What happens when students are in charge of school lunch? The young chefs of Tilden Career Academy showed Chicago’s culinary community just how tasty and healthy they believe school food can be - and the lunch they designed may help change what schoolchildren eat for lunch nationwide.

The Tilden high school students, who study culinary arts as part of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) department of college and career preparation, took home the top prize in Healthy Schools Campaign’s Cooking up Change benefit and healthy cooking contest on Oct. 29. Teams of student chefs from across the city wowed judges and guests with their creativity in crafting healthy, tasty school meals while bringing attention to the challenges that schools face in serving healthy lunches on incredibly tight budgets. The judging panel included chefs, local celebrities, and national leaders in children’s health and wellness.

“Cooking up Change gives students a forum to present their creative ideas about what healthy school food can be,” said Rochelle Davis, Healthy Schools Campaign (HSC) founding executive director. “And while the contest is fun, it carries an important message: schools need more money for better food.”

That message is especially relevant this year as Congress prepares to begin reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act, the federal legislation that essentially determines school food policy and resources. The 2010 reauthorization offers a tremendous opportunity to create a future for school food in which fresh, healthy food is the norm and all children have access to the type of comprehensive nutrition education that creates healthy habits for a lifetime. It comes at a time when parents, teachers, students, and health advocates across the US are increasingly speaking up for healthier school food and making wellness a priority throughout the school day. From parent meetings in the school cafeteria to announcements on the White House lawn, school food is getting more attention than many advocates say they’ve seen in years.

And many schools are already leading the way by making healthy changes within the constraints of their very tight budgets. In Chicago, for example, school food leaders added more fruits and vegetables, removed trans fats and whole milk, and eliminated the use of deep fryers. The district even serves locally grown fresh or flash frozen produce several times a week, an element that Cooking up Change teams integrated into their menus.

The Tilden team’s first-place meal - vegetable and chicken jambalaya with spicy cheesy cornbread and side salad - will be served to students nationwide and in the US House of Representatives cafeteria. Team members will travel to DC to meet with Assistant White House chef Sam Kass and speak about the need for healthy, tasty school food.

“We looked to southern traditions for inspiration for our meal,” said Aljibri Reed, a junior on the Tilden team. “We worked as a family on our ideas, and besides using healthy ingredients, made our dish with love.”

Student teams created their meals in consultation with their culinary instructors, volunteer chef mentors, and dietitians from Cooking up Change sponsor Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality, which operates CPS’ school food program. The lunches students designed exceeded USDA nutrition standards and only included ingredients available for school cafeteria managers to order. The meals could require no more than six steps to prepare so that they can be replicated in school kitchens across the US.

“Our hope is that Cooking up Change and this tasty lunch ignite an energy for healthy food among students, teachers, and advocates across the country,” said Davis. “Healthy school meals are essential ingredients for student health and learning.”

Information | Web

www.cookingupchange.org
www.healthyschoolscampaign.org

Chicago Public Schools-What are they changing?

+ Add more fruits and vegetables
– Remove trans fat
– Remove whole milk
– Eliminate the use of deep fryers