Volume 13
January
2015
For Kids, By Kids: Winning Recipes from Future Chefs
Sodexo’s Future Chefs program is designed to create
positive behavioral changes in students by getting them
actively involved in making good nutritional choices.
2014 was the fourth year of the program and featured a
Healthy Sandwich Challenge. Students competed in local
and regional events, ultimately resulting in five national
finalists selected based on the originality, presentation,
ease of preparation, kid-friendliness and healthiness of
their recipes. The five finalists created You Tube videos
showcasing their recipes which were voted on by the
public to determine the winner – MaryJane Ware of
Wattles Elementary School, Troy Public Schools in Troy,
MI with her Cucumber Sandwich recipe. MaryJane and
her family now live in Grosse Pointe, MI.
The 165 winning recipes from the local Future Chefs
events were reviewed by a panel of Sodexo K-12 chefs
who chose MaryJane’s Cucumber Sandwich and five
additional winning recipes to feature in Sodexo’s Schools
January 2015 promotion series menus.
Also featured are:
Jaden Rivera – Taco Sandwich – Ocean Shore School,
Pacifica School District
Zikei Brooks – Crunchy Sandwich with Peanut Butter
and Banana – West Point Elementary School, Troup
County Public Schools
Madison Pastor – Sushi Roll – Cooper Elementary
School, Old Bridge Township Schools
Paul Gennaro – Paul’s Perfect Pizza Sandwich – DG
Cooley Elementary School, Clarke County Public Schools
Matthew Aguilar – Crabby Sandwich – Pioneer Park
Elementary School, Lawton Public Schools
Nobody knows what kids like better than kids do, so
students are sure to give a stamp of approval to all six of
these tasty sandwiches. When asked about her feelings on
having students across the country try her winning recipe,
MaryJane said, “I like the idea that kids are eating a
healthy sandwich. I’ve made it lots of times for my family
and they love it!” As for advice for kids thinking of entering
the 2015 Future Chefs competition? MaryJane had these
wise words, “Try your best, and if you don’t succeed, try,
try again!”
You Tube Sensation: Cooking With Kids Video Series
Roxanne Moore, RDN, National Director of Wellness for Sodexo School
Services, has put together a series of healthy cooking videos for kids.
There are 18 videos currently posted and each features Roxanne along
with middle school-aged children cooking a variety of healthy recipes for
breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack time. Recipes include gluten-free
breakfast bars, pizza, chili and easy after-school snacks. Throughout the
videos, Roxanne talks with the students about why each recipe is healthy.
Many of the recipes were adopted from the Share Our Strength Cooking
Matters program, the Gluten Intolerance Group or the Sodexo Recipe Collection and are designed to be kid-friendly in terms of preparation and
taste.
The videos are becoming quite a You Tube sensation. The breakfast bar
video alone has garnered over 2.4 million views! See for yourself what
everyone is watching and try some new winning recipes today. View all of
the videos on Sodexo’s YouTube Channel.
The Importance of a Nutritious
Breakfast
A nutritious breakfast can help students be
ready for a day of learning. But when one in
five children live in households that are food
insecure, and the number of school
breakfasts served is only about half of school
lunches, many students fall short on nutrients
needed for growth and development. They also
miss out on the nutrition that may help them
reach their full academic potential.
Although school breakfast participation has increased, it’s clear that
some children don’t eat breakfast. In fact, 73 percent of K-8 public
school teachers say they see students who regularly come to school
hungry.
That’s why Sodexo partnered with the National Dairy Council through
the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy to help reimagine breakfast. They
convened a School Breakfast Summit that brought together school
experts in culinary, nutrition and product development.
Roxanne Moore, RDN, National Director of Wellness for Sodexo School
Services, and Geri Berdak, Senior Vice President of Health and
Wellness for the National Dairy Council and the Innovation Center of
U.S. Dairy, challenged summit participants to identify potential solutions
for school breakfast. A few solutions discussed include:
Partnerships. Schools need support from the broader community,
including business leaders, health and wellness professionals,
community organizers, parents and schools who must work together to
affect change and create a healthier school environment.
Education. Schools and health and wellness professionals can do more
to create awareness around the importance of breakfast and the
learning connection.
Innovation. New ideas are critical for increasing school meal
participation. Participants were encouraged to think outside the box in
proposing ideas to accelerate innovation of dairy-based, nutritious and
kid-appealing breakfast items that would be packaged, ready-to-serve or
need only quick assembly.
Sodexo will continue to work with its partners to take action around
increasing school breakfast participation to help end child hunger,
improve child nutrition and support learning.
Preserving Air Quality
in Winter
In the winter months, attention to air
quality is especially critical. Buildings are
closed up tight to provide warmth and
conserve energy, but we also have to ensure
that there is still enough fresh outside air
circulating. If there is not enough fresh air
infused into the system, carbon dioxide
levels can rise, resulting in drowsiness,
confusion, inattentiveness, and dizziness.
These symptoms can affect both students
and educators and inhibit learning.
To ensure proper air quality, air filters should
also be changed with recommended
frequency. Clogged filters make the air
handling system work harder and make heat
exchange less efficient. Filters should be
changed twice a season - with every change
of heating season and every three months
thereafter.
These same procedures for ensuring proper
air quality can be followed at home as well.
Sodexo appreciates the opportunity to
provide Quality of Life solutions for school
facilities and to help keep our young
students safe and warm this winter.
Sustainability can be EZ. We can make you SMART.
Sodexo’s global approach to sustainability is the “Better Tomorrow Plan” and our
School Services Division makes it actionable with our “Schools’ EZ Approach to a
Better Tomorrow.” This creates a sustainability plan broken into smaller pieces that
help you learn and take action on just one new initiative per semester that can
impact the school district, student well-being, and the learning environment.
This semester, we are focused on Energy - using Sodexo’s Energy “Tool Kit” and
adding value to our partnership by providing you with an Energy Plan and ways to save your district money and
educate the students on energy waste. Next semester, if we haven’t already, your Sodexo general manager can
work with you on executing some or all of the sustainability processes that can be put into place in your local
school district.
If your school district is more advanced in sustainability, our proprietary Sustainability Management and
Reporting Tool (SMART) is now available without additional cost to all Sodexo school district partners. The tool
can be set up for a whole district or to focus on one school only. SMART training and other resources are
available to Sodexo managers. If your district is interested, speak with your Sodexo General Manager right away,
so that he or she can sign up for a training webinar.