A Taco Tuesday Grape Salsa + Wild Orange Anything Dip

September was a BIG month for spreading food education and gorgeous food love in the schools! 

As a member of the Diamond Lake District 76 Wellness Committee, we wanted to do something special for the teachers to kick off the school year. 

Our committee cooked up this first round of "Lunch and Learns" where I visited each school's teachers' lounge (Fairhaven, Diamond Lake, and West Oak School) and treated the staff to some delicious recipes. 

We had such relaxed, fun conversation together around all things, mostly food! 

I made a "Wild Orange Anything Dip" and a "Grape Salsa" which I served alongside as much produce as possible from Prairie Wind Family Farms. Whenever possible, I partner with local farmers like Jen and Jeff Miller because every dollar goes back directly to their farm which improves Lake County's economic, social and environmental sustainability. I was able to find all pantry ingredients at Jewel & Target.

Wild Orange “Anything” Dip

Inspired by Sarah Britton's Tangerine Tahini Dip (My New Roots)

8 oz Almond Butter (or any seed/nut butter of choice)

1-2 knobs ginger minced (a heaping Tbsp or so)

8 tsp pure maple syrup

8 tsp apple cider vinegar

3 Tbsp coconut aminos (or tamari or soy sauce)

sprinkle of cayenne pepper (optional)

1/4 tsp sea salt

14 drops Wild Orange dōTerra essential oil (or use the zest and juice from 1-2 of your favorite fresh oranges!)

1/2+ c of any type of milk to thin out (I used macadamia nut milk)

1 tsp black sesame seeds

1 tsp local bee pollen 

Whisk together all ingredients in a large bowl and enjoy with your favorite vege and/or fruit! Store in the refrigerator and add into your lunch for the week. Garnish with black sesame seeds and local bee pollen for more lick-the-bowl goodness.

Keep hanging with me for the grape salsa recipe... 

As the Compass Hiking and Yoga Retreats Chef, this month also marked the launch of our Compass Outreach Program! I am thrilled to announce our partnership with Mundelein High School District 120 Transition Center. As a proud alumni of Mundelein High School and current resident in the community, it's an honor to be joining the participants and staff every month this school year.

We had a ball making the grape salsa together. Along with basic knife safety & cutting skills (like the "cat claw"), we discussed the different ingredients and the versatility of grape salsa; Whether you make it to trick out your Taco Tuesday, eat it alone, put it on on chicken, pour it over fish or add it to anything else you can dream up, it's a "food hero" dish for sure.

A Taco Tuesday Grape Salsa
Inspired by Sarah Britton's "Cleansing Grape Salsa" (My New Roots)

1 lb mixed grapes (we mixed red, green and concord varieties)
1 small serrano pepper (deseeded and minced)
1 bunch fresh chives minced
1/2 c (about 1 big handful) fresh cilantro chopped
1-2 knobs fresh ginger peeled & minced
4-5 radishes minced
2-3 limes juiced (plus zest from one lime or 3-4 drops of dōTerra lime essential oil)
1 Tbsp Thrive algae oil or extra virgin olive oil
Ionized salt or sea salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.

It all starts at hOMe plate!

To the mullies we go...

xoxoL

ACES Day - A Perfect Day for Food Education + Exercise

Our planning is complete!

On Wednesday, May 4th, our District 76 Wellness team is partnering with the Chicago Pilot Light Chefs organization to bring the common core aligned food education lesson, "Tacos Al Pastor", to West Oak Middle School on ACES Day (All Children Exercise Simultaneously). 

Here's how our Wellness Committee decided to weave Food Education into ACES day: 

1. Half of the student body will participate in a classroom Pilot Light lesson while the other half will join me in the gym for my “No Guts No Glory” presentation. Ambassador Sara Lohrman, students from her Stevenson High School Food Revolution Day Club and Chef Robert Collins will be joining me on stage to inspire and engage with West Oak students and staff. **Any teacher or school administrator who is interested in bringing Pilot Light to their school can access this special lesson online: Pilot Light Chef's - Reset the Table Curriculum. (In case you don't have time to review the materials now, take the time to watch this incredible video: The Whole World is a Taco.)

