Food & Nutrition [Volume 4, Number 4]

              August 1974 • Volume 4 • Number 4
Pt?CPEPTY OF I H~;.
' '")~?ARY
SEP 2 9 1975
ui•IVt.":.::.ll y OF NORTH CA~ULINA
AT GREENSBORO
AS HE~ FOR MOTHERS AND CHILDREN
2
WICin
Arizona:
Food help for
Mothers and
Children
By Ralph E. Vincent
WOMEN AND YOUNG children
in 14 areas in Arizona are receiving
special foods to supplement their
diets. They are participants in the
new Special Supplemental Food Pro­gram
for Women, Infants, and Chil­dren
(WIC), which will operate in
253 project areas throughout the
country.
Staff at all 253 project areas will
collect basic medical data to help
measure the effectiveness of the pro­gram,
but in 19 areas there will be a
detailed medical evaluation con­ducted
under the direction of the
University of North Carolina, School
of Public Health. Two of the areas in
Arizona will participate in the de­tailed
evaluation.
"The WIC program is a 'first' in
that it combines medical and nutri­tional
evaluations with a specific
supply of nutritious foods," says
Anita Yanochik, who heads up the
operation of WIC in Arizona. "This
will enable us to determine the health
benefits of such a program."
august 1974
Brothers and sisters look on as staff at the
Coconino County WIC project take blood
samples from participating children. The nu­trition
aides periodically check the height,
weight, and head circumfer~nce of children
and infants, and the height and weight of ex­pectant
and nursing mothers. Coconino is
one of two project areas in Arizona taking
part in the detailed evaluation of the WIC
program. A/114 project areas in the State
issue vouchers to WIC participants.
Chief of the Bureau of Nutrition
of the Arizona Department of Health
Services, Ms. Yanochik has been
working with health care services in
Arizona for the past 7 years. She is
currently active in innovative work
in monitoring children in early de­tection
of high cholesterol and
cardiovascular disease.
Ms. Yanochik explains that selec­tion
of the project areas in Arizona
was made by USDA's Food and Nu­trition
Service on the basis of infor­mation
contained in applications sub­mitted
by local health agencies.
Twelve of the selected sites began
operating in January, and the remain­ing
two opened in March and May.
The detailed medical evaluation
will involve approximately 300
women, infants, and children in
Coconino County and 1,350 in Pima
County.
"We were ready for the WIC pro­gram,"
Ms. Yanochik says. " We've
always had the medical component
in our health care delivery system.
We were doing screening, referral,
monitoring, and aide training, but we
didn't have a food component. Now
the clients get supplemental foods in
addition to medical services."
WIC project areas can use a
variety of ways to provide supple­mental
foods to participants. They can
distribute the food at health clinics,
issue food vouchers redeemable at
authorized retai I stores for specified
items, or use variations of these two
basic systems.
Arizona developed a voucher sys­tem
with the cooperation of the
banking industry and the Retail
Grocers Association of Arizona, which
was also helpful in initiating the food
stamp program.
"We went to the grocers' associa­tion,
and said: 'Here are the regula­tions
for the new WIC program, help.'
They were in on the ground floor in
3
planning, and we developed the
voucher system together," Anita
Yanochik explains.
Foods authorized by the Food and .
Nutrition Service for use in the pro­gram
are:
i::r For infants: Iron-fortified infant
formula, iron-fortified cereal, and
fruit juice which is high in vitamin C.
After age 6 months, participating in­fants
may receive whole or evaporated
milk, or both.
i::r For children, pregnant women
and nursing mothers: Milk which is
high in vitamins A and D, including
whole, skim, low-fat, evaporated, or
non-fat dry milk; cheese, as a substi­tute
for milk; eggs; iron-fortified
cereal; and fruit or vegetable juice
which is high in vitamin C.
Expectant or nursing mothers, in­fants,
and children under 4 years old
can participate in WIC, if they: live
in an approved project area ; are
qualified to receive free or reduced
cost medical treatment from the par­ticipating
health agency or clinic; and
are determined by competent pro­fessional
personnel of the local
agency to be in need of suppleme ntal
food assistance.
The WIC program is designed to
help those people who are consid­ered
"nutritional risks." This would
include, for example, pregnant or
lactating women with known inade­quate
nutritional patterns, high inci­dence
of anemia, high rates of pre­maturity
or miscarriage, or inadequate
patterns of growth-being obese or
underweight. Infants and children
with deficient patterns of growth,
high incidence of nutritional anemia,
or known inadequate nutritional pat­terns
would also be considered "nu­tritional
risks."
Martha Tosti, Chief of the Bureau
of Nutrition of the Maricopa County
Health Department, says that the WIC
program has been well received in
the county.
"Our workers have done a monu­mental
job in getting so many eligi­ble
clients enrolled in the program,"
she explains.
At the project areas in Coconino
and Pima Counties the detailed
medical evaluation is now underway.
The staff collects household informa­tion
and clinical data from all par­ticipants
during their initial visit. This
4
includes the height and weight of
mothers, and height, weight and
head circumference of infants and
children. They also take a sample of
blood from each participant for
hemoglobin and hematocrit deter­minations,
and for storage and subse­quent
shipment to the University of
North Carolina for evaluation. Dietary
data is collected from half of the
participating women and one fourth
of the infants and children.
The staff at the clinics repeat these
procedures at periodic intervals
while the mothers, infants and chil­dren
a re gettir.g supplemental foods.
Anita Yanochik explains that the
nutrition aides are trained to collect
the information necessary for the
medical evaluation.
