ONE: Create a space where school food is not compared to food served at home. Many of us have seen research highlighting that school meals are healthier than foods sent from home. Like this research article that found that “packed lunches from home have more calories, fat, saturated fat, and sugar than school lunches, and less protein, fiber, vitamin A, and calcium.” Study results like this are great news for school meal programs. Research supporting what we know to be true only helps us advance our cause. However, we do not need to compare school food to food from home as further proof that school meals are amazing. Like Sonya Teclai says,“You don‘t have to dim someone else‘s light for yours to shine.” Our intention may be to tout how healthy school meals are to counter decades of negative publicity; however, we may be unintentionally shaming and blaming families. With these comparisons, we might be shaming our families’ cultural foods, their circumstances, their built environment , or things that are really out of their control. These comparisons also fail to acknowledge policies, practices, and systems that negatively impact families’ access to food and economic opportunities.The last thing that School Nutrition Professionals want to do is shame (or blame) families when the goal is to educate them about school meals and to invite more students to participate. So what can we do? We can focus on the message we want to share and just nix the comparison altogether! For example: Instead of: School lunch is healthier than packed school lunches because we offer whole grains, fruit, and veggies daily! Try this: Our students are offered fiber- filled whole grains, nutrient- packed fruits, and veggies daily for lunch!
TWO: Grow beyond views that demonize foods and beverages. Many of us support moving towards more scratched-cooked meals in schools, given that our programs have the sustainable resources and training to do so. Still, we do not have to demonize other forms of food while proclaiming our support for scratch-cooked meals. Let’s take prepackaged or individually wrapped products, for example. Prepackaged products serve a purpose and nourish multiple populations. Think about it. In our communities, we have single-parent/ guardian households, parent/guardians who work multiple jobs, school-aged siblings caring for their younger siblings, student-athletes on the go, elders living by themselves, unhoused people, and disabled people (or people with disabilities) that rely on the convenience of prepackaged foods. Since we are School Nutrition Besties, I can be real with you for a moment… During the first couple of years of COVID, prepackaged foods were clutch. They helped us when we were short on labor, helped
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