three areas will be more specific categories of criteria, each of which will need to have some form of measurable metric.
• The goal is to finalize and release the criteria in the fall of 2011 and be ready to announce the first round of winning schools by Earth Day 2012 – an ambitious but achievable goal.

While nothing seems to be set in stone, there did emerge some common visions for the program. One was the desire for the Green Ribbon Schools program to be an aspirational program, one through which model healthy and sustainable schools could inspire advocates and school stakeholders to create creative solutions to current problems. Such a common definition could become a powerful force for change.

My hope is that we can create a program that is not only aspirational, but also recognizes health in a broad way. I’d want to not only include environmental education, good air quality, energy and water efficiency, but also talk about issues such as locally sourced healthy food, adequate outdoor space for play and educational programming. . .  and how about adequate numbers of school nurses to support environmental health?

Fortunately, I’m not alone in this work. Not only does the team include 15 passionate advocates and content experts from four federal agencies, but now ED is reaching out to a broader audience for engagement.

This Friday, May 20, 2011 at 2:00 pm EST, ED is hosting a webinar to outline their vision of a Green Ribbon School program and to seek input from interested partners. You are invited to join the discussion. I ask you to listen in and share your thoughts. Should we include food, outdoor space, school nurses? Should we have a narrow definition of green schools, or should we use this opportunity to expand our vision? Let ED know. Let us know. If you would like to join this conference call, let ED know by emailing green.ribbon.schools(at)ed.gov with your name and affiliation. They will provide you with additional information for the call.

We’re planning on staying engaged on this topic and hope you will join the effort. I look forward to seeing the first Green Ribbon School winners next spring.

Mrs. Q on Breakfast in the Classroom: Concerns “Melted Away Quickly”

By Mark Bishop, Vice President of Policy and Communications

School food advocate and HSC friend  Mrs. Q (best known as the anonymous teacher who ate school lunch every day for a year) recently posted about her experiences with breakfast in the classroom. She posted photos of what her school is serving, which I think looked alright -- maybe not what I’d serve at home, but nothing that would make me upset to have my son eat. Her post offered a great teacher’s perspective on this program. And she echoed some of the issues that I’ve heard from others. She wrote:

'Breakfast in the classroom' arrived this spring. I gave it some time and I can say that I'm happy about it. I've also talked to a lot my coworkers. There was initially some resistance among staff members, but it seems like that melted away quickly.

She writes about a few of the positives, including:

• The kids love it -- How great is it to walk into school and get food? The kids have big smiles on their faces when they are carrying their paper bags and milk to their classrooms.  
• This is their breakfast -- Most of the kids I chatted with weren't getting breakfast at home.
• Kids can refuse -- Some kids don't take the breakfast bag (I was concerned it would be forced on them) and I was happy to see that. . . .
• Fewer complaints of hunger -- Kids aren't saying they are hungry mid-morning. Huge win.

She touches on her other considerations and mentions that she and other staff at her school believe that Breakfast in the Classroom will boost academic performance. Take a look at her full post here.

Breakfast in the classroom does sound hard at first --  it takes time, resources, logistics and focus. But what we’ve seen is that when it’s implemented, most of the concerns “melt away,” as Mrs. Q put it. You are left with a program that ensures that hungry kids get the food they need and are better prepared to learn for the day.

------

Plus: If you’re in Chicago, you can show your support for breakfast in the classroom here!

Food for Thought: Changing Job Descriptions, Changing How We Prioritize Healthy Eating at School

By Mark Bishop, Vice President of Policy and Communcations

With Jamie Oliver in the news, new school food regulations being considered, and concerns over the increased costs associated with improving school food, it just seems that making change in a school is a loud and brash process. But sometimes change is subtle, and sometimes it’s the subtle changes that can make a real difference.

This article, which talks about obstacles one school district in New Hampshire faces in an attempt to improve nutritional standards, caught my eye. Not because it spoke of the increased challenges associated with providing kids healthy food, but for this point that may get lost in the details:

“The School Board has updated the job description of its school nutrition director... Under the revised job description, the director will coordinate the nutrition program according to requirements and select foods and meals to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables, assess customer preferences, industry trends and current research and plan menus that encourage participation in the lunch program as well as utilize community resources to support the program.”

Making healthy eating a priority is now officially part of this school nutrition director's job, allowing him or her to prioritize this effort.This kind of subtle change helps make wellness a real part of the school culture.

Change may be hard. But creating health-promoting job descriptions so schools can assess staff and provide support related to agreed-upon goals is so obvious that it’s brilliant.

Friday Recipe, Grilling Edition: Cedar Plank Salmon

 
By Lana Buseman, Communications Design Specialist 

Chicago is an amazing city to be in during the summer, and you know warm weather is rolling in when you see people jogging on the lakefront, advertisements for Blues Fest and the Taste of Chicago go up and the smell of grilling begins wafting through your open windows around dinner time.

One of my favorite summer meals is salmon grilled on a cedar plank. Grilling is one of the healthiest ways to cook food and in this recipe, the cedar infuses incredible flavor into the fish. On top of that, salmon is an excellent source of the essential Omega-3 fatty acids our bodies need.

