Food & Nutrition [Volume 22, Number 1-2]

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Food &Nutrition
DECEMBER 1992 VOLUME 22 NUMBERS 1-2
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Helping Americans Eat For Good Health...
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Reaching out with information...
USDA Agencies Work
Together On Nutrition
Education Initiative
"As the government leader in nu-trition
education. USDA has a respon-sibility
to provide Americans with the
best possible advice on improving
their diets and their health.'' Secretary
of Agriculture Edward R. Madigan
said, shortly after taking office in
March 1991.
To fulfill that responsibility, he
made education for better nutrition
one of the Department's four strategic
goals. Support at the top set in
motion a range of activities that will
affect the nutritional and health status
of Americans for years into the future.
Here are some of the milestones:
USDA has...
• Established effective working
groups to develop a department-wide
nutrition education policy and
oversee its implementation.
• Adopted a nutrition education
initiative to enhance the Depart-ment's
nutrition research, monitor-ing,
and education activities. An
initial budget increase of $20
million launched the initiative and
brought the Department's 1993
nutrition education budget to an
all-time high of $294.6 million.
• Begun active collaboration with the
National Food Service Manage-ment
Institute, a federally support-ed
university-based resource
center for child nutrition program
operators.
• Improved the nutritional quality of
school meals to enhance children's
nutritional well-being and strength-en
the school cafetena's role as a
learning laboratory for healthy eat-ing
habits. Specific actions have
included increasing the variety of
commodities supplied to schools
and reducing the amount of fat.
sodium, and sugar those foods
contain. The Department has also
established national awards for
superior school lunch programs.
• Emphasized breastfeeding as
the healthiest choice for infants
through the WIC program's educa-tion
and training activities and
administrative and regulatory
practices. At the same time, the
Department undertook a ground-breaking
cooperative effort with
public and private organizations to
promote breastfeeding nationwide.
• Issued the Food Guide Pyramid
in April 1992 after intensive testing
of its effectiveness as a teaching
tool and launched a comprehensive
media campaign for the general
public as well as food program
participants.
• Strengthened the nutrition educa-tion
partnership among USDA
agencies, including funding an
Extension Service initiative to ex-pand
nutrition education fc the
neediest WIC mothers
• Increased technical assistance,
with the goal of providing—-by the
end of 1994—the tools and training
school food program operators
need to implement the Dietary
Guidelines for Americans.
USDA has a wide range of re-sources
available to plan and carry
out these activities. Many USDA
agencies are involved with food- and
nutrition-related research and moni-toring,
and several provide the general
public with information on nutrition
and food safety.
USDA's food assistance programs,
administered by the Food and Nutri-tion
Service (FNS) together with state
and local agencies, offer a unique
opportunity to provide education
along with food help:
— Millions of American children
participate in child nutrition programs
operating in schools, day care cen-ters,
family day care homes, summer
camps, and residential institutions.
— In counties across the country,
families and individuals turn to the
Food Stamp Program to help them
put food on the table during times of
illness, unemployment, or other
financial hardship.
— And vulnerable groups, such ■
pregnant and
infants, and young children.
special help through suppli
food programs.
FNS oversees 14 progran
including the Food Distribution
Program, which supplies federally
purchased commodities to schools
and other child nutrition program
sponsors, disaster relief efforts,
nutrition progran is for the elderly,
food banks and soup kitchens, and
other community-based efforts to
p the needy.
An idea whose
time has come
"Nutrition education is an idea
who1.' ' come." said Betty Jo
Nei'- ■ /ed as FNS adminis-trator
until November 6 of this year.
"The food assistance programs do a
very good job of providing people with
food. But they need to do more than
thai Program participants must
understand the relationship between
diet and health and make healthy
choices in the food they eat."
The link between diet and health
has been well documented and is
important for Americans at all income
December 1992
levels to take seriously. Former
Surgeon General Koop identified
dietary factors as playing a prominent
role in 5 of the 10 leading causes of
death for Americans—coronary heart
disease, some forms of cancer,
stroke, diabetes mellitus, and arte-riosclerosis.
The 1988 "Surgeon General's
Report on Nutrition and Health" says
these disorders account for more than
two-thirds of all deaths in the United
States and that diet can play an
important role in reducing the risk of
such conditions.
Many of today's consumers are
more sophisticated and knowledge-able
than ever before. And nutrition
information to help them choose
healthy, well-balanced diets is more
plentiful than ever.
Witness the number of articles on
food and fitness appearing in maga-zines
and newspapers, the brochures
and recipes free for the taking in many
supermarkets, and new "light" choic-es
available in school cafeterias,
restaurants, and on grocery store
shelves.
But for some people, habits can
be hard to change. And for others,
including people who don't read well
or speak English, information on
health and nutrition may not be easy
to understand, let alone use as a
basis for improving their own and their
families' diets.
At USDA, Secretary Madigan
directed several of the Department's
agencies to work together on a
comprehensive nutrition education
initiative.
The initiative, which grew out of
the work of a task force Secretary
Madigan set up shortly after coming
to USDA in 1991, was designed to
respond to a two-fold challenge:
—One, to develop and promote
nutrition education efforts to improve
eating behavior.
—Two. to make sure messages
about nutrition and health are reach-ing
those who need them most:
young children and low-literacy,
low-income adults.
The nutrition education task force
was composed of representatives
from the eight USDA agencies that
share major food safety, research,
and monitoring responsibilities.
A worKing group was subsequently
established to oversee implementa-tion
of the recommendations that
were adopted and to continue to unify
and coordinate the Department's
nutrition education activities. The
Assistant Secretary for Food and
Consumer Services and the Assistant
Secretary for Science and Education
were named to head the group.
Coordination has been central to
the effort. "Our challenge," said
Nelsen, "is not only to provide the
best possible food and nutrition
services, but to ensure that our efforts
mesh effectively with the activities of
other agencies, within ana outside
the Department of Agriculture."
USDA child nutrition programs provide nour-ishing
food to million- of children in si hook,
child care centers, family day < are homes, sum
met recreation facilities, anil oilier settings.
Food and Nutrition
President Bush's 1993 proposed
budget, sent to Congress for approval
earlier this year, called for increased
support in this area. The proposal
i aquested an overall $320.8 million for
USDA's nutrition education and
research activities, an increase of
$46.7 million over the previous year.
Of that total. $25 million was ear-marked
for the Secretary's nutrition
education initiative.
However, this request had to
compete in Congress for very limited
funds. The agriculture appropriations
act signed on August 14 allotted a
total of $294.6 million for USDA
nutrition education and research
activities, which although less than
what was requested was still a $20-
million increase over 1992.
"Given the tight fiscal times, we
are pleased with our results." said
Nelsen. "This initial funding has
allowed us to begin to move forward.
Perhaps equally important are the
advantages derived from the planning
process itself.
"The task force has enhanced
cooperation among the different
USDA agencies involved in nutrition
education. These closer working
relationships are going to change the
way USDA agencies do business for
years to come. We didn't get every
dollar we requested, but coordination
can stretch our resources."
Food programs
play important role
Since the nutrition education
initiative places special emphasis on
reaching adults with limited resources
and children, the Food and Nutrition
Service's food assistance programs
play an important role.
Only two FNS programs—the
Nutrition Education and Training (NET)
Program which serves all of the child
nutrition programs, and the Special
Supplemental Food Program for
Women. Infants, and Children (WIC)—
have as part of their legislative man-da
:e providing nutrition education
directly to food program participants.
Over the years, however, federal,
state, and local agencies have carried
out many successful nutrition educa-tion
activities in conjunction with or in
support of other FNS programs. Such
efforts can increase the effectiveness
of food aid. For example:
—Information can help low-income
families buy food wisely, handle it
;afely, and achieve a more nutritious
diet with their food stamps and/or
cash. It can also help them make the
best use of food they receive from
other sources, such as private food
banks and government food distribu-tion
programs.
—Training for food service person-nel
can mean improved preparation
practices and healthier meals and
snacks for children at school and in
day care.
—And nutrition activities in class-rooms
and lunchrooms can equip kids
with knowledge they need to start
making healthy food choices while
they are young.
Reaching out to food
stamp participants:
Previous research has shown that
as a group, food stamp participants
tend to make more nutritious food
purchases than do other low-income
shoppers who do not receive food
stamps. Many, however, could ben-efit
from nutrition education that is
sensitive to barriers of income, educa-tional
level, and cultural preferences.
FNS research is currently under-way
to identify such barriers. Results
will be used to develop nutrition ed
ucation strategies based directly on
the needs and realities of food stamp
participants
"Our purpose." said Nelsen, "is
to develop nutrition education that
makes sense in terms of the way
people live."