"But what's most important," she
says, "is that they're indigenous to the
community, and that they have a
feeling for people. We can train them
to do the specific work."
Faye Wong, the nutritionist who
directs the WIC program in Coconino
County, adds that the aides do all of
the interviewing. They also issue
vouchers, process blood, read results,
and provide nutrition counseling to
the patients.
"When you' re working with fami­lies,"
Ms. Yanochik points out, "it's
important to assess the total family
environment so that you can be sure
just what the problems are and what
kind of therapy is needed.
"After we screen a family," she
continues, "the nutritionist works up
a plan with the aide. If we determine
that a child is anemic, or obese, or
diabetic, for example, the aides go
into the home with a specific plan
for that problem.
"If you want behavioral changes,
you really have to do complete and
consistent followup," she concludes.
Ms. Yanochik and the local health
agencies she works with are helping
low income families understand the
important relationship between nutri­tion
and health.
According to Dr. William j.
Thomas, director of the Coconino
County Health Department, nutrition
is an integral part of the public health
system. "We hope that the WIC pro­gram
will provide conclusions that
will help us in operating similar pro­grams,"
he says. "k
LUNCH
RECIPES GET
'KID-TESTED'
By Herb Strum
USDA's CURRENT recipe-testing
study recently completed a 3-month
session in New jersey. The project
was widely acclaimed by the main
participants-classes of fifth and sixth­graders
from schools in the Hamilton
Township a rea.
"I never knew I liked split peas
this way," said a 12-year-old recipe
tester after finishing her portion of
beef-rice-split pea casserole.
Having children test new menu
ideas represented an innovative de­parture
in the manner of testing
recipes by USDA's Food and Nutri­tion
Service and Agricultural Research
Service. The object of the joint ven­ture
was to determine the acceptabil­ity
of several USDA-tested main dish
recipes in schools selected from each
of the five regions throughout the
country.
In New jersey, four elementary
schools-Yardville Heights, Morgan,
Greenwood and Klockner- were se­lected
for the project in Hamilton
Township, a school district near the
State capital of Trenton.
Monitors for this project in these
four schools were Hamilton Town­ship
school lunch director Agnes
Shaddow and FNS home economist
Joan Ruesser from the Northeast
Regional Nutrition and Technical
Services Staff. They monitored and
observed all stages of the project, in­cluding
recipe preparation by the
cafeteria staffs. In addition, they dis­tributed
and gathered acceptability
scorecards from the children after
the youngsters had eaten and evalu­ated
their recipe for the day.
The combined efforts of FNS and
ARS went into the early planning of
the project. They selected the recipes,
located the schools and defined
guidelines to be followed . The result
was an orderly series of 24 tests-
12 recipes, each tested twice-over a
3-month period.
In the initial phase of the testing,
food and nutrition
Dr. Mary Hill and Meredith Robinson
of the Agricultural Research Service
visited each participating school to
provide some preliminary instructions
to principals, teachers, monitors and
cafeteria staffs.
On the first day of testing in each
school, the ARS representatives
worked with the monitors on the
procedures involved in gathering
data with the least disruption to the
school program.
FNS and ARS personnel attended
the first testing day at each school.
After that, the school district took
over the operation.
Monitor Joan Ruesser explained
that written comments from the
scorecards will determine acceptabil-august
1974
ity of the foods. However, she said,
on-the-spot comments of the 1 0-to-
12-year olds were also revealing and
amusing. She quickly learned that
youngsters have more sophistication
in matters of taste than adults realize.
"Their ability to detect new or dif­ferent
spices or condiments and com­binations
of foods was uncanny," she
commented.
Also noteworthy, Ms. Ruesser
pointed out, was their ability to ferret
out pepper or chile powder in the
recipe and to loudly acclaim, at the
other end of the spectrum, that the
food was plain or flat and in need
of "something."
"And they could tell whether or
not an ingredient was fully cooked or
in need of more stove tin;te," she
added.
After a few rounds of collecting
the data, the USDA staff realized that
"kid-testing" recipes was not some­thing
that is performed in a perfunc­tory
manner, but bears close watch­ing.
And as the youngsters tastes
went, so went their acceptance (or
non-acceptance) of the dozen recipes
submitted for the project.
Included in the recipes tested and
standardized by the Agricultural Re­search
Service were: Baked Beans,
Cheese-Rice Casserole, Liver Creole,
Beef-Rice-Split Pea Casserole, Tamale
Pie, Chicken and Noodles, Savory
Pork, Pork and Sauerkraut, Bean
Tacos, Beef-Macaroni-Tomato Casse­role,
Peanut Butter Meat Balls, and
Lasagna.
Cafeteria personnel in each of the
four schools responded enthusiastic­ally,
and their enthusiasm picked up
with each test. Cafeteria managers
soon learned the recipe testing was
beneficial to them as well as the
students.
At the Yardville Heights School,
cafeteria manager Ruth Weber said
the project brought innovative sug­gestions
to her daily meal preparation.
"I am always running out of ideas,
and this has put new life in our
kitchen," she explained. "Not only
do our kids have big appetites, but
our need for more and more recipes
is almost inexhaustible."
Klockner school manager Severine
Mangus said she enjoyed the chal­lenge
of working with new and un­tried
recipes and delighted in the
acceptance of her "kitchen chem­istry"
by the students.
"I feed these kids and treat them
just as if they were my own," she
added. "I like my work and I think
the children know it because they
enjoy my cooking. I buy fresh food
and serve it to them just the way it
is supposed to be served."
Greenwood School Principal Vin­cent
Vacarro showed up with the
students to take part in the testing.
