SNL SKIT not just an Self-Proclaimed Recipe Concoctor Valerie Weivoda, MS, RD, LD, SNS
Food & Health Inspiration
for us. Those of you not on social media, I encourage you to get there and experience the virtual food world. Consider starting a social media page for your Child Nutrition Department or simply start sending pictures and information to your media specialist to post on social media and make your presence known. You are living in an age where you have more control over the perception of your program than ever before. School nutrition programs are a business just like any other fast-food establishment or your favorite pizzeria down the street. Add that to the fact that we are literally fueling our nation’s children, feeding the nation when so many have been without jobs due to the pandemic. You’ll quickly find yourself understanding just how big of a deal your food really is - and it’s high time our menus started acting like it.
Show, Don’t Tell!
owning a cell phone and having access to the internet. The students who attend your school are getting these worldly experiences, and they’re demanding these be delivered to them from YOU. I feel as if districts have moved one of two ways over the course of this past year. They’re either getting back to the basics or they’re riding the COVID-19 wave of change. What I mean by this is that they’re either sitting back and trying not to rock the boat with their stakeholders because it’s already been a really hard year, or they’re catching the draft behind the COVID-19
Seventy-five years ago, the first National School Lunch Act was signed into life. School food has been a rite of passage for most American children. We all have that mental picture of the school cafeteria and the cafeteria employees you’ll never forget. Your favorite foods and your most disliked foods are passing through your thoughts right now, but the days of Adam Sandler’s “Lunch Lady Land” are over. We know exactly what’s in our chicken pot pie! And it’s good. It’s really good! Over the past 75 years, several reforms have been made to bring us to where we are today in the year of 2021. We’ve seen several free meal initiatives implemented
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You are living in an age where you have more control over the perception of your program than ever before. “
momentum and riding this wave to harness change. I’m not saying one is better than the other. What I am saying, though, is that if you’re not AT the table discussing how to make your program come out of this on top (whatever style that may be), you’re probably ON the table; and you’re going to have to dig up 6 feet because your execution should be changing to fit your demands.
for low socioeconomic students and now, initiatives for everyone during the COVID-19 pandemic. Enter: March 2020. The world was stunted and began pivoting out of harm’s way. Just when no one knew what to do, school nutrition programs sprang into action feeding our nation’s children with drive- thru grab-n-go meals, bus route deliveries, you name it - it was getting done. If you’ve seen such a pivot before, please let me know.
xoxo Gal Pal Val
Left Page (Top): Apple Pull A-Parts with Caramel Yogurt Dip (Bottom): Homemade Pizza with Ham, Mushroom, Pineapple Above (Top Left & Right): BBQ Pulled Pork Stuffed Sweet Potatoes (Bottom Left): Pepper Jack Chicken Quesadilla (Bottom Right): Homemade Breakfast Pizza
What’s interesting to me is that I feel as if the perception of school food has been this single universal thought in everyone’s mind - que Adam
Sandler - but school food is far from being universally the same. Yes, we all have the same USDA regulations to follow, but I know districts serving sushi, tofu, lobster and elk while other districts consider edamame as a menu innovation. So, the perceptions are not the same anymore, and social media is changing that
Now where are we? We are adapting. Healthy, nourished students have always been the priority. This has never changed. The execution is what is changing. Student taste preferences are constantly changing, and it’s not only because they’re dining out more and that they have more diverse food venues. Yes, it is a big deal that I don’t have to travel to Mexico for an authentic chimichanga or Italy for gelato. But what’s more, is that now, we get a virtual experience with food through social media. My virtual dining experience in a week is that of a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives episode. I’m traveling the world seeing foods I’ve never seen before just by
Growing up in a family of 6 children with parents and older siblings that cooked, I have always been curious in the kitchen. My love for food and fitness led me to pursue a Master’s degree in Dietetics and Nutrition from the University of Mississippi. During my internship I had a spark of interest in school nutrition. Now, as the Director of the Child Nutrition Department in Lee County School District in Tupelo, MS, I try to create and menu at least one new recipe each month, whether it be a taste test at one school or something menued across the district. In my spare time, I love to create my own recipes at home, prepare and review other’s recipes, and talk about all things wellness on my Instagram page: @val.weivoda_rd.
Valerie Weivoda, MS, RD, LD, SNS
* Lunch Lady Land was featured on Saturday Night Live in season 19, 1994. Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives aired on The Food Network channel from 2007-2011.
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