As part of the nutrition education
initiative, FNS has expanded its
research on how to effectively reach
food stamp participants with nutrition
education. The 1993 budget makes
$500,000 available for grants to dev-elop
and test ways to inform food
December 1992
stamp participants about nutrition,
resource management, and communi-ty
education programs.
"The ultimate goal," said Nplsen.
"is to change purchasing and eating
behaviors."
"This money will support projects
that may serve as examples for states
wanting to add a nutrition education
component to their Food Stamp
Programs," she added.
To encourage state food stamp
agencies to provide nutrition educa-tion,
FNS reimburses them for 50
percent of the cost. Currently, nutri-tion
education is an element in seven
state plans. FNS support for state
agencies' nutrition education efforts
exceeded $1 million in 1992.
Enhancing WIC's nutrition
education services:
Nutrition education is an integral
part of the services provided through
the Special Supplemental Food
Program for Women, Infants, and
Children, popularly known as WIC.
WIC participants include pregnant
and breastfeeding mothers, infants,
and young children who have been
found to be at nutritional risk because
of inadequate diet and low income.
Along with specially prescribed
supplemental foods, participants re-ceive
nutrition information and advice
at the health clinics where they are
certified for and receive WIC services.
Every participant is offered nutrition
education at least twice within each
6-month period.
In 1992, WIC spent nearly $115
million on providing nutrition educa-tion
to participants during their visits
to WIC clinics. Federal, state, and
local program managers actively
collaborate with other agencies and
outside groups to promote breast-feeding
as the healthiest choice
for babies.
WIC managers are also working to
strengthen nutrition education for the
neediest WIC participants, particularly
through a partnership with the Exten-sion
Service's Expanded Food and
Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP),
which trains nutrition aides in local
communities to provide nutrition
education to low-income families in
the families' homes.
Work on breastfeeding promotion
is well underway. Two years ago,
USDA organized a Breastfeeding
Promotion Consortium (BPC) com-posed
of more than 25 health profes-sional,
government, and public
health organizations.
With the support of other BPC
organizations, USDA agreed to take
lead responsibility for developing a
national campaign to promote breast-feeding.
In August 1992, Congress
passed and the President signed a
law that allows and encourages
private funding for the campaign.
In addition, USDA has proposed
a change in regulations that would
increase the kinds and amounts of
food in WIC packages for breastfeed-ing
women whose babies do not
receive infant formula through WIC.
The purpose is to counter the percep-tion
that bottlefeeding mothers re-ceive
more benefits because pack-ages
for their infants include formula.
Meanwhile, USDA has funded
various state and local agency pro-jects
to promote breastfeeding. For
example, a series of demonstration
projects ending in 1990 used a variety
of approaches to improve breastfeed-ing
rates among WIC participants.
Among the successful practices were
staff training, using peer counselors,
and educating hospital staff.
In an article beginning on page 12,
we look at how one WIC agency in
LaCrosse, Wisconsin, used some of
these techniques in tailoring breast-feeding
education to the needs of
its clientele.
A demonstration project now in
progress is looking at the effect of
using token gifts such as layettes and
tee-shirts as incentives to interest
moms in starting and maintaining
breastfeeding. The gifts are privately
donated.
Some states, in their ongoing
efforts to increase breastfeeding, have
developed joint educational projects
with EFNEP.
The EFNEP-WIC partnership is one
that works in many ways. Because
the two programs frequently serve the
same population. EFNEP families are
routinely referred to WIC if they
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Food and Nutrition
appear to qualify for benefits. Similar-ly,
some WIC mothers who need
additional coaching in nutrition are
referred to EFNEP.
"We see nutrition education and
food assistance as being very impor-tant
complementary services." said
Wells Willis. EFNEP's national oro-gram
leader. "Nutrition education
helps people use their resources
wisely, whether that means getting
the most for their food stamps or
money, or preparing tasty dishes
from bulk and raw proaucts.
"Currently," she added, "for some
91,000 WIC participants. EFNEP
provides intensive and personalized
lessons thai fit their particula, circum-stances.
By working with a family
over a oeriod of months, we can
actually see behaviors change."
USDA's nutrition education initia-tive
called for expanding this WIC-EFNEP
partnership. For this pur-pose,
the 1993 budget provides an
increase of $3.5 million. This money,
in addition to redirected Extension
Service funds, will allow EFNEP to
provide intensive nutrition education
to many more of the neediest WIC
participants.
Betty Jo Nelsen called this expand-ed
effort a cornerstone of USDA's
nutrition education initiative. "It's
anriher way to strengthen the early
education that begins with WIC,"
she said.
"We hope mothers and children
who participate in WIC—even if only
briefly—will form good eating habits
that will stay with them for years."
Helping the people
who serve children:
The nutrition education initiative
also called for additional support for
training the frontline workers who plan
the menus, buy the food, and prepare
and serve meals to children through
USDA's child nutrition programs.
The largest of these programs is
the National School Lunch Program
(NSLP). More than 90,000 schools
participate in the program and to-gether
serve lunches to more than
25 million children every school day.
"We've been working hard to make
school lunch the best meal and the
best deal around." said Nelsen.
NSLP was born—like the cusp of
the baby boom generation—in 1946.
From the start, participating schools
were required to follow a meal pattern
based on food groups. This pattern
was designed to ensure children
would get a variety of foods that
would yield, over a period of time,
approximately one-third of their
Recommended Dietary Allowance
(RDA) for key nutrients.
Those standards have served re-markably
well. The National Evalua-tion
of School Nutrition Programs
(NESNP), a major study conducted in
the early 1980's, examined the nutri-tional
impact of school lunches. It
found that students who ate school
lunches got greater percentages
of RDA's for calories and 9 of 11
nutrients studied than students
who did not.
It also identified areas that needed
improvement. For example, about
37 to 40 percent of the calories in
school lunch came from fat.
Undoubtedly, many lunches are
too high in fat. A recent informal
study of 61? menus from elementary
schools confirmed the popularity of
some relatively high-fa" items. It also
found that children are offered a
limited variety of vegetables.
Currently. FNS is conducting the
first major dietary assessment of
school meals since the NESNP study.
By spring 1993, an up-to-date picture
of how well school meals are doing
nutritionally should be available.
However, there is more than
enough information available in the
meantime to support improvements
in nutritional quality. The 1990 Dietary
Guidelines for Americans, issued
jointly by USDA and the Department
of Health and Human Services, offer
a blueprint for improving meals served
through the child nutrition programs.
Among other recommendations,
the Guidelines call for a diet that is
low in fat, saturated fat, and choles-terol.
They suggest that fat should
provide no more than 30 percent of
the calories consumed by adults
and children over the age of 2, and
saturated fat, less than 10 percent.
As part of the nutrition educatior
initiative. Secretary Madigan set as a
national goal having child nutrition
programs serve meals consistent with
the Dietary Guidelines. The Depart-ment
established a target date of
1994 for providing schools with the
materials and information they need to
comply with these nutrition principles.
Ultimately, the actions of local
food service managers and staff-in
schools, child care centers, sum-mer
camps, and other settings—will
determine how well the goal is met.
There are many ways, however, USDA
is working to help.
For example, in recent years USDA
has improved commodities so they
are lower in fat, salt, and sugar. In
addition, through demonstration
projects and other efforts FNS has
explored ways to help schools make
appropriate changes.
For example, for 3 school years
beginning in the fall of 1989. FNS
funded demonstration projects to test
ways in which schools can modify
their menus. Under these projects,
five school districts made changes
that reduce the fat. sodium, and sugar
content of menu items but still give
children foods they like. The results
are now being analyzed.
Efforts to help child nutrition
program sponsors have been
enhanced by the additional support
for these activities called for by the
nutrition education initiative.
This spring, FNS published "Nutri-tion
Guidance for the Child Nutrition
Programs", for use by food service
workers and child care providers. By
early fall, almost half a million copies
were in circulation This publication
contains nutrition information and
helpful tips on offering healthy meals
that give children food they enjoy.
In addition. FNS is reviewing the
adequacy of current meal patterns
and updating recipes and menu
planning guides. The 1993 budget
includes $2 million to support these
activities.
Another important source of
training is the USDA-sponsored
National Food Service Management
Institute (NFSMI). which began oper-ations
at the University of Mississippi
2 years ago. As we'll see in the article
on page 10. this national institute was
December 1992
established to help food service
managers and staff improve both the
quality of meals and the operation of
child nutrition programs.
i his spring, the institute began
the first in a series of teleconferences
that are being beamed by satellite to
more than 16,000 school food service
operators at 800 sites throughout the
nation. Secretary Madigan, the fea-tured
guest, promised to work every
day for safe, affordable, and nutritious
food for America's 64 million children.
