VOL. LII, NO. 4 April, 2003
Published in September,
November, January, March and May by the Bureau of Food and Nutrition, Iowa
Department of Education, Grimes State Office Building, Des Moines, Iowa
50319-0146. Phone 515-281-5356.
Inside
this issue:
Team Nutrition Regional
Workshops............... Page 1-2
Save This Date and Plan to Attend.................. Page 2
What’s New With Team Nutrition?................. Page 2-3
Nutrition Connections.................................... Page 4
2003 Summer Short Courses
and Workshops... Page 5-6
Iowa Receives USDA Award.......................... Page 7
Your Purchasing and
Procurement System...... Page 7-8
Iowa Gift Law............................................... Page
8-9
Success Stories Around Iowa.......................... Page 9
Commodity News.......................................... Page
10
The Bureau of Food and Nutrition has been conducting regional Team Nutrition workshops this spring for school teams to assist them to start or maintain nutrition and physical activity initiatives. The workshops were provided in collaboration with Iowa School Food Service Association, which helped with planning and site arrangements, including meals. Teams that attended the Team-up for KIDS—healthy eating and physical activity environment workshops are now eligible to apply for $500 Team Nutrition mini-grants. Approximately 25 grants will be awarded this spring. Workshop participants also received a variety of educational and planning resources, including the following items:
v
Changing
the Scene Kit
v
Eat
Smart, Play Hard campaign kit
v
Pick
A Better Snack marketing campaign CD and posters
v
Team
Nutrition Event Planning Kit (plans and materials to conduct 40 nutrition and
physical activity promotion events)
The
workshops are kicking off an enhanced level of support for Iowa schools to
assist them to improve their nutrition and physical activity environments. The
workshops, mini-grants and materials are being funded with a Team Nutrition
grant from the United States Department of Agriculture. The Midwest Dairy
Council and the Iowa Department of Public Health are also providing funds for
the mini-grants.
Additional opportunities will be available for schools that are interested in learning more about Team Nutrition and supporting healthy school environments. These include:
v Fall regional workshops and
the opportunity to apply for fall mini-grants;
v
Team
Nutrition newsletter from the United States Department of Agriculture and a
starter kit of Team Nutrition materials by signing up as a Team Nutrition
School;
v
Iowa
Team Nutrition e-mail newsletter with information about Iowa opportunities and
events
For information about the fall workshops or other opportunities described above, contact Laura Sands at laurasands@mchsi.com.
Save
This Date
and Plan to Attend
The Action
for Healthy Kids – Eat Smart, Play Hard Summit will be held Tuesday, June
17, 2003, at the Scheman Conference Center at Iowa State University in Ames.
The Iowa summit is a follow- up to a National summit held last October in
Washington, D.C. More than 20 statewide organi-zations in Iowa have joined
together to help plan the summit and to support schools and communities in
providing healthy nutrition and physical activity environments for children and
youth.
This conference for school food service staff,
school board members, school administrators, teachers, nurses, coaches,
parents, students, and interested community partners, will provide key
information on how to address current concerns on nutrition and physical
activity with children. A variety of break-out sessions are planned to
highlight successful community-school partnerships. Learn how community health
leaders, parents, and school staff can shape an environment to encourage
children to make smart food choices and be active every day.
Because there will be no fee to attend the
conference, registration will be limited. Registration information will be
provided as soon as it is available, if you have questions prior to then,
contact, Molly Pelzer at mpelzer@midwestdairy.com or Ruth Litchfield at litch@iastate.edu.
Many
of you have heard about the USDA’s Team Nutrition through the various grants
and activities that have been ongoing in Iowa over the last five years. For those of you that may not have had an
active part of these plans here is some background information. Team Nutrition is an integrated, behavior
based, comprehensive plan for promoting the nutritional health of the Nation’s
children. This plan involves schools,
parents, and the community in efforts to continuously improve school meals, and
to promote the health and education of 50 million school children in more than
96,000 schools nationwide. Team
Nutrition’s goal is to improve children’s lifelong eating and physical activity
habits by using the principles of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the
Food Guide Pyramid.
What is a Healthy School
Meal Environment?
It has been widely publicized that our nation's children are facing a health crisis because of the increasing rate of obesity. Statistics report that the frequency of overweight children has doubled since 1970. In response to this health crisis, the USDA has launched an effort to foster healthy school nutrition environments that support healthy eating and physical activity.
How would you rate your school?