According to cafeteria manager
Colette Gulli, the principal is a fre­quent
visitor to the school kitchen.
"He has been coming down ever
since we started our testing," she
said. "The kids like to have him
around."
Vacarro and teachers at the school
have high opinions of both Ms. Gulli
and the recipe testing project.
"I like just about everything Ms.
Gulli serves," the principal said.
Fifth grade teacher Ronald Deluca
applauded the testing: "The recipe
ideas are a welcome change in the
cafeteria pattern ."
Each child involved in the project
became a fashioner of future meals
for the school lunch set. They ex­pressed
appreciation of the fact that
grownups were recording their
opinions and suggestions.
Information gathered in the project
will be used to determine whether
these recipes will be used in the
ongoing revisions of USDA's publica­tion,
"Quantity Recipes for Type A
School Lunches." *:
5
School lunch
Gets a Spanish
Setting
THE MOTIF IS Spanish. Bright
wall colors accent the archways
featured throughout the dining area.
Diners choose from tables or
booths-or can select seating on a
small balcony overlooking the
main eating area.
This description of the Ben
Lomond High School cafeteria in
Ogden, Utah, may explain the main
reason for a sharp increase in
school lunch participation there last
year when the cafeteria was
transformed into a unique eating
place for students.
The tastefully decorated cafeteria
came about when Superintendent
William Garner and the Board of
Education began looking at ways to
increase student interest in eating
at school. When the suggestion of
building a new cafeteria was
considered too expensive, an
architect was called in to decide
what could be done with the existing
facility.
The dining area was expanded to
include two hallways and an unused
classroom. Archways were made
from unneeded doorways, forming
the Spanish motif, and a balcony
6
was developed. Bright colors and
carpeting added the finishing
touches.
An especially desirable feature
in the new cafeteria arrangement,
points out school principal Russell
Carruth, is that the overhead doors
can partition off the kitchen from
the dining area. This enables
different groups to use the space for
meetings and other activities when
students are not eating. Also by
closing the sliding doors, cafeteria
personnel can continue their
work undisturbed.
A number of organizations use
the cafeteria. Drama and music
groups hold rehearsals there. Local
musicians use it for piano recitals and
chamber concerts. School officials
use the space to give special tests.
Not limited entirely to school
functions, the cafeteria is used
occasionally by a senior citizens
group which meets there for dinner,
although their food is catered.
In addition to the new decor,
food selection was also increased
to attract student customers.
They can now choose from a salad
bar, sandwich line or regular meal­all
meeting Type A lunch standards
required by the Food and Nutrition
Service.
The addition of the two new
serving lines has created no problems
in food waste, points out cafeteria
manager Mabel Checketts.
"We prepare fewer sandwiches
and salads than we actually think we
will need," she says, "but we have
the ingredients ready to make
additional ones." Even though the
. wider food selection is probably
part of the reason for the increased
participation, the regular meal is
still the best seller.
What are the results of the
refurbishing? Participation increased
by more than 100 students per day
with the opening of the redesigned
facility.
Faculty members, too, are
pleased with the transition. One
home economics instructor says
that several teachers especially
like the salad plate, which helps
them maintain their weight.
According to Cluff Snow, school
lunch director fo~ the Utah Depart­ment
of Education, the Ben Lomond
cafeteria is among the most attractive
and unusual in the State.
One of the real compliments
came from the student body when
the traditional "Scots Week"
banquet was held in the cafeteria
this year ... and attendance was the
best ever. In previous years, this
banquet for Ben Lomond students
was held at a local restaurant.
A Ben Lomond high schooler
sums it up, "It's really kind of fun
to eat in the cafeteria, now." -k
food and nutrition
Communities
Learn About
School lunch
"I DIDN'T KNOW THAT."
"Nobody ever told me."
"Where can I find out more about
the School Lunch Program?"
Those were some of the more
repeated comments heard by
representatives of the Food and
Nutrition Service and the New Jersey
State Department of Education at
the Woodbridge Shopping Center,
where an estimated 100,000 persons
saw a special school lunch display
during a week-long exhibit.
The purpose of the exhibit was
to bring the National School Lunch
Program message to parents who live
in the Woodbridge vicinity, an area
that has a low percentage of schools
Service for
Elderly
Shoppers
ELDERLY PERSONS living in
retirement homes sometimes have
difficulty doing their grocery
shopping. But thanks to one Dallas
grocery chain, that's a worry
residents of a local senior citizens
home do not have.
These senior citizens live in
a high-rise apartment complex. Each
apartment has a fully equipped
kitchen in which the residents
prepare all their meals. So for them
grocery shopping is a necessity
and not a luxury.
Since December, the grocery
chain has chartered a city bus twice
a month for residents of this
complex. Anywhere from 25 to 40
people take advantage of the free
round trip, which is comfortable as
well as convenient.
august 1974
participating in the program.
In addition to the USDA school
lunch exhibit, Type A lunch
replicas and several publications
on the subject were on display
for passersby.
Many parents took the opportunity
to discuss with USDA and State
representatives the basics of the
Type A lunch and what it is designed
to do. Also, parents were able to
find out if their children's
schools were participating in the
National School Lunch Program and,
if not, who they could see to discuss
starting a program.
The shopping center project is
but one instance of an ongoing
nationwide campaign to enlist
schools in the National School
Lunch Program. The campaign,
known as "Outreach," is a combined
Federal, State and local effort in
the area of child nutrition.