The initial conference stressed
the need for teamwork among princi-pals,
parents, teachers, children, and
school food service operators. It
demonstrated how to plan meals
consistent with the Dietary Guidelines.
After the presentation, panelists
from USDA, the American School
Food Service Association, NFSMI.
and state school systems discussed
the topics raised and responded to
questions telephoned in.
A second conference, in Septem-ber,
focused on issues relating to
purchasing that affect schools' ability
to implement the Dietary Guidelines.
Future conferences will center on
preparing and marketing nutritious
meals, staffing, and participation.
The 1993 budget increases funding
for the institute from $1.3 million to
nearly $1.7 million. The facility is
expected to be an increasingly valu-able
source of consistent training and
research-based information.
Supporting state and
local nutrition education
projects:
Since 1977. the Nutrition Education
and Training Program (NET) has help-ed
build healthy eating habits by
teaching the fundamentals of nutrition
m schools and other settings to chil-dren,
parents, educators, and food
service operators.
Because teamwork is central to
the NET program, this issue of FOOD
AND NUTRITION includes an exten-sive
article highlighting state and local
NET efforts. The article, which begins
on page 14, illustrates the wide range
!A. 'Ntiv Stacking ^ool
In April, USDA unveiled a new
graphic to help convey the good
nutrition message to every audience.
It's called The Food Guide Pyramid.
The Pyramid is designed to help
Americans understand what foods
they need, from what food groups,
and in what amounts. It can help
them put into practice recommenda-tions
contained in the Dietary Guide-lines
for Americans, published jointly
by USDA and the Department of
Health and Human Services (DHHS).
The new graphic was tested
extensively with children and low-income
and low-literacy adults. Of a
wide variety of designs tested, the
Pyramid was found to most effectively
convey the three essential messages
of a healthy diet: variety, proportion,
and moderation.
"We found that the new Pyramid
clearly defines the role different foods
play in a balanced diet and can be
readily understood by all Americans,"
said USDA Secretary Madigan.
"USDA's food programs touch
everyone—from children to the
elderly—cutting across the economic,
educational, and social spectrum. We
need to be sure any message we put
out can be understood by everyone
who participates in our programs."
A campaign to promote the graphic
was launched the same day it was
announced in a teleconference
broadcast to school food service
adrninistators nationwide.
Educational packages were dis
tributed through USDA nutrition
program directors and Cooperative
Extension leaders across the country.
Information was also sent to schools,
consumer groups, and WIC clinics.
USDA's Human Nutrition Informa-tion
Service (HNIS) is including the
graphic in a lesson plan for health
teachers and in publications for low-literacy
adults and older Americans.
"The Food Guide Pyramid is going
to be the core of our nutrition educa-tion
efforts for a long time to come,"
Secretary Madigan said. "It will pro-bably
wind up in every classroom
in the U.S."
Because of widespread intesrreesstt 1
across the country, HNIS recently
reprinted the companion booklet
called "The Food Guide Pyramid."
The booklet explains how Americans
can use the Pyramid to help choose a
well-balanced diet.
It also explains that a healthful diet
requires variety and moderation—it's
important, for example, not to have
too many calories, or too much fat,
saturated fat, cholesterol, sugar, or
sodium.
For distribution to the general
public, HNIS is s :nding about 40,000
copies of the booklet to the Consumer
Information Center in Pueblo, Color-ado.
Copies are available for $1.00
from the Center.
Other USDA agencies are ordering
extra copies for their nutrition educa-tion
activities. For example, the
Extension Service will be getting more
than 350,000 copies. The Food and
Nutrition Service (FNS) has ordered
195,000 copies for distribution to
schools and to state and local agen-cies
administering USDA food assis-tance
programs. ♦
of activities NET helps carry out on a
modest annual budget of $10 million.
As the article shows, one of NET's
strengths has been the ability of
states to determine how and where to
invest their nutrition education funds.
Because of the rapid growth of
Head Start and FNS' Child and Adult
Care Food Program, which helps
Head Start and other child care
sponsors serve nourishing meals to
children, some state NET coordinators
see a need to target more educational
pro|ects to preschoolers, their par-ents,
and caregivers.
In examples from around the
country, we'll look at some innovative
projects already serving preschoolers,
as well as some exciting projects
For information about the Food
Guide Pyramid or the companion
booklet (Home and Garden Bulletin
No. 252), write to:
Office of Governmental Affairs
and Public Information
Human Nutrition Information Service
U.S. Department of Agriculture
6505 Belcrest Rd.- Room 328-A
Hyattsville, MD 20782
Or call: (301) 436-8617.
For single copies of the booklet
(HG-252), send a check or money
order for $1.00 made out to the
"Superintendent of Documents" to:
Consumer Information Center
Item 159
Pueblo. CO 81009.
To order bulk copies, in lots of 100
only, send a check or money order for
$65.00 to the Superintendent of Doc-uments.
U.S. Government Printing
Office, Washington. DC. P0402.
targeted to older children, teenagers,
and food service workers.
As we'll see in these NET high-lights,
as well as in our features about
nutrition education in other FNS pro-grams,
it's people in local communi-ties
who best know the audiences
that need to be reached.
For its part, USDA is working to
help get the nutrition message to
people who need it most.
"Thanks to the generosity of the
American people, food assistance
programs continue to enable our
less fortunate citizens to eat well.
That does not change." said Betty Jo
Nelsen. "But we realize more than
ever that people also require informa-tion
and knowledge to make good
choices.
'The challenge is to promote
consistent, continuous, well-planned
activities that will translate nutrition
education into behavioral change." ♦
— article by Wim Scheffler
photos by Ken Hammond
A group of children has'»» plat
big pictures of food in tlie appro
pritte parts of the lixnl Guide
Pyramid their teat her has drawn
on the floor.
NFSMI for help and information...
National Institute
Is Customer Oriented
And "User Friendly"
When it comes to school meals,
few people have as much experience
as Josephine Martin, executive
director of the National Food Service
Management Institute (NFSMI), which
began operations at the University of
Mississippi just over 2 years ago.
Nationally known as a leader in
child nutrition and nutrition education.
Martin served as state director of
Georgia's school food service pro-grams
during the 1960's and 1970*s,
building a statewide system known for
top-quality service and sound finan-cial
administration.
In 1976 and 1977 she was presi-dent
of the American School Food
Service Association (ASFSA). Before
coming to NFSMI in June 1991, she
spent a decade managing major
education programs as associate
superintendent of the Georgia Depart-ment
of Education's Office of Special
Services in Atlanta.
It's not surprising she has ambi-tious
goals for NFSMI.
Responding to a
need for training
According to Martin, the concept
of a r itional food service manage-ment
institute was first identified at
an ASFSA "Planning for the Decade"
seminar at Vail, Colorado, in 1976.
At that time, ASFSA and the school
nutrition programs were experiencing
rapid growth and program directors
perceived a need for training to bring
new employees up to par.
"We wanted a national resource
center to help operators develop and
expand, to meet the school-day
nutrition needs of children, and to
help school nutrition programs be an
integral part of the educational
process." Martin explains.
Even though it did not materialize
for over a decade, the institute
remained a long-range goal. In 1989
Congress called for a feasibility study
and in 1990 authorized the establish-ment
of NFSMI with USDA funds.
Support for the institute at USDA
and within Congress has continued to
grow. USDA's 1993 budget includes
$1.7 million for NFSMI. up from $1.3
million for 1992.
During 1990-91, its first year,
NFSMI set up facilities at the Universi-ty
of Mississippi at Oxford and at the
University of Southern Mississippi at
Hattiesburg. It also established
advisory boards and recruited a staff
of 20 people with broad experience in
school feeding, food service manage-ment,
research, nutrition education,
and training.
Designed to be
customer oriented
School food service operators face
some tough challenges in the 1990s
and Martin and her staff are focusing
on ways to help.
"We will be concentrating on
research and training materials to help
providers deliver programs that are
consistent with the health objectives
of the nation," she says.
"One of those objectives is to have
meals served through the child
nutrition programs conform with the
Dietary Guidelines. Another is to
provide nutrition education to more
children—in preschool through grade
twelve. The outcome of our efforts
should be children with healthy food
practices, ready to learn."
One of the first goals of NFSMI,
says Martin, is to develop a national
network of professionals to conduct
education and training. "Many states
have very good training materials but
lack a network that assures broad
coverage of content and geographical
area." she explains.
To meet this need. NFSMI will use
a variety of approaches. In one effort
this year, for example, the institute
brought together 64 representatives
from districts, schools, and 29 states
to teach them how to form networks.
Martin says NFSMI will also con-centrate
on marketing the child
nutrition programs. It will work to
increase participation in and support
for school lunch and other programs,
spread the word on the need for these
programs, and conduct activities
related to the Child and Adult Care
Food Program.
