School food service professionals play a vital role in nurturing students’ minds and bodies daily. The meals they provide significantly impact students’ health, behavior, and academic performance. However, many school meal staff are not recognized as part of the education team. To change this perception, Trumansburg Elementary School’s food service staff in central New York participated in Food Educator training and were paid by the school district to teach students about healthy foods in the classroom starting in the 2011-2012 school year.

Professional chef Brud Holland was hired to provide additional professional development, to help modify recipes made in the classroom for the school lunch program, and to teach alongside food service staff the classrooms. Foods for the program were donated by Stick & Stone Farm and Sweet Land Farm and commodity foods were provided for free by the USDA school lunch program when possible. Additional supplies and program expenses for the first year were funded by grant awarded to the Food Studies Institute from the Park Foundation, in addition to community donations. Trumansburg Central School District set aside money to pay food service staff to teach in the classrooms. Sandra Simpson, the district’s food service director, endorsed the program:

“As the Director of Food Services for the Trumansburg Central School District, I enthusiastically endorsed the plan of Dr. Antonia Demas and the Food Studies Institute to make food literacy education a priority for the District. My staff and I were eager to partner with this program so that we could help to develop a model of participation for food service, the academic staff of the school and the community. What a great decision it was to participate in this program. To know that we were a partner in this model program and a participating department was a very rewarding experience.”

Food service staff and several volunteers from the school community were trained to teach Food is Elementary, a curriculum integrating lessons in science, math, social studies, art, language arts, and health education. Staff taught weekly classroom sessions and engaged students in food-related conversations during lunch. A food service director from neighboring Ithaca City School District also participated in the training and taught in the classroom.

Fruit tart with USDA commodity dried fruit crust made at one of the trainings

The cafeteria staff excelled in their teaching roles, gaining respect from students, parents, and academic staff. Students loved having their familiar meal staff teach them about food and nutrition, leading to more suggestions and feedback on healthy foods. One student burst into a round of applause for the cafeteria staff for offering fresh spinach and broccoli, which they enjoyed tasting in the classroom. That positive classroom exposure made the child excited about seeing the same foods offered in the cafeteria whereas without the classroom experience it was just another unfamiliar food that the child was afraid to try.

Ms. Barry engaging students in food literacy education

Research has shown how critical it is to have positive introductions to unfamiliar health-promoting foods to gain dietary acceptance of those foods. The Food is Elementary© curriculum starts with a “no yuck” rule as a way to teach manners and not disrespect the food or the cook. Tasting is not mandatory but by making it fun and having the peer influence, students are very receptive to trying new tastes and evaluating them with their peers.

On Food is Elementary days, delightful aromas from classroom and cafeteria cooking filled the halls. Students were exposed to healthy local and USDA commodity foods. Nearby organic farms, including Stick & Stone Farm and Sweet Land Farm, donated seasonal produce for students to try. A healthy “candy” was made from a USDA commodity dried fruit mixture with chopped walnuts.

A second-grade classroom posted this on their website:
“Today was the last day of the food program. Did we think we would ever see children willingly eat dandelion leaves and kale? Amazing! With nutrition as a focus, Antonia and volunteers made trying greens an adventure! What a fun and educational experience!”

Students made black bean dip, sharing enthusiastic comments:
“This is the funnest food program ever!”
“I don’t like it – I LOVE it!”
“I don’t want it to end.”