Issue:
There was a lack of culinary training, nutrition education and awareness of the role nutrition plays in chronic disease prevention among food service workers (FSW) in two local school districts. Although school lunch reimbursable meals met USDA guidelines, nutritional analysis was not available or posted for individual recipes/items served in the cafeteria in an area school district. In addition, only a handful of FSW had culinary backgrounds. It was also suspected that lower level food service workers did not always follow standard recipe preparation –adding salt and sugar to suit personal tastes or cultural norms.
Intervention:
ESMM CTC partnered with a school district and other community organizations to 1) analyze and post nutrient values for entrees, ala carte and beverages served in school cafeteria 2) offer 20 hrs of nutrition education and culinary training to 7 FSW during 2011 summer 3) hold an in-house recipe contest and 4) extend FSW training into 2012 summer
- The FSW Project was managed by MUSC Lean Team and supported by contributions from ESMMCTC, Slow Food Charleston, MUSC Dietetic Interns and Trident Technical College Culinary Institute and CCSD FNS. The 20 hour FSW training was held 1 day/week for 4 weeks at the TTC Palmer Campus in Charleston. The curriculum and training was provided by Chef Michael Carmel, Director of Trident Technical College Culinary institute and a well-known culinary educator. A TTC staff member and a Registered Dietitian assisted him. ESMMCTC provided the funds for the Chef’s assistant, facility, FSW staffing (Dor2 only), promotional materials, printing and food costs. Slow Food Charleston provided funds for Chef’s coats for each FSW.
- Recipe Contest (s) project initiated by a local Chef, managed by MUSC Lean Team and supported by ESMMCTC, Slow Food Charleston and CCSD FNS. Participation in USDA Recipes for Healthy Kids Challenge led to national recognition for ESMMCTC , CCSD, City of Charleston, and Slow Food Charleston as a partners in the contest. The contest inspired the CCSD FNS director and his staff to want to improve culinary skills for FSW and to learn more about the nutrient content of foods. MUSC Lean Team provided Dietetic Interns who analyzed CCSD school menu and ala carte items and published colorful Nutrition Facts (NF) posters which were distributed to every cafeteria and school nurse in the district. Posting of the NF led FSW and school staff to want to reduce sodium and fat in the foods and develop healthier items. All of this lead to a CCSD in-house recipe contest Spring 2012 where 10 semi-finalist schools were chosen for a “taste testing” by a panel of judges. Three top recipes were chosen and one grand prize winner. Funds for the contest came from MUSC Lean Team, ESMMCTC and CCSD FNS.
Impact:
The FSW training initially included 16 FSW (9 Dor2 and 7 CCSD). Thirty-Six new recipes were developed, FSW received personalized Chef coats and certificates of culinary training from TTC, they were elevated within their workplace as “Train the trainers”. As a result of the initial training, CCSD and Dor2 FSW adopted a policy to encourage culinary training of FSW. Another 16 FSW will be trained July 2012 but will include only CCSD FSW because of limited funds and limited capacity to provide a space for the training at an on-site school cafeteria versus TTC. As a result of this initial project both Slow Food Charleston and the College of Charleston (Boeing Company farm-school grant) are coming forward to offer funds that will extend this type of training into the academic school year 2012-2013.
The Recipe Contest(s) drew attention to the need for nutrient analysis of individual food items and recipes served in schools, additional culinary training and new kid-tested and approved recipes for school lunch menu cycles that meet or exceed USDA standards. Our ESMMCTC coalition is dedicated to finding funding from area partners to extend the recipe contest into the academic school year 2012-13 and to neighboring school districts.