Outreach is a multi-faceted
project, requiring active participation
by all agencies, organizations and
individuals interested in providing
nutritional noon meals to the
~ .~
Because more than half of these
shoppers use food stamps, the trips
are scheduled around the arrival
of the stamps. Before the first
trip, store officials presented a
program at the complex to inform
residents how to shop with food
stamps. They also discussed tips
on bargain buying and good
nutrition.
The food stamp program is
fairly new to the Dallas area, and
store officials wanted to be sure
that the res idents were fully informed
of how the program works.
According to the store manager,
the chain store didn't undertake the
project to make money. In fact,
with $40 for the bus rental and
added personnel expenses, he
pointed out, it is necessary for
the shoppers to buy $400 worth of
groceries for the store to break even.
Apartment residents wear name
tags for purposes of riding the
bus and for identification as they
shop. Store personnel are eager to
Nation's children.
In Hyde County, South Dakota,
action by teachers concerned with
the health of 150 children in one
and two-room schools has resulted in
balanced lunches each day for
the youngsters.
The teachers, who live in the
community of Highmore and drive to
the nine outlying schools each
day, pick up pre-packed lunches at
the Highmore School cafeteria and
take them to their schools. The
lunches are refrigerated at the
schools until noon and then heated
and served.
Lunches are prepared the
previous day and kept under
refrigeration until the teachers call
for them. Until the arrangement
started last fall, the nine schools
had no food service.
In California and other States,
examples of the results of outreach
efforts are abundant. Public school
districts in Los Angeles, Oakland,
Fullerton, Newark, Santa Cruz and
Fontana Counties are providing food
service to parochial schools. i::f
help a ll these shoppers, and they go
out of their way to offer assistance.
One blind lady is able to do her
shopping only with the help of one
of the checkers.
The store manager reports that his
staff really looks forward to the
visits of the elderly shoppers.
Prior to the chartered bus project,
apartment residents had to pay
$1.50 per person to ride in a private
car to shop. No matter how many
rode in the car, the price was always
the same.
Shoppers usually spend about an
hour and a half in the store. Store
employees load groceries in the bus
and then follow it back to the
apartment complex where they help
residents carry the packages to
their apartments.
"I couldn't walk anywhere to
get groceries," explained one woman
on crutches. "If you don't have
a family, there's nobody to take
you shopping. I really appreciate this
service." i::f
7
8 load and nutrition
august 1974
Food Stamp Security Begins
With Printing
By Martha Cashion
Concentration and
skilled steady hands
are necessary tools for
the master craftsman
who engraves the por­trait
of Lincoln on the
$5 food coupon (be­low).
The serial num­bers
on the $5 coupon
are inspected as
sheets are collated
into booklets at the
Bureau of Engraving
and Printing (right).
In March 1974, 13.5 million people
spent over $450 million worth of food
stamps in grocery stores all over the
country.
Because food stamps are like
money for needy people to spend at
authorized food stores, the Bureau of
Engraving and Printing (BEP) takes
special precautions against counter­feiting
and fraud. Similar to those
built into the design and printing of
paper money, these precautions in­clude
special designs and inks. And
because of the volume of stamps
needed to meet the demands of the
food stamp program, there is also a
strict accountability system.
Food stamps were first created at
the Bureau of Engraving and Printing
when the food stamp program began
in the early 1960's. After USDA agreed
upon a design for the coupons, the
project was turned over to a master
engraver.
Why an engraver?
" Engraving is one of the primary
keys to security in printing," says
Robert Rausch, superintendent of
product control at BEP. "The designs
are composed of intricately engraved
lines. If you look very closely at the
design on a food stamp, you will see
that everything is composed of
minute lines or dots . or dashes. The
intricacy with which these engraved
lines are combined determines the
difficulty of reproduction, hence the
security of the engraving."
The engraver's task is to translate
a picture into lines in a steel plate,
or "die." This die, which is then the
9
master engraving, is used in the
printing of such security items as
paper money and food stamps. The
result of this printing method, which
is called "intaglio", is a three-dimen­sional
image.
Run your finger over the surface of
a food stamp or a dollar bill. On each
you will notice a textured surface
caused by ink which is standing out
on the paper. No counterfeiter can
reproduce money or food stamps or
any other intaglio-printed item just
by taking a picture of it. He must
duplicate the three-dimensional
image. And a skillful engraver makes
his engravings in such a way that no
one can copy them exactly.
Lines are an engraver's medium,
and there is no predetermined man­ner
in which to carve them. Beyond
the basic techniques of engraving, the
way the lines fit together is left up
to the engraver. He may use cross
hatches, insert dashes, or use any
number of methods to achieve tonal
qualities, lighting, shading and a
sense of depth. This individual cre­ativity
is what adds to the difficulty
in counterfeiting.
A number of steps are involved in
intaglio printing. The master engrav­ing
of the product is used to transfer
the design a number , of times into
printing plates. One printing plate of
food stamps contains many images
that will be printed on one sheet of
paper at a time.
When the printing plate is pre­pared,
it is positioned on a press. As
the press rolls, the plate is first cov­ered
with ink and then wiped clean.
However, since the design is actually
indented in the metal plate, ink re­mains
in the engraved portion. As
the printing plate meets a sheet of
paper, enormous pressure is applied,
and the paper lifts the ink out of the
"wells" of the engravings.
The engraving process played an
important role in the expansion of
the food stamp program, for as the
dollar value of the program increased,
the need for security also became
greater. When USDA introduced the
$5 coupon, a portrait of Lincoln be­came
part of its design.
"Portraits are one of the most diffi­cult
types of engravings to repro­duce,"
explains Robert Rausch. "Be­cause
achieving the desired likeness
10
requires much skill, portraits are ex­tremely
difficult to counterfeit."
But complex engravings play just
a part in the total security of food
stamps. The ink and paper used also
have special features to discourage
counterfeiting. Formulas for produc­ing
the exact color of ink are kept
secret. In addition, each sheet of
paper used for food stamps is ac­counted
for : the blank paper is
counted when it arrives at the pro­duction
areas, and that figure must
agree at each stage of the printing
operation. Sheets set aside to be
destroyed because of errors or poor
quality must also be tabulated.
Once the coupons are serialized,
they are kept in order and ultimately
distributed by those numbers. If a
discrepancy appears, it is corrected
at once. This intense security is main­tained
throughout the entire distribu­tion
process.
Providing proper security is prob­ably
the most crucial step in the pro­duction
of food stamps. Getting
enough coupons printed to handle
the program's needs is next.
The amount of food stamps needed
to meet the growth in program par­ticipation
has increased six-fold since
1969. The fact that most food stamps
cannot be reused also increases the
need for steady production. Only 50-
cent coupons can sometimes be re­used,
and then, only when given as
change in a transaction. Otherwise,
all coupons are endorsed by the
grocer and deposited in his bank.
The bank, in turn, forwards the cou­pons
to the Federal Reserve system,
where samples are tested for genuine­ness.
Then all coupons are destroyed.
In March 1972 the production of
coupons was averaging 12 million
coupons a day. With the forecast
calling for continued program
growth, the Bureau realized they
were not going to be able to handle
production of food stamps exclusive­ly.
Therefore, they contracted with
the American Bank Note Company
(ABN) in September 1973 to print
and distribute food stamps.
One of the world's largest printers
of security items, ABN was well­equipped
to handle the demands of
the food stamp program. They cre­ated
special facilities and separate
staff for handling production of the
coupons. In addition, they developed
an efficient distribution flow and an
accurate accounting system for cou­pon
inventory.
ABN welcomed the opportunity to
work with the food stamp program.
As Charles E. Troy, Assistant General
Manager for Manufacturing, puts it,
"We feel privileged to be entrusted
with this operation and to assist the
Bureau in the printing of food
stamps."
Today ABN handles 80 percent of
the production of food stamps, with
the Bureau providing 20 percent. All
coupons, including those printed at
the Bureau in Washington, are
shipped to receiving points from the
ABN distribution center in New York.
There orders are received, processed
and shipped out through registered
mail or armored carrier service. The
distribution center sends out an
average of $26,000,000 worth of
coupons a day.
In the near future there will be
changes in the production of food
stamps. The world paper shortage de­mands
another look at the amount
of paper the food stamp program
generates each day.
Moreover, low coupon denomi­nations
are no longer adequate to
meet today's program needs. In re­assessing
the situation, USDA has de­termined
that high er denominations
would not only serve food stamp re­cipients
better, but would also reduce
the number of pieces of paper needed
and, therefore, conserve paper.
What the Department is planning
is a series of $1, $5 and $10 coupons
which will incorporate security pre­cautions
commensurate with the in­creased
value. After the new designs
are completed, USDA will conduct a
massive educational campaign to
spread the word to grocers, recip­ients
and the public in general.
USDA has an excellent record
against successful counterfeiting of
food stamps. This is due in large part
to the group of dedicated people at
the Bureau of Engraving and Printing
and the American Bank Note Com­pany
who conduct the business of
safeguarding the manufacturing of
food stamps. Keeping fraud to a
minimum helps USDA meet the goal
of the food stamp program-to feed
needy people. 1:f
food and nutrition
august 1974
California's
Nutrition
Education Project
Tests Ways to
Reach Kids
By Benedicta Montoya
KIDS LIKE THINGS that are
sweet (cookies), and things that are
sour (dill pickles), and there's
never a problem with ice cream,
peanut butter or chocolate pudding.
They have been known to sample
dirt, leaves and flowers, and turn up
their noses at corn, carrots, potatoes
and peas.
But put a hundred primary students
in a school cafeteria, place a hot
nutritious lunch in front of them,
and depending upon the weather,
who is sitting beside them, or a
hundred-and-one other variables,
they may or may not eat.
What's a school food service
director to do?
Some school districts in
California set to work on the
students' environment, that is, their
immediate human environment­their
classmates, teachers, and parents
as well as the school staff.
In May 1973 these school districts
began participating in an 18-month
nutrition education project. The
purpose of the project was to
demonstrate that a statewide
nutrition education program,
correlated with school food service,
could improve the children's eating
habits and their attitudes toward
food. Some 10,000 kindergarten
through third grade students took
part in the program.
Funded by USDA's Food and
Nutrition Service, the project was
conducted by the California
Department of Education in
cooperation with a selected group
of school districts. Project investigator
was Violet I. Roefs, a consultant in
nutrition education with the State
Department of Education.
As part of the nutrition education pro;ect in
Fullerton, Calif., students made drawings of
special foods. They also took part in group
activities and played with a "nutrition train."
11
"Our aim was to involve parents
and school personnel in a program of
food and nutrition instruction
presented by local health and
nutrition experts," Ms. Roefs
explained.
The project ranged from Northern
California to the Mexican border. It
involved 43 public and nonpublic
schools in 18 school districts,
located in eight counties.
More than 250 school staff
members (primary teachers, school
food service personnel, nurses and
school administrators), and 250
parents participated.
In addition, some 240 secondary
students and 24 college and
university students and dietetic
interns became involved in the
nutrition education project.
In developing the lesson plans
for each of the instructional
programs, Ms. Roefs and her
co-workers emphasized getting
participants to think about why
they do things the way they do.
"This approach," Ms. Roefs said,
"is called 'Values Clarification.' It's
a technique widely used in
health and drug education."
A typical lesson was designed
to get the participants' attention and
to provide them with enough factual
information to discuss food and
nutrition concepts in small group
sessions.
Following the discussion, there
was a feedback session involving
the entire group. Then the
effectiveness of the lesson was
evaluated. The teachers were asked
to list ways to use the information
in the classrooms. Parents were asked
to list the effects they expected
the sessions to have on food and
nutrition practices in their homes and
how they might help the classroom
teachers with nutrition education.
The instructional model for
parents was titled, "Take Your
Turn as a Smart Food Shopper."
This was a series of five, 2-hour
lessons in nutrition and consumer
education. The topics covered
were: "What Determines How the
Food Dollar is Spent?", "Does Billy
Really Need Broccoli?", "Why Won't
Susie Eat?", "Can You Eat Better for
Less?", and "Are School Meals
a Good Buy?"
12
The instructors for the sessions
were local experts. They included
a dentist, a food editor, and a
nationally known author of a book
on nutrition, as well as dietitians,
home economics instructors, county
health coordinators and government
representatives.
While a few of the resource
personnel were nationally known,
most were locally prominent people,
concerned about food and nutrition
but previously not involved in
working with the schools.
"One important part of the
project was to mobilize the local
experts," Ms. Roefs explained.
The project director praised the
parents who participated in the
project. "They displayed a good deal
of interest. They'll make good
mis5ionaries," she said.
She explained that the reactions
of different parent groups varied.
In some project areas the parents
seemed quite knowledgeable about
food and nutrition, and were looking
for more advanced information.
Many wanted to know how they
could help in the classroom.
In other areas, parents expected
more information on how to
shop and buy.
The project was designed to span
the State's 'Varied economic and
socia l levels. Barbara Swantz,
child nutrition consu ltant with the
State Department of Education,
worked with a group of parents who
were mostly Spanish-speaking.
Ms. Swantz did not speak Spanish,
but a bilingual parent volunteered
to translate. Some printed and visual
Spanish language materials from
the agricultural extension service
also helped.
The instructional model for
primary teachers and other school
personnel was called, "Format for
Nutrition Action." This was a
series of ten 2-hour lessons in
nutrition, consumer education, and
teaching strategies for primary
school students. Primary school
teachers who successfully completed
the course of instruction received
two quarter-hours of credit through
the extension program of the
University of California at Davis.
While the classes were made up
mostly of primary teachers, the
project allowed for the inclusion of
school food service staff, school
nurses, and school administrators.
"At one project a school principal
became very food and nutrition
conscious," Ms. Roefs said. "As a
direct result of the project the
principal decided to institute family
style feeding at his school."
In addition to school staff
and parents, the project also
involved a limited number of
secondary school students. A series
of four 50-minute lessons in
nutrition and consumer education
was presented to the group of 240
students. The purpose was to
provide them with information on
nutrition and food so they cou ld
help teach the other children. During
the project, selected secondary
student teams went to primary school
dining rooms to work with the
younger students. For 2 days per
week for 4 weeks, they taught by
setting a good example.
In the San Ramon School District,
according to Arlene Pearson, school
food service director, "The
secondary students really got turned
on to nutrition.
"The district did a plate waste
measurement on the secondary
students," she explained, "but there
was no waste to measure. They
certainly set a good example."
Assisting some of the primary
school teachers with food and
nutrition instruction in the classroom
were 24 co llege and university
students and dietetic interns. Ms.
Roefs said that the students were
well received by the children and
the primary teachers were pleased
with the lessons they prepared.
The ultimate objective of the
nutrition education project was to
improve the nutritional habits of the
primary school students. To this
end, primary school teachers
participating in the nutrition
education project developed two
lesson plans to use in their classes
for 3 months last spring. The plans
were patterned along the technique
of "Values Clarification." Instead of
asking the children specific
questions, the plans encouraged
them to volunteer the information
and talk about their attitudes.
The teachers covered three
food and nutrition
•
concepts in the classroom: "Food is
needed to make our bodies
healthy," "Food brings enjoyment
to our lives," and "Food is prepared
by many people." From these
three concepts, teachers stressed 10
points, ranging from identification of
the four food groups to enjoying
the meal experience and exploring
foods from different lands. In
addition, they highlighted five specific
foods-dry beans, oranges, broccoli,
cornmeal and milk.
How did the nutrition education
project affect the eating habits and
attitudes of participating children
and adults?
In a series of tests to determine
participants' eating habits and their
knowledge of food and nutrition,
the project leaders found significant
changes. The tests and question­naires
were given to participants
before the project was begun, at the
midway point, and upon completion.
"In our preliminary examination
of the mass of data collected during
the project," Ms. Roefs explained,
"there were substantial increases in
factual information and changes
in attitudes toward food on the part
of all participants."
Changes in the attitudes of
children showed up in their choices
of favorite foods. "At the beginning
of the project, the primary students
had indicated such things as candy
or snow cones as favorite foods,"
the project leader said. "But the
final questionnaire showed a
reduction in snack items with little
nutritional value."
Adult participants were asked
to recall what they had eaten the
previous day. In the final question­naire,
they reported eating more
nutritious meals and snacks.
A second measure of the project's
effectiveness involved plate waste
studies, which were conducted in
school cafeterias. On "plate waste
days" the children were served
meals that included the foods
stressed by teachers during their
classroom sessions-dry beans,
oranges, broccoli, cornmeal and milk.