Another goal will be to help children
understand why food choices are
important. "We will stress the need for
variety and moderation." says Martin.
"We want children to realize why they
may eat pizza two or three times a
week, but not every d,i.
Among Martin's long range gi
for the institute is a national informa
tion center on child nutrition which
could provide data through a comput
er network to food service directors
anywhere in the country.
She also envisions NFSMI being
instrumental in helping schools use
computers to teach children about
healthy food choices—for example.
at learning centers located in school
cafeterias.
Serving providers
and children
NFSMI and the people it serves are
operating in a much different climate
than thi i , days of school food
service programs. In addition to
facing new challenges, they also have
new opportunities.
' For instance, the amount of
money going into school lunch is
much greater than in the past, and
there's a need for strict accountabili-ty,"
says Martin.
"Also, we must help schools
communicate good nutrition to
children who today are very different
10 Food and Nutrition
than in the past. They are much more
diverse ethnically, and they have
access to more food and information.
They're also mce aware of the
importance of nutrition to wellness
and health than ever before.
"We must serve our customers as
individuals," she adds. "They have
more choices these days and the
child nutrition programs must gain the
competitive edge.
"In addition, the labor supply is also
more diverse, which requires that we
provide bilingual training. The chal-lenge
for NFSMI is to seize these
opportunities and provide activities to
help schools improve their child
nutrition programs."
As Martin explains. NFSMI serves
two primary groups—children and
providers. To do its job, she says, the
institute must serve both sets of
customers.
"For children, we must make sure
they have access to the programs,
that meals are acceptable to them,
and that programs are accountable,
both nutritionally and monetarily.
"For providers, including state
agency staff, food service managers,
and school business managers, we
must provide opportunities to helo
them enhance their ability to carry out
the programs and serve nourishing
food that children like."
NFSMI has three
major areas
The institute nas three major areas.
One focuses on applied research and
development, the second works on
education and training, and the third
concentrates on technology transfer.
The research team will identify
needs and deficiences and develop
ways to make improvements.
The education and training team
will look into what an operator or
manager/director needs to know to
carry out an improvement or new
function, then design and write
training programs.
At that point, the training and
technology people will make the
training program or information
package available to audiences in
local schools and school districts, or
at state levels. Ideally, these audi-ences
will tram others in their states or
school districts, until everyone who
needs training has access to it.
'Training is never completed
because of the dynamic nature of our
programs," says Martin. "For exam-ple.
NFSMI is currently planning a
major effort on nutrition management
of child nutrition programs for children
with disabilities—both in research
and training."
Creation of NFSMI
is significant
The creation of NFSMI is significant
for several reasons. For one thing,
says Martin, for the first time in the
history of the child nutrition programs,
there is now an institute that has
specific responsibility for applied
research related to child nutrition.
While a number of other institutions
focus on nutrition research, none
besides NFSMI conducts applied
research on the operation and quality
of the child nutrition programs.
For example, in doing applied
research on students' participation in
school meals programs, the institute
will not only identify factors that affect
participation but also develop a
methodology based on those factors
to increase it.
In addition, there has never before
been a specific place where operators
could go for information. Now they
can turn to NFSMI and use its toll-free
number (1-800-321-3054) to access
"...We must serve our customers
as individuals."
the clearinghouse. They might, for
instance, want a summary of the
latest food delivery systems or
information about new equipment,
specific foods, or model programs.
"Providing information is one of
the areas we want to be strong on
early." says Martin "And with the
resources we have at the National
Agricultural Library, we've begun to
do this.
"NFSMI has a food service educa-tor
located at the Food and Nutrition
Information Center (FNIC)."
"...like a dream
come true...
NFSMI will be working in a variety
of ways to assist food service person-nel
in their efforts to improve both the
operation and quality of child nutrition
programs.
"The success of NFSMI." says
Martin, "will depend on the develop-ment
of a meaningful partnership
between staff of USDA's Food and
Nutrition Service (FNS). state agen-cies,
and the institute. FNS and state
agencies have responsibility for
administering the programs, and the
institute is a resource center to help
the people who operate them."
She envisions that FNS could be a
customer of the institute and a partner
in developing programs to improve
quality and operations.
"For me," she says, "the institute is
like a dream come true. I'm really
excited about having an opportunity
to be in on the early stages of its
development. Our NFSMI theme is
Building the Future Through Child
Nutrition.'" ♦
For more information about the
National Food Service Management
Institute or NFSMI assistance avail-able
through the National Agricultural
Library, call 1-800-321-3054 or write:
National Food Service
Management Institute
The University of Mississippi
P.O. Drawer 188
University, MS 38677-0188
—article by Michael McAteer
December 1992 11
A special message for mothers...
In Any Language
Breastfeeding
Is Best For Baby
Breastfeeding is how many WIC
mothers in La Crosse County, Wis-consin,
give their babies the best start
in life. "In fact." says county WIC
coordinator Linda Lee. "48 percent of
WIC moms in La Crosse now breast-feed
their babies.
"Increasing that percentage to 75
percent by the year 2000 is one of our
challenges." she adds, "and we'd like
to see at least half of breastfeeding
mothers continue until their infants are
5 or 6 months old."
The La Crosse WIC program and
its successful breastfeeding campaign
are interesting for several reasons.
One is the way WIC coordinators have
tailored breastfeeding education and
o,uier services to their unique
case' jad—one-third of the approxi-mately
1.900 WIC participants in La
Crosse are Asian Hmong refugees
who have settled in this western
Wisconsin community.
Also of interest is how WIC staff
work together as a team and involve
other parts of the community to
provide extra support to breastfeed-ing
mothers.
Serving the county's
special caseload
Hmong families began coming to
La Crosse in the late 1970's, but their
bond with Americans goes back to
their homeland. During the Vietnam
War, highland Laotian Hmong tribes
had worked closely with the U.S.
military, often rescuing American
pilots shot down over North Vietnam
and Laos.
After the April 1975 withdrawal of
U.S. troops and the collapse of Laos'
coalition government, more than
150,000 Hmong, fearing government
persecution for their cooperation with
American forces, fled to refugee
camps in northeastern Thailand.
The refugees later resettled in 40
countries, including the United States,
with about 70,000 settling in Califor-nia.
Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
When they came to this country,
many Hmong had severe health
problems because of the inadequate
health care they had received. Only
25 percent were literate, making the
adjustment to living in an industrial-ized
America and gaining self-sufficiency
difficult.
Once here, however, they demon-strated
they can be exceptional stu-dents.
Currently, for example, 45 per-cent
of Hmong students at La Crosse
Middle School are on the honor roll,
even though many of them do not
have total command of English.
Hmong WIC participants have
been quick to learn what WIC staff
have been teaching them about
having healthy babies and the bene-fits
of breastfeeding.
Peer counselors
recruited to help
One of the ways WIC coordinator
Lee and her staff have reached out to
the Hmong community is by recruiting
Hmong women to serve as peer
counselors. "They identify with the
culture and they have no communica-tion
barriers," Lee says.
Bilingual health aide May Vang,
who came to La Crosse as a newly-wed,
is one of the counselors. She
works side-by-side with the registered
dietician, serving as interpreter and
teaching health, nutrition, and breast-feeding
skills to Hmong mothers in
their native language.
"In the old country," Vang explains,
"Hmong mothers always breastfed
their babies. But after resettling, the
Southeast Asians observed Ameri-cans
and viewed the formula and
bottle as a freer or American way.
They believed children were taller and
bigger because they were bottlefed.
"But when Hmong women under-stand
that breastfeeding is best, they
breastfeed," Vang continues. "Like-wise,
if a pregnant Hmong woman
understands she is feeding the baby
growing inside her, she eats properly.
By tradition, Hmong women eat only
two meals every 24 hours."
Knowing how much their people
love textiles, Vang and other peer
counselors arranged for a special
needlework story cloth to be made.
The story cloth, a Hmong artform
traditionally used for communication,
depicts women breastfeeding their
babies while participating in daily
activities.
The cloth is on display in the
La Crosse clinic and has also been
reproduced as a poster to portray
the breastfeeding message to WIC
participants of many different
backgrounds.
Other materials
also developed
The La Crosse staff have also
developed other educational materials
for their Hmong constituents, includ-ing
a prenatal outreach poster and an
additional breastfeeding poster. Like
other breastfeeding WIC mothers in
La Crosse, the Hmong mothers also
get a special T-shirt. On the shirt is a
picture of a robust breastfed baby and
the words: "I Eat At Mom's."