Does your school teach good nutrition in the classroom and then sell soda and candy to raise money? Are healthy food choices available at school parties and after-school activities? Does your school offer school breakfast only during exam week? Does the concession stand at athletic events offer healthy choices? Are healthy eating and physical activity priorities in your school? A healthy school environment provides positive messages that help students develop healthy eating and physical activity habits.
The
USDA worked with five medical associations to develop a Call to Action: Ten Keys to Promote Healthy Eating in Schools. This Call to Action is designed to assist
each school community in writing and establishing its own policy for
change. To support this effort the USDA
developed an action kit Changing the
Scene: Improving the School Nutrition Environment. This kit helps teachers, administrators,
school food service professionals, parents and the community look at their
school nutrition environment. The tools
included can be used to select and train a team, look at school assets and
barriers, and make needed changes. The Changing the Scene kit is free and
can be ordered online at:www.fns.usda.gov/tn/resources/changing.html
Where can
you go to join Team Nutrition and get lots of resources and information?
To join USDA’s Team Nutrition complete the enclosed
enrollment form and return to Laura Sands as noted. The following USDA web site
explains what you receive when you enroll. http://www.fns.usda.gov/tn/Join/index.htm We request that you enroll by
completing the form enclosed and not via the USDA web site. You will
still receive the materials, but it gets you on the Iowa database sooner for
receipt of additional Iowa specific information.
For additional resources try this web site: www.fns.usda.gov/tn. Team Nutrition is helping children to make
healthy food and physical activity choices.
Schools will find an enrollment form at this web site, ideas for school
activities that have already been used, an on-line catalog of resource
materials—many that can be downloaded, and a resource page created for
nutrition educators. Parents can find
healthy recipes, a ten-step guide for parents to encourage healthy eating at
school and fun nutrition-related activities for the whole family. Students are also encouraged to go to this
site to find a special student section designed by middle school students to
provide an interactive approach to learning about their health and nutrition.
Other
Online Resources
Healthy School Nutrition Environments: Promoting Healthy
Eating Behaviors material can be found at: http://www.fns.gov/cnd/HealthyEating/HealthyEatingBehavior/healthyeatingchallenge.htm
CDC Guidelines for School Healthy Programs to Promote Lifelong
Healthy Eating material can be found at:
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dash/guidelines/index.htm
CDC Guidelines for School and Community Programs to Promote
Lifelong Physical Activity Among Young People material can be found at:
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dash/guidelines/index.htm
EAT SMART. PLAY HARD. Educational materials and information
on using Power Panther at your school. www.fns.usda.gov/eatsmartplayhard
Making Health Academic-Action Steps publication can be found
at:
http://www2.edc.org/makinghealthacademic/Concept/actions.asp
The first Food and Nutrition Service National Nutrition
Education Conference, "Nutrition Connections: People, Programs, and
Science," was held on February 24-26, 2003 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in
Washington, DC. Over 800 people attended this meeting which integrated the
fifteen USDA nutrition programs. The meeting featured more than 160
presentations, 50 poster sessions, and 36 exhibitors.
Speakers for the general sessions included:
Ann Veneman, Secretary, U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA)
Eric Bost, Under Secretary for Food,
Nutrition, and Consumer Services, USDA
William Dietz, Director, Division of
Nutrition and Physical Activity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Roberto Salazar, Administrator, Food
and Nutrition Service, USDA
Commander Penelope Royall, PT, MSW, Acting Executive
Director, The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports
The obesity epidemic facing Americans was the underlying theme of the meeting. The USDA nutrition assistance programs need to examine their roles extensively to look for ways to incorporate increased physical activity as a way to help turn the obesity epidemic around. The breakout sessions dealt with the initiatives and resources that are currently available to assist in developing nutrition education interventions to help improve the nutritional status and lifestyle behaviors of all Americans.
Historically,
nutritional deficiencies and food security were behind policy changes in
federal rules and regulations. Today, the obesity epidemic has become a
national concern. Food is easily available, large portions are becoming the
norm (super-sizing), and in general we don’t need to work as hard as our
ancestors did. Colorado on the Move
is a program developed to increase regular physical activity. The national
initiative, American on the Move will
be introduced in May. It is hoped that this initiative can inspire Americans to
make small changes in their lives that can help increase levels of physical
activity, begin to decrease calorie intake, prevent weight gain and enjoy the
many benefits of better health. The web site for the Colorado initiative is http://www.coloradoonthemove.org
Dr.
