FORWARD
THINKING
PROGRAMS
TO GET
KIDS TO
EAT BETTER
BPT
T
hey say that breakfast is the most important
meal of the day. But for millions of low-
income children across the country, the low-
cost or free lunch they get at school is the
most nutritious, most filling meal they will eat.
In 2016, over 30 million kids across the U.S. received
low-cost or free lunches at their school. With such a
wide-ranging impact, school meal programs play a
huge role in the well-being of our nation’s young people.
In essence, this is what happened when Miguel Lopez,
a seventh-grader at Anwatin Middle School, along with
seven other teams and 16 other students, competed
alongside eight professional chefs in one of Minneapolis
Public Schools’ “Jr. Iron Chef ” competitions.
Modeled after the popular television show, where teams
compete to create the most appetizing dish, this three-
year-old program was designed in cooperation with
Cargill to teach students about good nutrition and meal
preparation. Students from across the district were invited
According to Wilder Research, nearly one in six to compete - just as popular celebrity chefs on TV do - in
children in the state of Minnesota live in food-insecure live cooking competitions.
households. Many of these kids rely on school lunch to
get the nutrients they need. To make sure these needs are “This night was not so much about the competition,
met, one school district in the state has been blending but about what these students have learned about how
nutrition with trends in popular culture to create a to prepare good meals on their own,” said Minneapolis
dynamic program that is getting kids excited about Public Schools’ Director of Culinary and Wellness
healthy food while also creating better eating habits. Services, Bertrand Weber. “We wanted to apply the
Iron Chef concept to help improve our students’ health
Jr. Iron Chef
and well-being. Yes, it was a cool night, but the hope is
that they will go home and do this for themselves and
Question: In an urban school district, how can the their families versus choosing less healthy meal options.”
idea behind a popular television show be used to raise While the Jr. Iron Chef competition was getting students all
awareness of healthy meal options?
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WINTER GARDEN MAGAZINE
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AUGUST 2018