The La Crosse str'f developed the
posters and T-shirts as part of a
breastfeeding promotion project
sponsored by USDA's Food and
Nutrition Service (FNS). La Crosse,
which was one of seven WIC agencies
across the country selected to partici-pate,
operated the breastfeeding
promotion project from 1988 to 1990.
During that time, breastfeeding
among LaCrosse WIC mothers
increased from 19 to 34 percent. It
has continued to go up to the current
48 percent.
12 Food and Nutrition
Lee attributes the success of
breastfeeding education efforts to the
excellent teamwork among her staff.
"They not only are dedicated work-ers,"
she says, "they also truly believe
in breastfeeding. Staff members who
have breastfed their babies are a
testimonial to WIC clients.
"And." she adds, "the staff offers
conscientious prenatal and postpar-tum
support. A contact person calls
the mom 2 weeks before her due
date, keeps in contact through
delivery, and calls every couple of
days for the first month. Our contact
person is available, even on week-ends,
to provide encouragement and
support."
Working together
makes a difference
Another reason for their success,
according to Lee, is the support of the
La Crosse area WIC Breastfeeding
Council, which was originally formed
as part of the demonstration project
in 1988.
"The council is made up of profes-sionals
from area hospitals and
clinics," Lee explains. "We utilize the
lactation educators at the hospitals as
an extension of what we do."
The La Crosse health department
is also continuing its breastfeeding
promotion through a grant from the
U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services (DHHS). Through the
grant, approximately 100 people wil
be trained as certified lactation edu-cators
over a 3-year period. The first
training, for 35 people, was held in La
Crosse in April 1991. Other training
sessions are being held in other areas
of Wisconsin this year and next.
Just as the WIC staff have worked
to increase breastfeeding among their
clients, they are also working to reach
women earlier in their pregnancies—
and they're getting results.
With a grant they received in
August 1990 from the Wisconsin
Perinatal Association. Lee and her
staff embarked on an outreach cam-paign
to increase the percentage of
Hmong women who receive prenatal
care during their first trimester of
Former INS administrator Betty Jo Nelsen
(seated at leftland La Crosse WIC coordiua
lor Linda lee hold the Hmong-designed story
cloth. Registered dieticians Patti Severson
and Cheryl Levandoski (standing) hold the
poster based on the cloth. Also pictured
here and at rigid is health aide May Vang.
pregnancy. "We're coming close,"
Lee says. "October 1991 statistics
show the average first visit to be at 14
weeks, down from 5 months when the
grant began."
Active in making sure their clients
get the help they need through WIC.
the La Crosse WIC staff also work to
make sure participants benefit from
other available services. They refer
cnildren for health care and immuniza-tions,
arrange for car seats through
the local Jaycees, help mothers locate
private physicians, and assist them in
applying for food stamps or other
programs they may be eligible for. ♦
For more information, contact:
Linda Lee. Nutrition Director
300 North 4th Street
La Crosse, Wl 54601
Telephone: (608) 785-9865
— article and photos
by Mary Jane Getlinger
December 1992 13
Teamwork in action...
A Look At USDA's
Nutrition Education
And Training Program
You see it on the nightly news—the
focus on "eating smart." As a nation
we are becoming increasingly aware
of how important nutrition is to good
health.
Getting that message to children
has been one of the main goals of
USDA's Nutrition Education and
Training Program (NET) since it was
created by national legislation in 1977.
"With foresight." says Joe Shep-herd,
head of the Nutrition and
Technical Services Division in USDA's
Food and Nutrition Service (FNS),
"legislators saw the potential of
coordinating classroom and lunch-room
experiences to give children a
better picture of what constitutes
good eating habits.
"The idea was for NET to be a team
program with teachers, food service
personnel, parents, and students
becoming knowledgeable about
nutrition, convinced of its importance,
and committed to practicing good
eating habits in their daily lives."
States receive
individual grants
Each year when Congress appro-priates
money for NET. the Secretary
of Agriculture allocates funds to states
in the form of grants, usually to state
education agencies. The size of a
state's grant depends on the number
of children enrolled in or eligible to
participate in USDA child nutrition
programs.
These programs are operated by
schools, day care centers, family day
care homes, summer camps, residen-tial
institutions, and other sponsors.
The largest of these is the National
School Lunch Program, with 90.000
schools serving lunch to app.oximate-ly
25 million schoolchildren every day.
States use NET funds in a variety of
ways, including to:
— help teachers learn the principles
of nutrition and how to make them
meaningful to their students;
— provide training opportunities for
food service personnel;
— support lively, stimulating learning
experiences for children;
— involve parents:
— and develop educational materials.
Projects vary in
approach and scope
While NET'S overall goals are the
same throughout the country, each
state decides how to tailor activities
to local needs. As a result, projects
vary in scope and approach.
For example, a state may decide
to spend some NET funds on devel-oping
nutrition education materials
for statewide use. It may use other
monies to support regional work-shops
or award grants to local school
distri' rs for community-based pro-jects.
It may also support nutrition
education projects sponsored by
other groups. These are just a few
examples.
In planning and carrying out
activities, state coordinators 9,'ve
special attention to teamwork This
is a good way to stretch available
resources, and it's basic to NET's
goals.
In fact, the legislation authorizing
NET cal's for state coordinators to
help establish nutrition teams within
schools and other settings and to
collaborate with other agencies
involved in nutrition education,
including USDA's Extension Service.
Florida project
is a good example
Florida's recent revision of a
comprehensive set of nutrition educa-tion
materials is a good example of
collaboration between NET and
Cooperative Extension.
Twelve years ago. interested in
developing a pre-kindergarten
through grade 12 nutrition education
framework and corresponding curricu-lum,
the state's NET team enlisted the
help of Extension specialists and
university home economists through
two land granl uni< ersities
They di< ng grants to
Florida State University and the
University of Florida Institute of Food
and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS).
In 1990. they decided to update
these materials. "We chose to rev
the preschool curriculum first,"
explains NET coordinator Carol
Frazee. "Fortunately, the original
authors at the University of Florida
IFAS could work with us. We provid-ed
a $54,000 grant to research and
revise the curriculum.
"We also awarded an additional
$110.000 to IFAS to develop four
video segments and write training
modules. Another NET grant to IFAS
is now in progress to conduct area
training programs across Florida and
evaluate ihe effectiveness of the new
materials and training programs."
14 Foou and Nutrition
Materials include
letters to parents
The curriculum is in two parts.
"One is a book of developmental^
appropriate lesson plans designed to
teach nutrition concepts to children
3 to 5 years old." explains project co-director
Evelyn Rooks-Weir.
"The other includes an extensive
annotated bibliography, a small
section on nutrition and child develop-ment
theory, and a series of prototype
letters to parents."
Parent education is an integral part
of the new package. "The;e is a letter
to parents for each of the 50 lessons,
more than in the original curriculum.
And at the top of the letter there is
space for each school or child care
center to print its own logo," Rooks-
Weir says.
Among other changes from the
original, information on health has
been expanded to include sleep, rest,
exercise, and sanitation.
Also new is a training manual for
county Extension specialists and
educational directors of child care
agencies to use in familiarizing
preschool teachers with the updated
materials. It contains chapters on
nutrition, child development, health,
social competency, and adult educa-tion.
Accompanying it are four
videos.
Review process
was thorough
Because the revision of the curricu-lum
was so extensive, the second
edition went through a ngurous
technical review. Six subject area
experts reviewed the material.
Among the reviewers were three
county Extension agents, one from a
rural county and two from urban
settings. One of them was a Ph.D. in
child developmen nother a licensed
dietitian. Thr other reviewers included
a faculty member at Florida Interna-tional
University in Miami, a WIC
nutritionist, and a NF f coordinator.
"This procedure kept the NET
coordinator informed about the
progress and content of the materi-als."
says Rooks-Weir. And the NET
coordinator kepi the Extension faculty
apprised of any new developments in
USDA's Child and Adult Care Food
Program that might affect content.
//? Atf/w/
December 1992 15
"The communication between the
university and the state department of
education was frequent and germane
to our needs. As a result, the revision
process moved so smoothly we were
even able to make several presenta-tions
together at various professional
meetings that involved preschool
teachers and supervisors."
The NET staff often work with
Cooperative Extension. "We achieve
the best product when we draw on
their expertise in nutrition science and
education," says Frazee. "Their
responsibilities center on teaching
diverse audiences important knowl-edge
and skills for daily living. We
find it very advantageous to coordi-nate
our educational programs as we
work to reach target populations."
Staff of the Institute of Food and
Agricultural Sciences have just
completed another NET grant project
revising a breakfast promotion booklet
called "Building Better Breakfasts."
Training will also
involve teamwork
The partnership between NET and
Extension has worked well through
the years. For the preschool curricu-lum,
Extension and the state depart-ment
of education have both provided
funds to bring in county agents for the
initial training in the curriculum's use.
