Cafeteria Choices
When I think back to my childhood school cafeteria days, I remember hair nets and crispy grilled cheese sandwiches. I recall smiling ladies serving up the entree of the day and getting a glass of milk from a big, silver dispenser.
Today’s cafeterias still have smiling servers. They still provide milk, however it comes in little individual cartons. Unlike days gone by where we had a single entree choice and an eat-it-or-go-hungry philosophy, today’s students have a buffet of food choices—some more nutritious than others. Smoothies, salads, vegetarian meals, sandwiches, a la carte lines, and even frozen yogurt machines offer a plethora of choices for students.
The key word here is choices. Today’s kids are inundated with choices. How do we, as parents, school food service providers, and educators, encourage them to make the best choices when it comes to nutrition?
NuVal—Making the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice
Let me be the first to say kudos to the food service professionals. As a parent, I completely understand the challenges of feeding kids good-for-you foods that they’ll actually eat. It’s no picnic! Imagine trying to please a thousand hungry teenagers every day while providing adequate nutrition for their growing minds and bodies. And let’s not forget this must be accomplished on a tight budget and align with strict federal guidelines.
In 2012, along with support from BLEND, The Medica Foundation, and Coborns, the Sartell-St. Stephen school district introduced NuVal in their middle and high school cafeterias. In fact, they were only the second school district in the nation to provide this service to their families.
NuVal is an easy-to-use tool for all ages, giving students the opportunity to select foods with higher overall nutrition. NuVal scores range from 1 to 100—the higher the score, the higher the nutrition. Behind the scenes, NuVal uses science and a comprehensive algorithm to factor in all the nutrients in a food and determine its nutrition quality. Of course, NuVal is not magic. It is science. It’s a tool that enables (and encourages) students to choose well. But, the choice is up to them.
How to Use NuVal
The best way for students to use NuVal is to “trade up” from what they’re currently eating to a higher scoring product. NuVal is most useful to students when they use it to trade up within a particular food category. For example, students are not expected to trade their breakfast cereal for broccoli, but rather for a higher, comparable breakfast or cereal item. When shopping the a la carte line in the cafeteria, they can compare scores on energy bars or snacks to get the most bang for their buck.
Even the smallest trade up in scores can have an impact on health. And with today’s kids’ academic and athletic opportunities requiring both mental and physical strength, good health and good nutrition are as important as ever!
New Year. NuVal. New Conversations.
With the new year upon us, many of us are re-thinking our health. Some folks make resolutions or join a gym. Others commit to eating more nutritions foods. As parents, we not only need to take care of ourselves, but our children as well. How do we grow strong, smart, healthy kids? How do we encourage them to make better choices?
I applaud the Sartell-St. Stephen district for taking their role in student health seriously. They are kicking off 2016 with a celebration—a relaunch of NuVal in the middle and high school cafeterias. The event will take place during the regular lunch periods on January 19th at both schools. Students will be greeted by mascots (yes, even the BLEND guy will be there) and learn how NuVal works through fun games and student-produced videos. And, prizes…of course they will have prizes! Students can check out the newly NuVal scored a la carte items and learn educational tips about how to use NuVal to enhance their active lifestyles and overall health.
Sartell students participated in the initial NuVal launch in 2012. The district is back at it with the nutritional scoring program in 2016!
Parents must take some ownership in this as well. Whether your child has NuVal in school or not, you can teach the importance of taking care of ourselves. Of course, we need to live by example. We also need to make time to talk to our kids about why nutrition is so important. Is your child an athlete? Then discuss nutrition in relation to peak physical performance. And let’s remember their brains. While no child wants a lecture on how nutrition affects brain development, they can learn how eating well helps them do better in school. Simple conversations around the dinner table can help open bright young minds to the concept of better eating.
Please continue to follow BLEND in the upcoming year for practical tips on nutrition and physical activity. Our passion is helping Central Minnesota children and families become as healthy as they can be!
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his is a guest post by Kelly Radi. Passionate about food and nutrition, Kelly is a freelance writer, NuVal expert, former BLEND employee, and current BLEND advocate. A wife and mother of 2 teenagers, Kelly lives in Sartell where she is often spotted at Coborn’s scouring the shelves in search of the best NuVal scores. She enjoys cooking, playing tennis, and sitting down with a good book. She can be reached at radi.to.write@gmail.com.
The opinions expressed in this blog are the opinions of the writer and not the opinions of NuVal LLC, Coborn’s, Inc., BLEND, and the CentraCare Health Foundation. Read more “Peek Into Kelly’s Kitchen” blogs, here!
