Monday, June 17, 2019
Did you know Wisconsin schools and districts could do much more than many realize to simultaneously improve outcomes for students and district finances? Recent data suggests there could be more awareness of opportunities in the school nutrition area.
We all know the benefits of a nutritious, affordable, tasty meal for students. Meanwhile, higher participation in school meals makes reimbursement dollars go further by lowering per meal costs.
School nutrition is sometimes thought of as “separate” from the rest of the school, but considering its benefits, colleagues may want to think about ways they can support or jump-start school nutrition directors’ work to innovate their offerings for students.
Most Wisconsin school districts are seeing downward trends in meals participation. Yet, according to (non-definitive) DPI survey data from this year, it seems many didn’t realize this trend can be reversed. Partnerships with colleagues and exciting new ideas are helping some districts move outside the box to the next generation of school meals - to make them “rock” - even getting students excited about healthy foods.
School nutrition directors work hard every day in Wisconsin, ensuring students are well-fed and able to succeed in school and life. But, are we directing our hard work to make the greatest impact?
You could consider taking one of these two actions:
If you’re not a nutrition director: Find out if participation in your school or district is going up or down. Volunteer to help your nutrition director find funding for improvements, discuss or evaluate innovations, help with implementation, or provide other partnership.
If you are a nutrition director: Tell us what would help you take your meals to the next level of attractiveness, value, and popularity (if you don’t know, tell us what would help you figure it out). Our brief online survey makes this feedback easy. Please fill it out by July 1, 2019.
Subscriber Submission: School Nutrition Team, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction