Photos by Joshua Dunn Photography
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Healthy Choices by R.J. McMahon
How FSP and CICS overhauled the student lunchtime experience As American consumers, we are bombarded with messages about what we eat, how much we eat, and how little we exercise. Deciphering these messages in hopes of crafting a plan for a healthy lifestyle can be daunting. For school children, these messages come in many and varied forms and penetrate the psyche of our most at-risk young people. Given this landscape, Chicago International Charter School, with the help of Kraft Foods, launched in 2005 a Healthful Approach to Life for our entire school community. The objectives of the Healthful Approach to Life are: Given the high rate of obesity and diabetes for children of color, Chicago International needed to take a proactive approach to health and wellness. Kraft Foods provided monetary and programmatic support, which were key to implementing the program. While Kraft’s Health4Schools curriculum was beneficial in establishing the framework of the program, Chicago International needed additional partners to have a stronger impact on students’ lives. CICS turned to FSP, the organization that serves the food on the 11 Chicago International campuses. FSP was founded in 1970 to ensure that every student attending a Chicago area school would have access to an affordable breakfast and hot lunch with minimal preparation at the school. While FSP serves mainly Catholic schools within the Archdiocese of Chicago, they have served charter schools for the last 10 years. In 1998, Chicago International became the first charter school FSP served. As the relationship grew, the partnership blossomed. Over the last three years, FSP has not only helped revamp the lunch menus, but has also redesigned the campus cafeterias. John Koubek, the president of FSP, is thankful for the partnership with Chicago International because it allows him and his organization to bring their full FocalPoint
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Extensions “ Convenience and cost are not going to rule the day.”
Sample Lunch Menu Offerings Turkey Taco Salad with Salsa & Fat-Free Ranch Dressing Pinto Beans, Grapes, Sugar Cookie Vegetable Lasagna Garlic Wheat Bread, Tossed Salad with Fat-Free Dressing, Mixed Fruit Cheese Pizza Carrots, Pineapple, Yellow Cake with Vanilla Icing Herb Roasted or BBQ Chicken Baked Potato Wedges, Corn Cobette Apple Crisp Baked Fish Nuggets Mac ‘n’ Cheese, Green Beans Wheat Roll/Honey, Mandarin Oranges Gardenburger on Wheat Bun with Tomato and Lettuce Baked Potato Smiles, Mixed Fruit Chocolate Pudding
Menu Details: complement of tools to the table: state-of-the-art equipment, R&D, onsite prep, and high-quality food. This partnership has made nutritional inroads for the students by decreasing processed food and increasing healthy choices. Additionally, the students and parents learn about nutrition through various activities during the school day as well as during after-school programs. The goal is to equip students and their families with the knowledge they need to make healthy choices throughout their educational journeys. “School food is more visible than ever, and there is a greater awareness of the food served because of the child obesity epidemic in our urban center cities,” Koubek says. “There is continued pressure to reduce school food service to a mundane commodity while treating breakfast and lunch as nothing more than calories into a body to fulfill a requirement.”
• Pizza is made with part-skim mozzarella cheese and an enriched fiber crust • White potatoes are limited to twice weekly • Desserts are limited to two to three times per week • Wheat sandwich breads and buns are used throughout menu • Wild rice or brown rice is used instead of white rice • Chicken nuggets are trans fat-free
Without the human perspective, partnership and planning, the students of Chicago International would have been the victims of that pressure. But with the help of FSP, Chicago International students eat nourishing meals and are equipped to make healthy choices in the future.
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FocalPoint
• Only enriched pasta is used • All menu items are prepared without frying