Regional training for child care
sponsors this year and next will also
be done cooperatively with home
economics Extension agents.
According to Rooks-Weir, it makes
sense to call on county Extension
agents to teach day care providers
how to use the preschool curriculum.
"They are in place at the local level to
answer questions and can work
closely with the child care providers
on a continuing basis," she says.
Everyone is looking forward to
introducing the new materials in
upcoming training sessions. "We're
especially excited about the videos as
teaching tools," says Frazee.
"Many family day dare providers
have video equipment. They can use
the nutrition videos to reinforce the
things they learn at the training
programs. And they can easily show
the animated nutrition education
segments to the children."
The first video segment looks at the
major food groups as well as USDA
patterns for child care and school
meals. Section two zeros in on growth
and development, how children learn,
and why proper nourishment is
important.
In section three, animal friends help
put the focus on nutrition. "We are
using zoo animal characters," Frazee
explains, "both real animals and
animated cartoon characters as
attention getters. For example, the
giraffe, with its long neck, highlights
the need to drink lots of water."
The fourth video segment will be
for parents, explaining why nutrition is
important to the physical and psycho-logical
development of their children.
It shows them they can reinforce their
children's learning by repeating at
home the same nutrition messages
the youngsters hear at child care.
Training for child care personnel
will be coordinated with the pre-kindergarten
program in the state
department of education. Through a
new NET grant, Extension specialists
will introduce the second edition of
the preschool curriculum to educators
in child care programs and in
the public schools that have
programs for 3- and 4-year-old
children eligible for free
and reduced-price school
meals.
Will be available
to other states
Florida's new
nutrition education
curriculum will be
made available to
16 Food and Nutrition
other state NET coordinators. It will
be in the form of Word Perfect 5.1
computer disk sets, as well as in
camera-ready copy.
Florida NET coordinator Carol
Frazee will also provide three com-plete
sets to the Food and Nutrition
Information Center at the National
Agricultural Library in Beltsville,
Marvland. for loan to people working
with USDA food programs.
Project director Doris Tichenor,
director of the home economics
program in Cooperative Extension at
the University of Florida, is pleased
with the way Extension and NET work
together in her state.
"We have an excellent working
relationship," she says. "In fact,
because of Carol Frazee's strong
commitment to nutrition education
and her support of Extension pro-grams,
the Florida Association of
Extension Home Economists chose
Carol to receive their 1991 Friend of
Extension Award.
"We hope our
experiences will be helpful in encour-aging
agencies in other states to join
together." she adds.
ECELS project also
gets NET support
Another example of teamwork in
action is the way Pennsylvania's NET
staff have helped with a project called
ECELS. which stands for Early Child-hood
Education Linkage System. As
its name suggests. ECELS links public
and private health resources with
educational programs serving young
children.
Through the project, experts in
pediatrics, public health, dentistry,
mental health, and nutrition provide
consultation, training, and technical
assistance to preschool teachers and
directors, as well as to groups of
children and their parents.
The project got its start 2 years
ago when the Pennsylvania Chapter
of the American Academy of Pedi-atrics
received funds for it from the
U.S. Public Health Service and the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The need for such a project was
clear. More than 250.000 infants,
toddlers, and preschool children in
Pennsylvania attend the approximate-ly
9,000 regulated child care facilities
in the state. These facilities—includ-ing
child care centers. Head Start
programs, family day care homes,
group homes and nursery schools—
serve roughly 35 percent of the early
childhood population in Pennsylvania.
Before ECELS. many of these early
childhood programs had been operat-ing
with little or no input from health
professionals. Now. through the
project, each of the 9,000 child care
settings has access to a hotline of
experts, a newsletter called Health
Link, and a resource library.
Links groups with
shared concerns
Project coordinators work closely
with the governor's office, the Penn-sylvania
departments of health, public
welfare, education, and the Region III
Head Start Program. The way Penn-sylvania's
NET staff got involved is
interesting.
Soon after ECELS was set up.
project director Dr. Susan Aronson
contacted Jim Stephenson, the
governor's advisor for food and
III llUlini -li, [l III '.'/;'
andollk'i -;VI;-I"- i iwnJ m and
classrvomai In ilu - Hand*
measuring ingredients (A fl ) and cutting mil
and pasting pictures ofhint i
ifrf children interested and in> <
X
>»
December 1992 17
nutrition, who brought together a
group of people to learn about the
project and how they could help.
Pat Birkenshaw. supervisor for
nutrition education and training in the
state department of education, was
asked to attend, along with Richard
Mallam and Michelle Bouchard, who
work with the Child and Adult Care
Food Program (CACFP) in the Food
and Nutrition Service's Mid-Atlantic
regional office.
Since CACFP provides reimburse-ment
foi meals meeting program
requirements in child care facilities.
Dr. Aronson knew that input from
these state and federal representa-tives
was essential in planning ways
to improve nutrition services for
preschool children.
At the meeting, Dr. Aronson
reported that ECELS had collected
data that suggested that workshops
on nutrition education, food safety,
and sanitation would be helpful for
child care providers.
"We saw this as
an opportunity..."
"When we learned about ECELS'
goals," says Birkenshaw, "I said, 'This
is what we've been looking for.'"
Back at the office, Birkenshaw con-ferred
with Katherine Simchock, who
was then serving as state NET co-ordinator.
"We were interested from the
start," says Simchock, "because one
of our target groups in NET is
preschool children and the people
who care for them. We saw this as an
opportunity to work with others who
are also interested. While we didn't
have a lot of funds available in our
NET budget, we decided to use what
we had to do the workshops with
ECELS."
The state department of education
put out a "request for proposal" for
a contract in the amount of $15,000
for development of a series of work-shops.
From the applicants compet-ing,
the Pennsylvania Dairy Council
was chosen. Dairy Council policy
permits them to participate in a joint
nutrition education program without
requiring emphasis on their own
products.
Using the theme "Working Togeth-er
for Healthy Children in Family Day
Care," the Dairy Council designed a
model workshop for child care
providers and conducted six 4-hour
workshops in various parts of the
state.
"The Dairy Council did a great
job," says Simchock. "Using creative
approaches to present basic ideas,
they illustrated how day care
providers could teach preschoolers
about cleanliness and nutrition."
At the workshops, the Dairy Coun-cil
set up a series of "learning sta-tions"
identified by catchy slogans like
"Be Clean, Be Careful," "I Like to Try
New Foods," "Food Helps Me Grow,"
and "I Can Name That Food."
A committee with representatives
from private groups and industry
assisted with special activities. For
example, the Apple Institute provided
mini-snack recipes and food samples
to taste.
Each participant received a
resource packet with educational
As we'll see in additional \l I highlights
from around the country, kids <>' nil ages
tots to teens . an benefit from learning why
it's important to maki healthy foot! choke*.
Food and Nutrition
materials developed by the Dairy
Council and other groups. Following
the workshops, participants indicated
they felt their time had been well
spent and they had received valuable
information to apply in their work.
"It's a joy when agencies and
organizations come together like this,"
says Dr. Aronson, "first planning and
then implementing the plan."
Many groups help
in California, too
California has also used NET
money to support a variety of collabo-rative
efforts. One is Project Salsa, a
5-year health promotion campaign
aimed at helping residents of the
predominantly Latino community of
San Ysidro.
Now in its fifth year, the project has
received funds from the Henry J.
Kaiser Family Foundation and the
American Heart Association as well as
the state department of education. It
involves both community- and school-based
activities.
San Ysidro. just south of San
Diego, has 25,000 residents, more
than 20 percent of whom have
incomes below the poverty level.
More than 90 percent of the children
qualify for free or reduced-price
school meals.
Community support has been
essential to Project Salsa's success.
From the start, project staff have
worked closely with an advisory
council which has helped define
goals, set up task forces, and plan
and carry out activities.
Advisory council members include
representatives from: the community
health center, the school district, the
American Cancer Society, the
Metropolitan Area Advisory Commit-tee,
the Community Nutrition Task
Force, the Interagency Nutrition
Committee of San Diego County,
and the San Diego County health
department.
Looked at what
students ate
One need identified by Project
Salsa was for nutrition education for
students and their parents. A school
health task force was formed that
recommended starting with a survey
of students to learn about what they
eat and what influences their food
choices.
The survey showed, among other
things, that nutrition education should
emphasize the importance of eating
breakfast.
According to Jeanette Candelaria,
school programs coordinator for
Project Salsa, it was clear that a
cooperative effort among teachers,
food service staff, parents, and
children would be the logical course
of action.
