© 2015 CKC Good Food

Cafeteria Connection Connecting you to your child’s school lunchroom

There has been a lot of media attention about school lunches. In 2012, the federal government started requiring schools to serve a wider variety, and more, fruits and vegetables, and more whole grains, while reducing the sodium, calories and saturated fat in school meals. This is part of the government’s effort to reduce childhood obesity and improve children’s ability to learn, as a poor diet and hunger issues often prevent students from learning to the best of their ability. Any school that provides meals for free or at a reduced price for select students are required to follow these new guidelines for any meal it serves, including breakfast, lunch, after-school snacks and dinners, and summer meals.

Fully compliantYou may have heard that schools are having difficulty meeting these guidelines, or that the students may not like the food prepared according to the new guidelines. Be assured that your child’s school is in complete compliance with the federal guidelines and well-balanced meals that have been widely accepted by students are served every day. Your child’s school has partnered with CKC Good Food®, a

school foodservice catering company with more than 20 years of experience serving kids. Each school day, we serve over 20,000 meals to school children at more than 70 locations in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

CKC Good Food specializes in creating tasty menus that creatively use vegetables, spices and whole grains to entice kids to eat – not waste – their food. If your son or daughter eats school meals, please ask about the lunch every day. Help foster your child’s interest in fresh, wholesome foods. If your child does not normally eat at school, please consider allowing him/her to do so. It could open up a positive new eating experience.

In the coming months, you will learn more about how we work with the school to encourage all of the students to be healthier. You’ll also receive tips for encouraging your child’s interest in healthier foods and physical activity at home. If you have any questions, please visit CKCGoodFood.com or talk to your school administrator or foodservice manager.

Goodness abounds in the school cafeteria

© 2015 CKC Good Food

Cafeteria Connection Connecting you to your child’s school lunchroom

The meals in your child’s school cafeteria are so good you might think you’re eating in a restaurant if you were to have lunch there. That’s because CKC Good Food®, the school’s catering company, started in the restaurant business – and it wasn’t the fast food business.

Restaurants need to make delicious meals based on creative recipes, using quality ingredients, fresh herbs and spices, seasonal fruits and vegetables, to please their customers and get them to come back and to tell others. That’s a recipe for success.

Flavorful, interesting entreesThat’s also how CKC Good Food approaches school lunches. First, our recipes are different from what you might expect: rather than French fries or corn dogs, lunches include tasty main courses like taco in a bag, buffalo chicken sandwich or oriental chicken salad and ethnic dishes like pho and chicken queso nachos. Each recipe is developed by our executive chef and our registered dietitian on staff, and is refined through several rounds of taste testing by students and adults.

Fresh, wholesome ingredientsOnly the freshest ingredients are used in CKC Good Food’s recipes. Herbs and spices are used frequently to enhance the flavor of the dishes without adding

salt. Because the federal government requires students to eat more vegetables today, we developed many main course entrees that incorporate vegetables in ways that students would eat. And, finally, we understand that how a meal looks is important to kids. Texture, color and the size of vegetables all can turn off kids if not exactly right. We try to anticipate these objections when we are developing recipes.

Healthy habits for a lifetimeWe believe that nutritious food can be delicious. Students love our food, hardly suspecting that it’s good for them and meets the new federal guidelines developed to improve the healthfulness of school meals. Through our meals, kids learn healthy eating habits that will stay with them for a lifetime.

If your son or daughter eats school meals, please ask about his or her lunch every day. Help foster your child’s interest in fresh, wholesome foods. If your child does not normally eat at school, please consider allowing him or her to do so. It could open up a positive new eating experience.

School cooking vs. restaurant cooking – not so different

© 2015 CKC Good Food

Cafeteria Connection Connecting you to your child’s school lunchroom

Mealtime, whether at school or at home, presents many learning opportunities for kids. They can learn about new foods, nutrition, healthy lifestyles and cultures other than their own. They can also practice making smart decisions.

A healthy varietyA wide variety of foods, including fruits and vegetables, and whole grains like brown rice or wheat bread, provide balanced nutrition for kids. Your child’s school has partnered with CKC Good Food® to offer lunch menus that incorporate many different kinds of foods, both to provide a healthy balance of nutrients to kids and to keep their interest in school lunch. When kids eat the same meals every day, they could develop vitamin deficiencies that affect their ability to grow and learn.

Introducing new foodsA varied menu may include menu items that students may not recognize, at least initially. Fear of the unknown may hold them back from trying a meal. Because kids are so impressionable, it’s important for adults to encourage them with their words and actions. Let them see you eating the meal. Tell them it’s good or “you’re going to like it,” even if it’s a food that you may not personally like. Everyone’s tastes are different and kids need to be given permission to experiment and discover what they like. Let them see you try something new and not be afraid. Consider rewarding them with a sticker or a trading card when they eat something that they may think looks “yucky” because it’s a color they may not like.

Greater cultural awarenessKids can also learn about other cultures at meal time. If the school serves pho, a traditional Hmong noodle soup, or Somali meatballs and noodles, students can experience cultures that may be different from their own. When these meals are served, it provides an opportunity to learn about the people, geographic origins, history and traditions of the race.

Understanding the importance of nutrition Even more traditional American foods provide a learning opportunity. When served a hamburger or chicken, kids can gain an understanding of different kinds of protein and the importance of protein in a diet. Or, when CKC Good Food’s Power Salad, which includes spinach, beets, carrots and chick peas, is served, students can learn about each of the ingredients and the wide variety of vitamins provided by the salad and how they help the body grow and function.

