Tasting Tuesdays: An Introduction Of Real Food At School

I strive every day to provide my family with fresh, whole-food, cooked-from-scratch meals, that offer all of the nutrients that are essential for growing bodies.  Why do I do this?  Well, first it's because I love them. Obviously. But I do this because I know it will help them focus in school, have strong immune systems (so that they spend more time in school, and fewer days at home sick), and grow up big and strong so that they can make a difference in the world.  So when my children started school, I assumed that the National School Lunch Program had the same goals in mind when it came to the food they required schools to serve.

The National School Lunch Program was instituted over 60 years and was established, “...to safeguard the health and well-being of the Nation’s children and to encourage the domestic consumption of nutritious agricultural commodities.” Recently, the nutrition standards were updated to include more fresh fruit and vegetables and whole grains.  But just because a school lunch program meets the nutrient requirements and the nutrition standards, the food itself may still be laden with fillers, preservatives, and sweeteners; additives that our growing children do not need.

When my son started Kindergarten, I was surprised and disappointed by the offerings in his school cafeteria.  I expected the school to support the healthy eating habits I established for my children at home. Luckily, I was asked to co-chair the Nutrition Committee, which gave me the opportunity to sit on the district's Wellness Committee.  As a collaborative group, we were able to bring about wonderful and delicious changes to the school lunch program; meals were cooked from scratch, organic dairy products and raw meats were purchased, and high fructose corn syrup and trans fats were eliminated from the menu. 

When we moved from that school district, my son was entering 4th grade.  I went to the new district's website to check out the lunch menu.  My first thought was, "Oh no, not again."  I knew I would have to ask for change but I thought I would be welcomed into a process already in motion.  Wrong.  Very wrong.  Not only was there not a current movement to improve the school lunch offerings, I was met with much resistance.  Over the past 5 years, I have presented my vision of the school lunch program, and little by little, I have seen The Powers That Be show a willingness to listen.  In their first effort to test my theories on children's abilities to make healthy food choices when given the opportunity, I was given the opportunity to run Tasting Tuesdays at the elementary schools. Yay!  Huge yay!

Tasting Tuesdays is a program that benefits both the children and the school lunch program.  Students are served a sample of a potentially new menu item, and if it is enjoyed by the majority, it is added to the next month's menu.  The children are more likely to purchase a new school lunch offering if they have previously tried it, or had a hand in selecting a new menu item.  The more children that purchase lunch at school, the more financially stable the school lunch program is likely to be.   Tasting Tuesdays is a win-win opportunity for families and for schools.  My vision for my school district's lunch program is the same as my goal at home;  that the food served is fresh, whole-food, cooked-from-scratch meals on a daily basis.  Currently, the majority of the food served in my district is reheated from frozen packages purchased from suppliers.  The first Tasting Tuesdays would most definitely not be another frozen food.  I set my sight on a dish that was simple to make, inexpensive to produce so that the school would not lose money on the meal if it was added to the menu, and would be the perfect example of children making healthy choices when given the opportunity.  We would serve a vegetable and bean soup.

I found the recipe on a website established by Chef Ann Cooper, aka The Renegade Lunch Lady, aka the woman who started the school food revolution and who has made huge strides in improving school food programs nationwide.  The ingredients included kale, butternut squash, tomatoes, pinto beans, celery, hominy, onions, green pepper, cumin, sage, salt, pepper, oil and water.  The Powers That Be were skeptical; would the children try something with so many vegetables in it when they were already throwing out untouched vegetables that were currently being served?  I really hoped so.

Yesterday was the first Tasting Tuesdays event and it was held at my daughter's elementary school.  I enlisted a few volunteers to distribute the samples and I invited the liaisons from the other elementary schools in the district to observe and participate in the process.  The district's food service director was on site to help in the kitchen and take note of the children's reactions.  The soup's aroma filled the building; teachers and staff poked their heads in to see where it was coming from, complimenting the chef before even tasting it.   The soup was chock full of beautiful vegetables in hues of reds, oranges, yellows and greens.  We promoted the soup under the name "Three Sisters Soup," but that name didn't stick...

First up were the Kindergarteners.  I really wanted them to like it more than you can imagine.  Would they try something new without being afraid of it?  Did it look different than anything they have tried at home?  Did I choose the wrong first recipe?  Should I have gone a safer route with a sandwich?  Surprisingly, the answer was a resounding no.  The Kindergarteners loved it and asked for seconds of the "Rainbow Soup."  When the first grade came in, we offered them "Rainbow Soup" and were met with a similar positive reaction.  As the lunch waves moved through the cafeteria, the kids were enjoying the soup, finishing off every last bean and squash cube.  Admittedly, there were a few who thought it so-so, and a couple who out-and-out did not like it, but for the most part, kids in every class were enjoying a warm, "homemade" soup at school.  The smile on the food service director's face told me that he believed the Tasting Tuesdays event was successful too.  I was thrilled, as he was the toughest critic and the largest hurdle of my vision for school food reform.  If all goes well at the remaining three schools, "Rainbow Soup" will be on the next month's menu!

Tasting Tuesdays isn't the radical revolution I was originally looking for, but it is a start in the right direction.  I am learning to take it one step at a time and continue to share my vision with anyone who will listen.  On this day, it was the students.  Kids ate real food at school.  There were no fillers, preservatives or sweeteners served.  It was just a chunky vegetable and bean soup.  And they liked it.