"We did this in a number of ways,"
she says. "We set districtwide
nutrition goals. We created student
nutrition advisory committees to help
plan activities targeted for students
and parents. And we involved com-munity
institutions, either through
active participation or contributions."
Helen Magnuson, a member of the
California NET staff, visited the project
when it first began. She was
impressed with how skillfully Cande-laria
networked in the community and
encouraged collaboration between
the child nutrition programs and
classroom staff.
"We gained a great deal of under-standing
about how you can work
more effectively in a school district
and foster positive relationships
between the project staff and the
school nutrition staff," she says.
"For example, some parents were
concerned that the food service
personnel were not sensitive to the
food preferences and eating habits of
Hispanic children. By developing
rapport with parent groups, teachers,
and the nutrition program staff,
Jeanette Candelaria and other Project
Salsa staff were able to discuss and
address those concerns."
Involved children
and school staff
Learning more about children's
preferences was an important part of
the process. The student nutrition
advisory groups created an arena for
the children to taste test new foods
and for the food service staff to learn
about the youngsters' perceptions of
school meals.
The groups also enabled children
to have a key role in planning nutri-tion-
related activities, such as field
trips and health fairs.
Food service staff learned new
food preparation techniques to help
bring menus more closely in line with
federal dietary guidelines that recom-mend
moderating the use of fat. salt,
and sugar. While doing this, they kept
the children's food preferences in
mind and looked for ways to adapt
the menus so they would appeal to
their young customers.
They also worked on marketing
techniques to help 'sell' children on
the idea of eating nourishing foods,
starting with breakfast every day.
Teachers had opportunities to learn
more about food and nutrition, too.
In October 1990. a $6,000 mini-grant
from the state department of
education to the San Diego State
University Foundation provided funds
to send two teachers, the school
district's instructional services coordi-nator,
and a Project Salsa staff
member to Sacramento for training in
how to use California's nutrition
education curriculum "Choose Well,
Be Well."
According to state NET coordina-tors
Jacqui Smith and Marilyn Briggs,
"Choose Well. Be Well" is a compre-hensive
curriculum developed by the
California NET program for use with
students from preschool through
December 1992 19
III California, student*.
I'liii iii- teachers, .nut food
service staff have all worked
together on Projei i \il-.i
The students pictured nl
left and Moware taking
part in focus groups
grade twelve. It's designed to be
used sequentially, with each grade
level building on the previous one.
When the teachers returned home,
they trained six other teachers and
four school food service staff to use it.
Janice Taylor, one of the teachers
who went to Sacramento, is continu-ing
to help with this year's training.
"She knows the curriculum and
helps the teachers with it," says
Candelaria. "She'll say, 'Now look at
Lesson 2 on page 11 and turn to page
F2 for the coordinated handout. See.
it's all there. You don't have to do
any additional preparation work in
your busy day.'"
That s a big plus, Candelaria adds.
"I really like the way the 'Choose Well,
Be Weli' materials for children are
ready to use," she says. "They are
written for children's reading and
language skills."
Project Salsa staff translated into
Spanish the "Choose Well, Be Well"
materials selected for the children's
nutrition lessons in San Ysidro. The
state department of education is
planning to translate into Spanish all
of the student materials for the whole
curriculum series.
Another successful part of the
school component of Project Salsa
has been using student interns from
San Diego State University. The
arrangement gives undergraduate
nutrition majors opportunities for field
practice while contributing their time
and talent to Project Salsa.
Intern Heidi Sarmiento worked
152 hours helping teachers prepare
and teach lessons. "We had to learn
how to keep the children's attention."
she says, adding that preparing food
is a good way to do this. "If kids are
involved in the cooking process, they
learn more and are very pr jud to
eat something they've prepared
themselves."
Sarmiento, who received a small
stipend from Project Salsa and
academic credit, also helped prepare
newsletters that complemented
workshops for parents. The newslet-ters
focused on how to get children to
eat fruits and vegetables, the impor-tance
of breakfast, and the relation-ship
between nutrition and children's
performance in school.
Graduate students in public health
at San Diego State University also
helped. In addition to assisting
teachers with the curriculum and
instructing parents, they also helped
evaluate the project.
One student's thesis project, a
plate waste study in two San Ysidro
elementary schools, showed that
students ate very little of the fruits and
vegetables served to them. This led
to a poster contest to encourage
students to eat more of these foods.
Parents were
also involved
Help came from parents, too.
Charlene Cooper, a teacher trained in
the "Choose Well. Be Well" curricu-
20 Food and Nutrition
lum. recruited a parent volunteer to be
trained to provide nutrition information
to other parents.
This past school year (1991-92). the
parent volunteer presented a special
course called "Alma. Vida, y Corazon"
("Soul, Life, and Heart"). The course
was developed for use with parents
by Project Salsa with funds from the
American Heart Association, using
materials from the "Choose Well, Be
Well" curriculum.
"Alma. Vida. y Corazon" includes
a series of six lessons, grocery store
tours, and a graduation ceremony
with a potluck dinner. Topics range
from cooking economically to being
savvy about nutrition claims in food
advertising, and using salt, fat, and
sugar in moderation.
According to Candelana. the
grocery store tours have been a big
hit with parents. "On one occasion,
some of them walked miles in the rain
to get there. And they were asking
hundreds and hundreds of questions!"
Registered dietitian Carmen
Moreno, a Project Salsa staff member,
led the grocery tours last spring. She
welcomed questions, and she knew
the fine points the parents would want
to know.
"An orange drink is not orange
juice," she would say, explaining that
fruit drinks have only a fraction of the
nutritional value of 100-percent fruit
juice. She also showed them which
meats are lean cuts.
Collaboration a
key to success
From working with the advisory
council to hosting classroom tasting
parties for students and grocery store
tours for parents. Project Salsa staff
have worked to reach the San Ysidro
population in a variety of ways with a
consistent message.
Helen Magnuson sees the em-phasis
on collaboration as one of
many strengths of Project Salsa.
The project staff, she points out.
achieved positive results by creating
strong links between the county
health department and private sec-tor
organizations.
Having poster contests UHIS another urn/
Projet l Salsa schools intvlfed students and
parents. Here, parents help selei I winners
from the many posters the children had made.
"We all benefit from seeing how
each nutrition education project is
conducted." she says. "At the time
Project Salsa was getting underway,
we were developing the concept for
regional model project networks in our
'School Nutrition: Shaping Healthy
Choices,' campaign.
"The campaign was designed to
help schools introduce children to
healthy dietary practices. We gained
valuable insights from seeing what
worked with Project Salsa and what
didn't and how they changed it.
"Their success showed how we
can use everyone's skills, abilities,
and energy to get where we all want
to go. We have lots of energy if we
work together."
From Florida to Pennsylvania and
California, teamwork is what makes
NET successful. As we see in these
examples and in highlights from
other states, collaboration stretch-es
resources, generates ideas, and
makes learning about nutrition
exciting and fun.
For more information about the
projects described above, contact:
In Florida:
Carol Frazee
NET Program Coordinator
804 Florida Education Center
Tallahassee, FL 32399
Telephone: (904) 488-8375
In Pennsylvania:
Patricia Birkenshaw. Chief
Division of Food and Nutrition
Acting NET Program Coordinator
Child Nutrition Unit. Fourth Floor
333 Market Street
Harnsburg. PA 17126-0333
Telephone: (717) 787-3186
In California:
Jacqui Smith
NET Program Coordinator
Health Promotion Office
California Department of Education
721 Capitol Mall
Sacramento. CA 9584
Telephone: (916)657-3389
December 1992 21
Michigan • Hawaii • South Dakota • North Dakota • The Southwest
!ttigfitigfits...
...In Michigan
Team Teaching
Helps Bring
Food To Life
"Ag in the Classroom" and NET are
two complimentary USDA programs.
One is designed to teach student
about f. od production and agricul-ture;
the other to help them under-stand
how good food choices con-tribute
to their health.
This past school year, these
programs came together with a new
twist in Olivet. Michigan, thanks tc a
creative high school agriculture-science
teacher. Lynn Diebolt-Lewis.
The summer before. Diebolt-Lewis
had enrolled in a summer institute for
teachers sponsored by Ag in the
Classroom. The institute is run jointly
by the Michigan Farm Bureau and
Michigan State University.
Like other teachers attending the
institute, Diebolt-Lewis learned some
new things about agriculture and how
it can be integrated into various
academic subjects, including math,
science, social studies, and lan-guage
arts.
From Michigan's NET coordinator,
Claudette Nelson, one of the guest
speakers, she also learned about the
availability of NET grants to carry out
hands-on classroom projects.
Put together a
winning proposal
With the support of her principal.
Diebolt-Lewis applied for a grant,
proposing that Olivet high school
students raise goats, chickens, fruit,
and vegetables and use them to
prepare a nutritious meal from scratch
at the end of the school year.