Schwartz, Co-Director of Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders, spoke
about, “Raising Healthy Children in the
Current Environment: The Challenge Facing Parents”. She explained how
children develop food preferences and what can be done to influence that
process. Her first point directed us not to give sweets for “being good”, but
to look for other types of rewards. Children learn to develop preferences for
food that is visible but restricted, and when used as a reward. Also, provide
nutrition education to counteract the 10,000 food ads a year that children
see. Allow children to self regulate
food intake under certain circumstances such as when healthy food is available.
Children can learn to like a new food, but it can take up to ten exposures to
develop that particular food preference. In addition, people tend to eat foods
that are most easily available. If you keep healthy foods readily available and
serve them frequently then you are doing your part to improve nutrition and
raise healthy children.
Ann
Veneman talked about, Healthier US: A
National Priority. This initiative is based on the premise that increasing
personal fitness and becoming healthier is critical to achieving a better and
longer life and is as easy as making small adjustments and improvements in the
activities of daily life. Everyone has a role they can play in improving the
health of Americans. Schools can contribute by supporting healthy school
environments, serving meals that meet dietary guidelines, and incorporating physical
activity. More information can be located http://healthierus.gov
Information about the conference including the
program and agenda can still be found at www.fns.usda.gov/oane/menu/nnec/NNEC.html
Summer Short Courses
and Workshops 2003
The Bureau of Food and Nutrition will be offering a
number of workshops this summer. A NEW workshop for new employees or those
moving into the food production area is called “Food Production”. The following
list of offerings describes the content, the intended audience, cost,
timeframes and location. On-line
registration is available at https://www2.adp.iastate.edu/ECE1/conftracks.asp?confid=sclfood
or download the registration
forms athttp://www.state.ia.us/educate/ecese/fn/shortcourses.html
The
registration deadlines are important since classes may have limited enrollment or could
be cancelled if enrollment is too low, so please register early. Please note late fee for registering after
deadline. If you believe you will have new staff that will be coming,
please hold a space under the school name with a contact so materials can be
prepared for them.
Registration Deadline For
All Courses Except Basic Math And New Managers
Is May 23rd
Class: Managers Update
Date: June 18, 2003
Time: Registration:
8:00 a.m.
Class:
8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Location: Scheman
Building
Iowa State University, Ames
Cost: $50
– Includes lunch and materials
After
May 23 - $60
Audience: Managers
that have been in food
service over 3 years
Description: This
course provides a review of current program information, an update of
regulatory changes, and practical applications for managers who have been in
food service for more than 3 years.
Class: Food
Service Basics
Date: June 19-20, 2003
Time: Registration
– 8:00 a.m.
Class
– 9:00-4:00 p.m. June 19 and
8:00-4:00 p.m., June 20
Location: MacKay
Hall,
Iowa State University, Ames
Cost: $125
– Includes lunches, breaks, and
materials
After May 23 - $145
Audience: New
Food Service Staff
Description: This
course provides an overview of all serving requirements, offer vs. serve
impli-cations, food quality and food safety issues. Safe work practices and
working as part of the food service team are also covered.
Class: Financial Management
Date: July 8-9, 2003
Time: Registration
– 8:00 a.m.
Class
– 9:00-4:00 p.m., July 8 and
8:00-4:00 p.m., July 9
Location: Scheman
Building
Iowa
State University, Ames
Cost: $125
per person includes lunches
and materials*
After May 23 - $145
Audience: Food Service Managers/Directors and
School Business Managers/
Accountants
Description: Determine how to manage the
costs of operating a school food service program. Learn how to collect,
analyze, interpret, and apply data from your food service operation to make decisions
that will improve your cash flow. Participants will be able to list three ways
to increase their local food service revenue.
*Please bring current year’s budget and cost
analysis for the food service fund. Also bring the current percentage of free,
reduced, and paid students participating in the school lunch and breakfast
program for your district.
NOTE: There
will be a 50 school district maximum registered for this workshop with no more
than two per district.
Class: Food
Production
Date: July 15-16, 2003
Time: Registration
– 8:00 a.m.
Class
– 9:00-4:00 p.m. July 15 and
8:00-4:00 p.m., July 16
Location: MacKay
Hall,
Iowa State University, Ames
Cost: $125
– Includes lunches, breaks, and
materials
After May 23 - $145
Audience: New Food Service Employees or those
moving into food production
Description: Opportunities
for equipment demon-stration and hands on applications of food service
principles will be taught. Food quality issues related to quantity production
will be discussed. Efficient work methods will be discussed and demonstrated.
Training will also include NSLP and SBP guidelines. NOTE: This
class will be limited to the first 45 people to sign up due to space
constraints.