There is a lot of debate over which type of salmon is the best: Alaskan or Atlantic? Wild or Farmed?  I tend to lean toward Alaskan wild salmon (although this question is still highly debated!), and whenever possible, consider sustainability when buying fish. (A great resource to learn more about sustainable seafood is the Right Bite program from Chicago's Shedd Aquarium.)

There are two stars in this recipe, the salmon taking the lead role and the cedar plank playing an important supporting role. The technique of grilling on a cedar plank helps steam the fish, without causing it to burn, all while infusing a sweet and smoky cedar flavor into the fish. You can find cedar planks at lots of grocery stores now, but what we have always done is to just go to Home Depot and buy one long six or eight foot cedar plank and have it cut down into 22-inch individual planks (depending on the size of your grill). These planks are usually about one inch thick, which tend to hold up better than the kind you might find at the grocery store because they are thicker. They also end up being kinder on your wallet as the planks are one-time-use only.

Before you grill with a wood plank, you have to soak it in water for at least an hour. The plank will absorb the water which prevents it from catching fire (after all, it’s a piece of wood!) and the absorbed water will essentially steam the fish.  An easy way to do this is to put the plank in a regular garbage bag and fill the bag with enough water to cover it completely. Tie the bag up and let it sit for an hour.

When we buy salmon, we usually put the filet in a Ziploc bag with some lemon or lime juice and zest. You can freeze the salmon like this or if you want to eat it that day, just let it marinate for about an hour. The acidity of the juice will help tenderize the salmon and the zest adds a bright flavor.

When you’re ready to grill, take the plank out of the bag and drizzle a bit of oil on the board. This is a great opportunity to make sure your filet is seasoned on the bottom side because once it goes on the grill, you won’t flip it over. You can sprinkle whatever seasonings you like right on the board; dill or Herbes de Provence are good options. Then lay your filet skin side down, if it still has its skin.

While your grill preheats to a medium to high heat, you can get creative with your fish!

Salmon is a fish that pairs well with slightly sweet flavors, and we usually tend to take that route. You don’t want to overpower the salmon with extra ingredients, but a little added sweetness really takes your fish to the next level. Our family favorite is putting a thin line of barbeque sauce down the length of the filet, but other great options are a sprinkle of brown sugar or a line of Cream of Balsamic vinegar. If you don’t want to take the sweet route, but still want a kick of flavor, sprinkle some cayenne pepper or curry powder on top.

Once you have decorated your filet, you want to put the plank on your grill, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes. It is normal for the plank to begin to char on the outer edges, and in fact you want this to happen because that is where the cedar flavor will come from.

The filet should be done in about 20 minutes but let the plank cool a bit before serving the salmon as it will be extremely hot.

You will know the salmon is done because it will easily flake with a fork. I love to eat my salmon on top of a salad, but it can definitely be a stand-alone dish.

The smell of cedar in my kitchen will always be an indicator that summer is coming, and after trying this recipe it might become one for you too!

--

Plus! Be sure to check out Mark Bishop's recipe for a kid-pleasing version of grilled cedar-plank salmon!

Fun Recipe: Peanut Butter and Fruit Dessert Sandwich

By Mark Bishop, Vice President of Policy and Communcations

Recently we had boys' night at my house -- my son and I made dinner together while my wife was out of town. I figured we should mix up the dessert a bit. Henry has been loving his peanut butter and jelly sandwiches lately, so why not turn that into a dessert treat and fill it with fresh fruit on whole grain bread?

This was a fun one because we assembled the sandwich together. The base of the sandwich was whole grain bread. Then I brought out some fruit that I had in the fridge: oranges, blueberries and apples.

 
A little real peanut butter (Best. Peanut. Butter. Ever.) was added for the “sandwich glue” and then, as Henry likes to say, the “desserty” part began: drizzles of chocolate syrup.

 
It was a really fun dessert to prepare because it was unique, it was participatory and it really was tasty. Just the concept of a "chocolate sandwich" made Henry giggle. We both got excited about our creation and took photos.

 
Then Henry explained that the crust isn’t actually “desserty” enough, so I removed the crust for him.

 
And then the chowing began. He wolfed down the entire thing!

What’s your silly (healthier) dessert creation?

Pizza Pizza! (And Of Course, More Veggies!)

By Mark Bishop, Vice President of Policy & Communications

Lately my son Henry has been a little light on his veggie consumption.  And to my chagrin, when eating pizza he’s been going for the plain cheese variety. To take on both of these, we decided to get our hands a little messy.

We had dinner with friends and turned the evening into a little pizza party: a homemade whole-wheat crust, followed by kids assembling their own pizza full of veggies of their choice. It was a blast, and Henry chowed on the veggie pizza.

 

Your pizza party can be easy. Use your favorite dough recipe, or purchase it ready made from your grocery store. As for sauce, you can make it at home or purchase some tomato sauce in a jar. And as for the veggies, keep them fresh, make the colorful, and make it fun. Next time I think I’ll include pineapple for a kid-friendly treat.

Enjoy!