FBUSD’s Nutrition Services Chosen as Healthy School Environment Institute for the State of California!
The California Department of Education (CDE), Nutrition Services Division (NSD), was awarded grant funds to assess and design the impact of Stepping up to the Challenge: Healthy School Environment Training and Technical Assistance (HSE) conducted through four Healthy School Environment Institute teams (HSEI). This California Challenge is supported by farm-to-school initiatives, garden-based nutrition education, and a systems approach to necessary leadership change.
At the helm of the four HSEIs, each located in a different school district, is an “ambassador” who is either a child nutrition director or nutrition education specialist, and a pioneer in creating a healthy school environment. The HSEIs are located in Los Angeles (Riverside USD, led by Rodney Taylor), Central Valley (Turlock USD, led by Scott Soiseth), Central Coast (Ventura USD, led by Sandy Curwood), and Northern California (Fort Bragg USD, led by Pilar Gray). The HSEI team is delivering state-wide two-day conferences designed for school child nutrition directors. Each of the HSEI ambassadors will later provide “face-to-face” technical assistance to the Child Nutrition (CN) leaders. The goal is to train 200 CN leaders on the new USDA and White House initiatives, and offer the opportunity for sharing with colleagues.
“It was a great honor to be chosen to work on this very valuable project,” says Pilar Gray, Nutrition Services Director for Fort Bragg Unified School District. “Our nutrition team has worked very hard in our district to create a healthy school environment for our students and staff.” When choosing districts to serve as models for others, schools considered had healthy school meals, effective wellness policies, farm-to-school projects, school gardens, nutrition education, with an emphasis on physical activity, in which Fort Bragg has been a proven leader.
FBUSD’s kitchen teams have eliminated most processed foods from the school meals, preparing the majority of food fresh on site with a focus on whole grains, fruit, vegetables and lean meats while avoiding heavily processed items and unhealthy ingredients. “The cooks are working harder than ever, but are really enjoying having the opportunity to prepare fresh, healthy, delicious meals for our community’s kids,” explains Gray. “The dedicated food service professionals in our kitchens are the ones truly at the helm of these changes. Preparing fresh meals requires a lot more effort than just heating food out of boxes. However, what we feed the kids matters. All research points to the simple facts that what we eat and whether or not we exercise lay the foundation for our health.”
A healthy school environment also reaches beyond cafeteria walls. The movement is seen everywhere: in the classrooms, in the administration, on the playground, at our fundraisers, in the homes, and community. It takes a devoted collaboration of caring individuals to make this happen. Fort Bragg has stood up and said loud and clear that the health of our children matters. “A significant part of my portion of the training focuses on collaboration. No one can make these sorts of cultural changes happen alone,” explains Gray. It takes people who dedicate their time and knowledge to creating and implementing a model Wellness Policy. It takes a variety of caring community partners, just some of the examples: Noyo Food Forest, our Farm-to-School partner, grows local, organic produce for our school meals and provides educational and enterprise opportunities for students and community members. Harvest Market has donated the Harvest of the Month (HOTM) produce for years, highlights the HOTM program in their stores, raises funds for produce snacks at school, and hosts nutrition themed school field trips. The Fort Bragg Advocate News publishes our HOTM newsletters and school menus. Mendocino Coast Childrens’ Fund (MCCF) continuously donates to supply food for students in need, and pays for a professional nutrition consultant, Anna Rathbun, to work with our food services team. Our newest team member, Mendocino Coast Produce, is sourcing and delivering fresh produce snacks at cost for our little Redwood Rainbows (funded by MCCF). Grounding our efforts are our school gardens and talented nutrition educators, Julie Castillo and Petra Schulte. A school garden is the best place to teach kids about healthy food. Campbell Timberland Group built and still helps to maintain the exceptional garden at Fort Bragg Middle School through donations of both time and money.
Of course, this would all sit in isolation if it were not for the exceptional teachers of FBUSD who, in spite of the countless demands put upon them, manage to integrate nutrition, physical activity, and healthy life choices into their daily curriculum. The vital support of our School Board and Superintendent congeal the effort. Board member, Jennifer Owen, states: “I firmly believe that kids need to be ready to learn. ‘Ready to learn’ means they are able to pay attention because they are healthy enough to attend school on a regular basis; properly nourished, so they can think about something besides an empty…belly; and they've had enough movement in their school day to get their wriggles out. I'm proud that, thanks to the efforts of our Nutrition Services Director and the involvement of our Health & Safety Council, our entire district, kids, staff, parents, PTAs, Board - have become informed and enthusiastic about the importance of good nutrition and a healthy school environment.”
Gray emphasizes that the school cafeterias are the catalyst for creating a healthy environment, “The food served in the cafeterias sets the tone for the whole school. If a teacher tells her students about making healthy food choices, and then they go to the cafeteria to be greeted by junk food, the lesson is lost. We must walk our talk. Although I am the ‘Ambassador’ delivering the training state-wide, it is truly my team of food service professionals who work so hard to create healthy, delicious meals the kids will enjoy eating, who deserve the acknowledgement. I have so much respect and admiration for them, and am very proud to be supporting what they do.”