2. During lunch, all West Oak students will be inspired to "Trick Out Your Tacos" with our freshly prepared samples and a special Preferred Meals’ lunch. Our school lunch provider has aligned their lunch menu to Pilot Light's food education curriculum to include an all beef taco and hotdog lunch with an expanded condiment bar including tomatoes, lettuce, onions and jalapeños. A perfect pairing to our live chef's demonstration and tasting table! The SHS students will prepare Jamie’s Oliver's Simple Hummus and my special cilantro pesto; Chef Rob will demonstrate his “Sweet Potato Hummus.” The Simple Hummus is one of 10 special "Cook for your Life" recipes as part of Jamie Oliver's new Food Revolution Day Campaign being launched May 9th on www.jamiesfoodrevolutionday.com. The students will walk away with all three recipes to cook at home with their families!

I cannot wait to share pictures and highlights from this special day next week! I am so grateful for the collaborative efforts between our Wellness Committee, Pilot Light Chefs, Preferred Meals, SHS, Chef Rob and our amazing school administrators. This could not have happened without the positive synergy we have been building together over the past few years. I have to give a special shout out to Sue Kruckman (school nurse), Chris Willeford (school principle) and Tracy Zeman (Student Services Coordinator). Sue is our Wellness Committee Chair, West Oak nurse and a true partner in crime! I will never forget the meeting when Chris said, "Let's do this on ACES Day!" This could NOT have been accomplished without their hard work, support and mutual passion for good health and well being. I am so grateful to be a part of our D76 Wellness Team!

Speaking of TACOS... Last night, my family table "tricked out" ours with watercress and green leaf lettuce!

Happy weekend everyone!

xoxoL

ps

And as today's my 39th bday (AHHHH YEA!), I'm pretty pumped to post about school food ed today!!

District 76 + Preferred Meals = Food Transparency for all!

Hello Dr Joe, Colette, Kathleen and Dwayne,

I wanted to reach out and say how thankful I am to have met with you all Friday morning at West Oak to discuss increased food transparency, added sugar and your innovative allergy systems menu. It was truly lovely to meet, shed our computer terminals and talk face to face. There is no doubt we are all working in the same direction.

I am thrilled to know that our district families will have full ingredient transparency in 30 days and that you’ll be following up with us on the challenge of including added sugar content information. I am also excited for our school board to continue the conversation regarding the allergy systems menu and am hopeful that these cleaner, more organic options might be accessible to our families in the future.

There is such frustration over food. I could feel it from us all. Questions and debates swirl around what we should eat, what we shouldn’t… conflicting messages everywhere we look… Thank you for sitting at the same table with such optimism and shared concern. What has become clearer than ever is the need for more real food over fake food ingredients, less sugar and food education for all. I am so inspired to hear that Preferred Meals is doing everything possible to remove these controversial ingredients from your school food menu. I believe that not only will these changes positively affect the children in this district who rely on us for 2/3 meals a day, but in the long term, these changes will position your company as a food service provider who can deliver more nutrient dense, real food to school districts across the country. A transition every school food company should be focusing on in order to meet the evolving consumer demand for cleaner, more nutrient dense food. 

Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the hidden MSG, partially hydrogenated oils and other artificial additives that are still lurking in some of the ingredient lists. I can only imagine the challenges you face in phasing these ingredients out. This important work should be applauded, supported and celebrated at every level.

Thank you again!  Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to continuing our conversation!