Fostering decision-making skillsMeal time is also a great time to teach kids good decision-making skills. Do they want fruit or a cookie for dessert? Do they want chips or beans and rice? Do they want chocolate milk or soda pop? With some instruction and reinforcement, and an understanding of what is better for their body, kids will begin to make healthier decisions more frequently.

Kids are constantly learning, through observation, encouragement and instruction, whether from teachers, parents, other adults or friends. Fuel their hunger to learn while you satisfy their physical hunger.

Meal time is a time for learning

© 2015 CKC Good Food

Cafeteria Connection Connecting you to your child’s school lunchroom

“What’s for lunch?” might be one of the most important questions of the day for your child. If you want to make sure your child is eating well, it might be an important question for you, too. At CKC Good Food®, your school’s caterer, we work hard to make meals that your child looks forward to eating every day. Meals that are colorful, tasteful and interesting to students. Meals that also meet all of the federal nutritional guidelines for children. All of these factors mean that your school’s meals are appealing to both you and your son or daughter.

Nutrislice web applicationBecause “What’s for lunch?” is such an important question, you can easily access your school’s menu through the Nutrislice web and mobile app. Simply visit nutristudentsk-12.nutrislice.com and choose the applicable options from the dropdown menus. Each item served in your school’s cafeteria every day for the month will appear. You’ll notice there is a hot lunch entrée and a cold sandwich option most, if not all, days. Students can choose one or the other. If you want to see nutritional information on each menu item, simply click and the item and the information will pop up. This menu can also be printed from this page, if you’d like to post it on your refrigerator.

Free mobile appIf you prefer, there’s also a free mobile app for iPhones/iPads and Android devices, so you can view the school’s menus with a single tap. To download:

1. Go to the Apple App Store or Google Play. Search for “Nutrislice.” Install the app.2. Choose Minnesota and then “NutriStudents K-12™.” 3. Accept the end-user license agreement4. Choose the applicable age category for your school and the menu you desire to see. 5. The app will then show you today’s menu, with the option to move to another day in the week, or the previous or following week’s menus, at the top of the screen. 6. Click on a menu item to view the nutritional data for that food.

Rate the menus to provide feedbackUsing the Nutrislice app, you can also rate each menu item. This is a great way to talk with your child about food and nutrition while providing input to your school about the menu and to fellow parents who may wonder if other kids like certain meals. Simply ask your son or daughter about the main course served that day and rate it 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 stars. If your child does not regularly eat school lunch, the rating system may provide insight as to which meals he or she may like as you encourage him or her to participate in school lunch and try new foods.

What’s for lunch? Check Nutrislice!

© 2015 CKC Good Food

Cafeteria Connection Connecting you to your child’s school lunchroom

Kids are the pickiest of eaters. It’s hard to predict what reason they may give for not liking a particular food or meal. Could be color. Perhaps it’s the texture – it’s too crunchy, mushy, runny or tough, or has skin or “hair.” It may taste too spicy, sour or sweet. Maybe they just don’t like when different foods on the plate run together. Any number of objections may lead to “food fights” between parents and their kids, and leave school cafeteria workers frustrated.

Your school’s foodservice provider, CKC Good Food®, offers some tips to help you introduce new foods to children:

1. “Disguise” objectionable foods. It may feel a little deceptive but you may be able to get your kids to eat more vegetables by pureeing them into sauces such as spaghetti sauce or even gravy. Finely minced vegetables can be added to rice to add color without kids suspecting they might be eating the dreaded broccoli, carrots or cauliflower. Even tomatoes may need to be diced finely to pass kids’ standards. To introduce fruits or milk in more palatable ways, consider making fruit smoothies by blending milk, fruit, a little honey and ice.

2. Consider color. A colorful mix of foods on a plate is more appealing to kids than monotone options. A plate full of all-white foods may be unappealing to kids even if those foods are their favorites. Mix up the colors. Consider how the main course goes with the side dishes. One of CKC Good Food’s popular salads, the Cowboy Salad, mixes a variety of beans, corn, celery and green onions. The combination of colors interests kids and helps them get past objections they may normally have toward beans or celery or corn.

3. Make foods manageable. Kids may reject foods that are hard for them to eat. For example, younger kids may not be able to bite into a whole apple, particularly when they’re losing their baby teeth. Peeling an orange may also be a struggle. Sometimes, simply slicing an apple or orange makes it manageable for kids to eat.

4. Build on what they like. Kids may like only one or two foods. That’s a starting point for you. Expand their diet by adding shredded carrots or cooked onions to their ramen noodle soup in increasing proportions over time. Improve the nutritional content of pancakes by making them from scratch with a blend of white and whole wheat flour rather than from a mix. You can also add fruit toppings to pancakes or even toaster waffles for more color and nutritional benefit.

5. Model experimentation. Kids learn by watching you. Let them see you eating and enjoying foods that may not be familiar to them. Then ask them to eat it with you. Encourage them by saying, “You’re going to like it.” Give them the impression that they’re missing out if they don’t try it. Kids need to be given permission to experiment and discover what they like. Consider rewarding them with a sticker or a trading card when they eat a new food.

CKC Good Food has been preparing nutritious meals kids love for more than 20 years. One reason we have been successful is that we taste test all of our menu items with kids before they are served at schools. Through years and years of testing, we have come to understand kids’ objections and work around them as best possible.

If your son or daughter does not eat school lunch, consider allowing him or her to do so. Each school lunch is prepared using CKC’s experience in overcoming kids’ objections, and to federal nutritional guidelines for children. School lunch can help ensure your child eats a well-balanced diet.

Ending the food fights; Creating meals kids love