Failing grade
According to a study done by the nonprofit Balanced, the Clark County School District is one of the lowest ranked in the nation for school lunches. It graded the 25 largest school districts using the Federal Dietary MyPlate guidelines. Criticism of the district’s lunch system included: failed to offer two vegetables every day at lunch, fresh fruit unavailable daily, not enough diversity of produce and protein options
When most adults reminisce about their school lunches, it’s usually memories of smashed PB&J sandwiches from a brown paper bag or school meals filled with mystery meats. But Peter Gilhooly, chef and father of a 7-year-old daughter, is challenging those notions with his team of more than 100 chefs.
Based out of New York, Gilhooly spends his days designing school meals for more than 2 million students as part of lunch provider Chartwells K12.
He shares a few tips and tricks that may help you teach your children to eat healthfully, experiment with new flavors and learn about nutrition.
Healthy eating = improved performance
Switching to healthier meal options improves test scores, according to the University of California Nutrition Policy Institute 2018 School Meal Quality and Academic Performance report. While the results were modest, the report noted that the relatively low cost of healthy vendors compared with in-house meal preparation makes this option a “very cost-effective” avenue to increase test scores.
Tip 1: Keep flexible lunch options on hand
There are many reasons to have options available, especially for parents with children who have allergies, picky food preferences and aging pallets.
“The way children dine in their early years really changes when they’re teenagers and their palates are more like an adult,” Gilhooly said. You can “target different eating [habits, such as] vegetarian and vegan dining styles just by customizing meals.”
Elementary school children like finger foods, so bento boxes with carrot sticks and cheese are a great option. By contrast, older kids like to make their own choices, such as building a sandwich or meal from a salad bar.
Tip 2: Use familiar foods to introduce new foods
Serving dishes that are familiar to children, such as nachos, tacos and flat breads, is a great way to introduce new ingredients.
Radishes, avocado and salsas can be added to tacos. Peppers, spinach, cauliflower and artichokes can be added to pizza. The vegetable may be new to your child, but the vessel it arrives on is familiar and can help ease delivery.
Food insecurity in CCSD
One in seven households in Clark County qualify as food insecure, and 64 percent of Clark County School District’s students qualified for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch program for the 2016-17 school year. For many students, their only meal of the day comes from the lunchroom.
Tip 3: Undercover veggie operation
If you’re worried about your child’s vitamin intake, sneaking in extra vegetables may be the option for you. Blend cauliflower into your mashed potatoes. Add spinach to a smoothie. Blend carrots and onions into sauces. Grate vegetables into burgers and meatloaf. It’s still important to acclimate children to healthy eating, but adding a few extra undercover veggies doesn’t hurt.
Tip 4: Pay attention to how lunch looks
Young children are especially influenced by the appearance of their meal. Taking time to write a note or neatly arrange food can go a long way toward how a child perceives the meal. And if you're feeling ambitious, have fun with sandwich cutouts or fruit faces.
Did you know?
The Las Vegas Valley has one of the largest school garden programs in the nation, with at least 150 gardens accessible to 80,000 students. More than 3,000 teachers use their gardens to teach STEM, and the schools have hosted 200-plus farmers markets.
Tip 5: Introduce children to gardening
In many of the schools, farmers visit to help educate students on where their meal comes from, how to cook it, and sustainable food practices.
“The whole farm-to-table movement is wildly popular right now,” Gilhooly said.
Not only is local food more nutritious, but the practice teaches children skills they will use throughout their lifetime while also supplementing the school’s dining program with fresh goods.
Tip 6: Use food to teach children about other cultures
Foods can be an easy vehicle to explore and learn about new cultures. Gilhooly notes that global cuisines are more accessible now than ever before. Chartwells K12 is developing a global sandwich collection, which combines something children are familiar with—a sandwich—to something unfamiliar such as Mexico’s torta, Vietnam’s banh mi or France’s baguette sandwiches.
“We’re seeing a lot of globalization in trends using familiar foods,” he said.
• For the Clark County School District menu, visit ccsd.nutrislice.com
This story originally appeared in the Las Vegas Weekly.