Lindsey Shifley
JOFR Super Ambassador

ps

The challenge Preferred Meals faces with required calorie amounts (fat is regulated and sugar is not) could be changing! I am hopeful the new 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) recommendations may lead to some regulatory changes that will allow food companies more flexibility and send the sugar packing - This just in:

 http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/19/nutrition-panel-calls-for-less-sugar-and-eases-cholesterol-and-fat-restrictions/?_r=0

http://www.foodpolitics.com/?s=dietary+guidelines

And of course, I couldn’t resist this little ditty:

http://naturallysavvy.com/eat/this-is-why-sodium-benzoate-is-so-scary

Making the Case for School Food Transparency

My printer is tired.

I am prepping for Friday's #schoolfood brainstorming meeting with Preferred Meals and District 76. 

Please leave comments below if you have any concerns or ideas you would like me to bring along to the meeting! 

In addition to driving positive change, I hope this evolving story is a source of inspiration and hope for other parents, grandparents, teachers, administrators and any individuals who are interested in improving school food education and school food transparency. Our teachers and schools need our help in reaching our kids. I'm sick of hearing that it's the teacher or the school district's fault. I have a family FULL of teachers, not to mention a bus full of teacher friends. It's getting harder and harder to teach and reach students (for a variety of reasons... But I'm just sticking to food ed here). In our case with Abbie, it was not the teachers. It was her food. Instruction was not meeting her "needs" because of the food was not meeting her needs. I just didn't know. Once I cleaned it up for Abbie, her brain opened up. This mind blowing experience is what drives my passion. I am not keeping this information to myself. There are other kids out there whose brains could use a roto rooter too. 

This is not about food control, food judgment or food snobbery. This is about food transparency, food education, freedom of choice and the power of the consumer. Schools are the biggest restaurants in town and I think it's time we took a closer look at the ingredient lists to see if they are serving our children for increased academic success, not the other way around.

Let this article bring you up to speed: Connecting Attention and Nutrition

Food transparency = a win win for all: The kids win. The schools win. The companies win. 

Well, that is for the companies who change with the tides.

Food companies who are meeting the demands for cleaner, more organic food are being rewarded and those who are keeping up with the "status quo" of chemical companies who are being left in the dust.

Read about the food companies who keep the chemicals + fake food = real BIG profit losses (Robyn O'Brien)

I hope to discuss the following on Friday:

1. Fake food vs real food ingredients: D76 Preferred Meal Systems - Can we improve the quality of breakfast and lunch offerings within budget to increase sales?
2. Food transparency: Can the District provide full online ingredient list access to parents before June?
3. Can the "Allergy Systems Menu" be offered to all D76 families? At extra cost? How can we make this option accessible to all with or without a doctor's note.
4. When will added sugar amounts be provided to the D76? Is D76 responsible for calculating added sugar? How & when can we get this vital food education information on sugar to our parents and staff? We do have some more eating to do after school and most of us like to eat dessert from time to time.

The amount of added sugar is especially alarming in our school breakfasts. According to my quick math (on an OLD menu, albeit same items) PM breakfasts range from 27g of added sugar up to 46g of sugar. According to the Fed Up Challenge Sugar Facts, 4g of sugar = 1 tsp. The American Heart association recommends that children should not exceed 5-8 tsp's in a DAY (20-32g per day). So, we're already at a minimum of 6.5 tsp's of added sugar BEFORE they even have a snack or lunch at school. Got chocolate milk? That'll put you over the limit in one 8 oz box. What's a Mom and Dad to do at home!? That is one tough, restrictive menu to be handed in my kitchen.

Here is what I have come across in my search for information. More than you need I am sure, but the following is what District 148 offered online in 2011. This simple PDF format will be something I suggest our District can offer families from our District website. (It sounds like PMs website is still "under construction" for full ingredient food transparency.) In the meantime, let's take some pictures and upload them for anyone who would like to look into the school food ingredients.

District 148 - 2011 Preferred Meals spec sheet 1

District 148 - 2011 Preferred Meals Condiments

District 148 - 2011 Preferred Meals spec sheet fruit and veggies

Partially hydrogenated oil + high fructose corn syrup much? WOW - Major MEGA props to PM as these 2011 menu items have been reformulated and updated to meet the growing demand of parents and school districts for cleaner, more organic and local school food. 