According to Ms. Roefs, data
collected during the studies indicated
an increase in the consumption
of the fruits and vegetables served
in the Type A lunch. · *
august 1974
Teachers Learn
How to
Teach Nutrition
By Ronald }. Rhodes
A SCHOOL DISTRICT full of well
informed students about nutrition?
The El Dorado, Arkansas, schools
and surrounding communities are
bordering on this status, as interest
in teaching children the importance
of eating the right kinds of foods
continues to spread.
It started last summer when
Bobby Watson, an El Dorado
elementary teacher, was selected to
attend a nutrition education course
at the University of Arkansas. Taught
by Ernestine Mcleod, nutritionist
for the State Department of
Education, the course was part of
a pilot nutrition project sponsored
by USDA and conducted in Arkansas
during the 1973-74 school year.
When Ms. Watson returned from
the course with enthusiastic reports,
school principal Audrey Hampton
asked her to discuss it at a faculty
meeting. The teacher later spoke at
the first Parent-Teacher Association
meeting of the year. From then on,
interest by the other teachers in
the elementary school continued to
climb, and nutrition education
became a regular part of classroom
activities.
Is the nutrition education project
working?
"The amount of plate waste has
declined since we started the
nutrition project,'' Ms. Hampton
pointed out. She described the case
of one little girl who lived with her
grandmother and would not eat
in the school cafeteria. Since the
nutrition project has been underway,
the child has started eating the
school lunch.
The enthusiastic response from
El Dorado teachers resulted in a
request for an extension course in
nutrition from the University of
Arkansas-like the one taught by
Ernestine Mcleod for the nutrition
project.
A total of 22 teachers, including
some coaches and principals from
El Dorado and surrounding areas,
enrolled in the course when it was
offered in January. Sadie Booker,
a home economics teacher in the
El Dorado schools, was the
instructor.
"You know, when the course was
first discussed, I thought: Why can't
students wait until high school
where home economics classes
include nutrition?" said Ms. Booker.
"Now, I can see that the sooner
students learn proper eating habits,
the better."
The extension course emphasized
integrating nutrition with standard
school subjects. Teachers frequently
included their students in the
evening programs, giving demon­strations
and presenting questions
and answers to the group.
Virginia Break, a fourth grade
teacher, included nutrition in
many different subject areas last
semester. Students made butter and
discussed its nutritional value, then
served it to the class with rolls and
milk. "The nutrition education course
was the best course I have ever
taken," Ms. Break said. "I have used
everything that was discussed in
class. The good thing about it was
that it provided ways to tie nutrition
to regular classroom routine
and the basic subjects we teach."
Bill Lawrence, principal of an
elementary school in Strong-a few
miles from El Dorado-said he can
already see results in the application
of nutrition education in his school.
Lawrence and three of his teachers
enrolled in the course.
"Previously we had to extend the
physical education period at the
school to allow the children a rest
period because they were so
exhausted from the exercise,'' he
stated. " After we added nutrition
education in the classrooms, the
children started eating better at
school-and apparently at home.
Now they have more energy and we
can cut out the rest period."
Lawrence admitted with a grin
he hadn't expected to get so much
value from the course. Now he's a
firm supporter of nutrition education
and plans to continue the project.
And he said he's sure that
Arkansas' nutrition project will have
a lasting effect on faculty and
students in the El Dorado area. *
13
The Golden Jar:
It's more than a place to eat.
By Benedicta Montoya
THE GOLDEN JAR Restaurant in
Rowland Heights, California, opened
its doors in mid-April, and there
hasn't been a vacant seat since. It's
the "in" place among the younger set
in Rowland Heights, so popular that
customers must have reservations to
sit at the counter. Those fortunate
enough to get a booth or table are
willing to share it with strangers.
The Golden Jar is not a fancy
restaurant. It's more like a nice,
pleasant coffee shop, although coffee
is far down the list of favored bever­ages.
The food is nutritious and at­tractive,
but simple. Service is courte­ous,
fast enough, but occasionally not
quite professional. And prices are,
overall, lower than any other com­parable
facility in the country. The
Golden jar is open 5 days a week, 1
hour a day.
What the Golden jar has going for
it is location. It is located on the
campus of John A. Rowland High
School.
Actually, the Golden jar is a proj­ect
called, "Innovative Approaches
to Secondary School Nutrition."
Funded by the Food and Nutrition
Service, the project is the inspiration
of Ruth Richard, director of food
services for the Rowland Unified
School District. The main purpose of
the project is to make students more
aware of the importance of eating
nutritious meals. But it also serves as
a training ground for students inter­ested
in employment in the food
service industry.
Rowland High School is one of
two high schools in the eastern, less
populated portion of Los Angeles
County. Prior to the opening of the
Golden jar, participation in the Na­tional
School Lunch Program at the
school was low: out of approximately
2,000 students, only 150 ate the Type
A lunch. At the district's other high
14
school, participation ranged from
500 to 600.
Like many Southern California
schools, Rowland High did not have
a cafeteria. Students picked up their
lunches at serving windows in the
kitchen, and ate out-of-doors in a
roofed patio area. When the weather
was bad, they ate in a nearby multi­purpose
room. The restaurant offered
a welcomed alternative.
In the months before the Golden
Jar opened, the school staff con­ducted
nutrition surveys to help de­termine
what would be served in the
new facility. Given by the health and
physical education instructors, the
surveys asked about students' likes
and dislikes, their reasons for eating
and not eating, and their knowledge
of nutrition. A similar survey will be
given again, after the restaurant has
been in operation for a while, to
evaluate the effect of the nutrition
project on students' eating habits.