Here is the most updated information I could find to access current PMs menus in our country. It took A LOT of searching. Nobody is granting much access to school food ingredient lists in America:

To find this, first you must cut and paste the following into a google search (it won't let me link it for you):

"preferred meals systems product specification sheet 2014"

Next, the following should come up 3rd in your list. Click to download:

"Elementary and Comm Ed Labels. pdf"

www.chelmsford.k12.ma.us/site/.../filedownload.ashx?...3415&dataid...

• Cached

(July 14, 2014)

So what do our menus look like now? I don't know. I still haven't gotten my hands on anything and there is NOTHING current online. So crazy. I have requested that D76 provide me the ingredient lists on Friday. I am looking forward to bringing home a "packet."

I'm most concerned with PM's claim that artificial flavors and MSG have been taken out of the menu. An ingredient does not have to be labeled with "Monosodium Glutamate" (MSG) for it to be in the product. Check out this link for MSG's "spy names". Unfortunately, companies are still able to get away with MSG in products under different names. There are still a shocking amount of MSG "spy names" listed and I'll bring these to everyone's attention on Friday. I'm so happy to see the menu's progress over the past 5 years AND I think there is still room for some progress. Baby steps. High fives. And we can do better. As I do not have our D76 - 2015 menus in hand just yet, I am going to have to wait before I assume anything.

I am fighting for cleaner, less sugar laden, more nutrient dense school food for ALL of our students so that they can perform at their highest potential in the classroom. This should be our highest priority, our shared responsibility in our District's quest to support our families and teachers, to inspire higher learning and to raise our District's academic performance. 

Below is a comment I received from PM on my recent blot post. I am so excited to hear back from them and I'm thrilled to get the opportunity to sit and brainstorm alongside them and the District. 

I am so impressed by the menu changes I can see between 2011 and 2014 and they should be applauded!!!

I'm not sure who should be responsible for providing me with ingredient information and added sugar content (the vendors are not "required" to give that to PM? WHAT!?), but somebody better.figure.it.out. It sounds like the District has had this information all along, which is highly aggravating as I/we asked for this information in several past Wellness Committee meetings. We were told that they would get the information from PM.  Shame on me for being complacent.

"Who's on first?"

***

Hello Lindsey,

Thank you for reaching out to us on your blog! We love and share your passion in providing healthy foods to kids. Our menu website is relatively new and we are still working on a way to tie in ingredients with specific products. Our menu system calculates nutrients as part of the planning process but ingredients are not part of the database yet. 

As for the nutrients that show, we do not include sugar because our vendors are not required to provide that information to us. Since some do provide it and some don’t, our calculation is inconsistent and we wouldn’t want to pass along incomplete information.

We do want parents to be able to view ingredients if desired and we provide updated product spec sheets to the district on a regular basis. Also, each case of product delivered to the schools is labeled with all ingredients. I’m sure if you visit the school they will be able to provide that information to you.

You will be pleased to know that we have eliminated from our products many of the ingredients that are likely a concern to you, such as MSG, artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners and fats, bleached flour, high fructose corn syrup, palm/coconut and partially hydrogenated oils and more. In addition, by regulation, our menus are calorie, fat and sodium controlled by age group and contain 0 grams of trans fat. Since our menus are calorie controlled, we don’t add extra sugar and fat and always choose low fat, lean meats and cheese. Items are baked and not fried, all breads/ breadings /crusts are whole grain, juices / fruit cups have no added sugar or syrup and juice is always 100% juice.

Did you know school meals are very highly regulated? Check out the USDA’s website for more information: http://www.fns.usda.gov/…/national-school-lunch-program-nslp

As for our Allergy Meal System, this is available to the district as an option and should be discussed with the school. Offering an alternate meal may require additional planning and preparation for school staff, resulting in higher cost and additional labor, so making this available to all students would be a district decision.

A representative from Preferred Meals is always available to attend a meeting with the district if you would like to discuss further.

Thank you!

***

BIG thanks in advance to all the individuals who weigh in at the comments section below. Regardless of your school district, your voices COUNT and together, we can make change... 

One school district at a time!

Fighting for food transparency + food ed,

Stay tuned,

Lindsey
JOFR Super Ambassador


ps

Check out this fake food ingredient I just discovered from the lists: Cinnamaldehyde. Instead of adding real cinnamon, they add this "pesticide" to give applesauce and other foods a cinnamon essence. GROSS.

finding inspiration for food education - prairie crossing charter school

i love field trips.  especially ones that help me bring fresh ideas to our school district's wellness committee meeting which will be held after the new year!  it's perfect timing to have a meeting in january as everyone is striving to make new year's resolutions and healthy changes for themselves and their families!

our committee's mission statement is" to promote healthy food choices and physical activity in order to improve the physical, academic and emotional well-being of the district 76 community."  as a district parent and food revolution ambassador, i have been asked to offer ideas on how to bring food education into the classroom and i am feeling so grateful to have made connections with the individuals and administrators at prairie crossing charter school.  it is located just a few miles from our school district.  my girlfriend catherine organized a group of "real foodies" to travel together and participate in prairie crossing's farm to table monthly luncheon back on november 20th.  we are all interested in finding ways to integrate food nutrition into our schools' classroom curriculum and bring.the.outside.in.

we all toted our own plate, bowl, utensils and cup.  the five of us ate with naomi hershiser, dean of environmental programs and integrated curriculum.  she generously gave up almost 3 hours of her time to answer our questions and serve as our tour guide of the school's grounds and facilities.  i also met and chatted with chef romie auguste, the lovely and energetic executive chef behind our amazing farm to table meal.  here is a very basic run down on how their farm to table celebration works:

• farm to table luncheons are held once a month and each is hosted by a grade level(s) who is in charge of growing and harvesting some of the luncheon's food components.  

• each grade level selects food to grow in the beginning of the year.  a chef collaborates with the students in the classroom in a variety ways depending on the age level of the students.  for example, for the older students, the chef will lead the class in hands on cooking demonstrations (funding for individual table top skillets was obtained through a grant) and then work together in developing recipes with their harvest ingredients for the luncheon menu. 

• small groups of students prepare and present 3 minute food presentation skits for the entire luncheon.  they also create table toppers based on their harvest theme.

• adult volunteers help the chef prepare, serve and clean for the celebratory luncheon. 

• anyone is welcome to join the farm to table celebration for $8.  diners must bring their own plate, bowl, napkin, utensils, and cup as they encourage no waste!  

it was truly inspirational to walk around the grounds with naomi and discover how each grade level designed their outdoor learning space.  students and teachers work together to decide how they want it to look and function as an outdoor learning classroom and discovery zone.  as you can see from the pictures i included, each space is unique to the developmental ages and needs of the students.  there are raised beds scattered around the grounds.  without a doubt, the most creative land they developed is the island in the middle of the parking lot - talk about using otherwise wasted space!  genius!  thank you from the bottom.of.my.heart for spending so much time with us naomi!  i'm looking forward to our next connection:)

it is so exciting to gather with educators who are doing.learning.sharing their farm-to-table-to-classroom educational model.  the common core changes are challenging and prairie crossing charter school is creatively meeting and exceeding the challenges head on.  since i began my real food journey over a year ago, programs like the edible schoolyard intrigued me and i wondered what it would look like in action.  i am simply bananas over the fact we have a living, breathing example right in our local.lake.county.back.yard.
 
what was my BIG take away?  that each school district has a unique footprint, facility, community and budget.  i'm so excited and energized to continue learning and gathering ideas that will fit our district's unique student demographic and facility capabilities so that we can reach for the stars together.

have a fab weekend everyone ...stay warm chicago!!

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

xoxo