The premise behind the project,
Ms. Richard explains, is that one way
to create interest in nutrition is to
involve the students in the food serv­ice
operation.
"We want to involve as much of
the school as possible," she says.
In fact, Rowland High students
have been involved in the project
food and nutrition
since the early planning stages. Stu­dent
committees submitted floor
plans and ideas for the types of serv­ices
they wanted to see developed.
In addition, the entire student body
voted on the decor for the restaurant.
Student ideas, along with those of the
vocational food service instructor
and Ms. Richard, were turned over
to an architect and considered in the
final design.
Most of the actual construction,
which began in November, was done
by the school district's maintenance
crew. With some help from sub-con­tractors,
they added the restaurant
dining area and a dishroom to an
Customers at the Golden jar Restaurant (left)
enjoy hamburgers, french fries, and milk­shakes
served by their classmates. The food is
prepared by food service students (right),
who make salads, hot and cold sandwiches,
desserts, and a variety of Type A lunches.
august 1974
outside wall of the school's kitchen.
Then various vocational and aca­demic
classes helped get the opera­tion
in working order. For example,
the advanced cabinet-making class
built cabinets, which the drafting
class had designed. Art and graphics
students designed the Golden Jar
logo, and made placemats, napkins,
and menus. The sewing class made
uniforms for the vocational food serv­ice
students, who operate the res­taurant
for class credit. Students in
the photography, electronics, and
health and physical education classes
also planned projects. Next year busi­ness
education classes will become
involved in the financial end of the
operation.
Not only has the project involved
a large number of the students and
staff at Rowland High, but also mem­bers
of the community, who serve on
various advisory committees. These
include a number of the area's most
successful professional food service
people.
The food service advisory commit­tee,
Ms. Richard explains, has been
extremely helpful with the vocational
training program.
"One restaurant chain that partici­pates
on the committee donated
tables and china to the Golden jar.
Others have offered to present dem­onstrations
and provide training ma­terials
and audiovisual aids.
"Nutrition educators from colleges
and dieticians from the local county
health department have also readily
given their assistance on other com­mittees,"
she continues.
The restaurant is actually operated
by students enrolled in the school's
institutional food service course. The
course is taught by Love DeMonte.
For 3 years Ms. Richard and her food
service staff have worked with Ms.
DeMonte's class at the district's cen-tral
kitchen. They have helped the
students gain experience in working
with institutional equipment, and
they have taught them mass food
preparation techniques, as well as
sanitation and handling procedures.
Last spring, there were three insti­tutional
food service classes. The
largest class, with 35 students, re­ceived
an orientation to food service
and basic food preparation. The other
two classes, with 20 students each,
spent 2 hours a day getting actual
work experience in the restaurant.
One class prepared lunch, while the
other class served it and cleaned up
afterward. In the fall the classes will
switch hours so that all may experi­ence
the different work situations.
When school reopens, the restau­rant
will seat about 75 persons. As
in the spring, entry will be by reser­vation
only. Menu offerings will be
large and varied, and reflect the de­sires
of the student clientel. Ham­burgers,
shakes, diet plates, soups,
and various hot and cold sandwiches
will be offered. Also like last year,
prices will range from 45 cents to
85 cents per meal. At the lower end
of that scale are three of the five
Type A meals offered daily at the
restaurant. The relatively low price of
the Type A meals, according to Ms.
Richard, is an inducement for stu­dents
to choose those selections.
Ms. Richard and her staff are look­ing
into the possibility of offering
some of these menu items to students
who get their lunches through the
kitchen's serving windows.
Because the Golden jar operated
for only 2 months last year, the im­pact
of the restaurant project on the
eating habits of Rowland High's stu­dents
cannot yet be measured. But if
involvement is any indication of suc­cess,
the Golden jar, as its customers
would say, "has got it made." *:
15
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
Division of Public Documents, Washington, D.C. 20402
Official Business.
Penalty for Private Use, $300
EARLL. BUTZ
Secretary of Agriculture
RICHARD L. FELTNER
Assistant Secretary of Agriculture
EDWARD J. HEKMAN
Administrator
Food and Nutrition Service
JANICE A. KERN, Editor
MARCIA B. EDDINS, Art Director
FOOD AND NUTRITION is published
bimonthly by the Food and Nutrition
Service, U.S. Department of Agricul­ture,
Washington, D.C. 20250. The
use of funds for printing this publica­tion
was approved by the Director
of the Office of Management and
Budget December 26, 1973. Yearly
subscription is $2.50 domestic, $3.15
foreign. Single copies 45 cents each.
Subscription orders should be sent to
the Superintendent of Documents,
Government Printing Office, Wash­ington,
D.C. 20402.
Reference to commercial products
and services does not imply endorse­ment
or discrimination by the De­partment
of Agriculture.
The Secretary of Agriculture has de­termined
that the publication of this
periodical is necessary in the trans­action
of the public business re­quired
by law of this Department.
Prints of photos may be obtained
from Photo Library, U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
20250.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
!
II
I
7
7
I
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Ill
WIC in Arizona
&. F.E.E, S. P.A, I D ~:::J
U.S. DEPT.
OF
AGRICULTURE
AGR 101 U.S.MAIL
THIRD CLASS BLK. RT.
Permit Number .005-5
Recipes Get "Kid-Tested"
Lunch Gets a Spanish Setting
Communities Learn About School Lunch
Service for Elderly Shoppers
Food Stamp Security
Nutrition Education in California
Teachers Learn to Teach Nutrition
The Golden Jar