Receiving a $3,500 grant, Diebolt-
Lewis put together a team of English,
social studies, math, and science
teachers. Together, they helped
130 students gain knowledge and
skills the youngsters will use for years
to come.
From start to finish, the project was
full of adventures. Even its name was
an eye-opener: "Caprine and Chick-en."
How many children—or adults,
for that matter—know that "caprine"
has been used historically as an
agricultural term for goat?
There are clues. Lanquage stu-dents,
for example? might recogize
"caprinus" from Latin. As young
backyard astronomers, thev ni, i', •
learned to identify the constellation
Capricorn—the Goat.
For the project, the students
weighed the goats weekly, converting
pounds to ounces and charting the
animals' weights. They milked them
and did math problems on milkfat
content. They also did ratio problems
22 Food and Nutrition
looking at the nutrients needed for
the plants they were growing hydro-ponically.
With hydroponic agriculture, plants
do not grow in soil. Instead they
absorb through their roots nutrients
that have been added to water. For
the project, the students grew onions,
garlic, basil, parsley, oregano, and
green beans this way.
Using what they were doing with
their plants and animals, they worked
on graphs, made drawings, and did
scientific experiments.
Made learning
lively and fun
Lynn Diebolt-Lewis and her sister
Michelle Diebolt, a biology and
anatomy/physiology teacher at the
school, found many ways to use the
project to bring science to life.
"My advanced class was able to
witness firsthand the ultrasound
testing and later the actual births of
the kids (baby goats) they had seen
on screen," says Michelle.
Both Michelle's biology students
and Lynn's agriculture science
classes did microbial stains of the
bacteria present in pasteurized and
unpasteurized goat milk.
In nutrition, students did library
research on nutrients, food composi-tion,
the relation of diet to health, and
some topics—like the pros and cons
of taking nutrient supplements—that
are still considered controversial.
Comments from teachers, parents,
and students reflect the excitement
the project generated and the rich-ness
of the learning experiences that
grew out of it.
"The project enhanced our special
education math class," says teacher
Ann Mattea. "Whenever we do
activities that are hands-on or have
real-world applications, our learning-disabled
students are more motivated
and seem to retain information
better."
"Because most of the learning-disabled
students are visual and
mechanical learners, this practical
experience made it more interesting
Teacher Lynn Dieboll-Lezvis (left) pels the
goats raised for the project. Student George
Shook //<>/</'- ii baby goat on birthing day.
for them to learn about nutrition and
the digestive and skeletal systems,"
adds special education teacher
Judith Fuller.
High school librarian Edna Schu-macher
says the project heightened
students' interest in finding resource
materials. "Mrs. Diebolt-Lewis has
added a lively dimension to our
curriculum," she says.
And what about the students'
perspective? Eleventh grader Kyle
Dillin says, "I never realized how
much work it is to raise animals for
meat, and it's even harder producing
milk! It was fun. though."
Kyle hopes they'll be doing the
project again this school year. "I
want to be in charge of all the goats,"
he says.
Kyle's parents share his enthusi-asm.
"Kyle learned a lot from Mrs.
Diebolt-Lewis. and so did we!"
Banquet offered
some surprises
Planning for the banquet in May.
one of Diebolt-Lewis' classes studied
wild edible spring plants found in
Michigan. Each student was respon-sible
for preparing a dish that "comes
from the wild."
Cattail roots were one student's
choice. Twelfth grader Andy Winter
says they were surprisingly good—
"like crunchy cucumbers."
Classmate Ben Crippen says the
activities definitely captured his
interest. "Having this project made
things more 'real life' and fun to study
in class. I really enjoyed it. There is a
lot more to this nutrition thing than I
thought."
Students learned there's a lot more
to planning and preparing meals, too.
The banquet featured a variety of
interesting entrees and side dishes
made with vegetables the students
had grown and animals they had
raised.
The menu reads like a clip from a
gourmet magazine. Lasagna and chili
with chevron (goat kid) meat, sea-soned
with onion, garlic, basil, pars-ley,
and oregano were two main
course choices. Baked chicken and
homemade noodles with Mozzarella
and Parmesan cheeses were others.
Vegetables included: watercress
salad with buttermilk dressing;
asparagus: two types of "dock" (a
wild root)—curled dock and Burdock:
cattail roots: and wild mustard greens
Drepared in a variety of ways.
For dessert there was homemade
ice cream in five flavors—vanilla,
banana, blueberry, strawberry, and
chocolate—which the students had
made with goat milk. They had also
made goat cheese for the banquet.
"I didn't know making cheese took
so long." says eleventh grader Caro-line
Darrow, "but it was fun.'' Caroline
says she'd like to make Blue cheese
next time.
The program for the banquet
included an invocation, the meal,
presentations by students and teach-ers,
and an awards ceremony recog-nizing
the accomplishments of
students who participated in this
project and in 1992 Future Farmers of
America proiects.
Claudette Nelsen believes NET and
Ag in the Classroom are a natural
match. "In my state, known for its
agricultural industry. I have found
coordination with Ag in the Classroom
one of the best ways to accomplish
our NET objectives." ♦
For more information, contact.
Claudette Nelsen
NET Program Coordinator
Student Support Services
Michigan Department of Education
P.O. Box 30008
Lansing, Ml 48909
Telephone: (517)373-9968
December 1992 23
In Hawaii
Teens' Reactions
Helpful In Making
"Nutrivision"
Hawaii's "Nutrivision" project,
aimed at reaching pregnant teens, is
an example of teamwork among many
groups—including the key audience.
The project got its start in the state
department of health's nutrition
branch, explains public health nutri-tionist
Mitzie Kodama. "With March
of Dimes funds," she says, "we
organized teen focus groups to find
out what teens wanted to learn and to
get their ideas on presentation.
"On the basis of the teens' input,
we produced videotapes capitalizing
on the appeal of athletic figures and
using local actors."
The videos center around two
themes: "Choices—It's Time To Eat
Right" and "Choosing a Healthy
Start." They were pre-tested in seven
schools. The students were asked
what they liked best about the videos,
and many responded they liked the
involvement of the students.
Teens featured
in the videos
"It was good having teenagers
rather than adults share advice," one
student said. "The fact that these
people were just like us made it easy
to relate to what was presented."
About "Choosing A Healthy Start"
another student said. "It was good
when the three girls with their babies
talked about their experiences."
Boys, too, saw how they could
apply the information on eating
nutritious foods during pregnancy.
"It tells me when I grow up what to
feed my wife when she gets preg-nant."
one said.
When they critiqued the video on
"Choices." students thought it was
effective to have well-known local
figures—including surfer Mark Foo
and Michael Jungles, Mr. Hawaiian
Islands, a weight lifter—tell about
what they eat. It showed, the
teenagers said, that "a lot of people
watch their diet."
24 Food and Nutrition
Bringing in a model was popular
with students, too. "I 'iked it when the
model came and talked about what
she ate because I want to know how
to lose weight and be beautiful." one
girl remarked.
It's helpful for teens to be reminded
that eating healthy, well-balanced
meals is the best way to maintain the
appropriate weight for their age.
height, and body type. Hearing that
message from an athlete or a model
makes it all the more convincing.
Food presented
in appealing ways
Both teachers and students com-plimented
the video producers on the
photographs of fruits and vegetables,
which included local foods. "The
party examples were attractive and
inspiring," one teacher commented.
"The video made healthy foods seem
appealing," agreed a student.
Ann Horiuchi. state NET coordina-tor
in Hawaii's department of educa-tion,
believes the materials will be
extremely helpful in getting the
nutrition message to pregnant teens.
"I was taught that the nutritional
slatus of a pregnant woman is deter-mined
by her nutritional status 8 years
prior to becoming pregnant," she
says. "Knowledge is not enough.
Teens—especially pregnant teens-must
practice making healthy food
choices."
Just as producing the materiais
was a cooperative effort, so was
getting them to students. Ann Hori-uchi
laid the groundwork.
"It was good to have the depart-ment
of education's entree to the
schools," says Mitzie Kodama. "The
people there have the system to
disseminate the information to the
audience we want to reach."
The videotapes feature Hawaii high school
studentsandpregnant teens as in this aene
from (i local supermarket (opposite page).
Materials will be
widely distributed
In addition to making the materials
available through the department,
education agency staff hired a nutri-tionist
to help teachers learn how to
use them. During the summer of
1991, 25 teachers earned academic
credit at a training course that intro-duced
the videos and supporting
materials.
This past summer the videos were
packaged in a kit, along with instruc-tional
guides and other supporting
materials, for wide distribution
throughout the Islands.
All state NET coordinators will
receive sets of the materials. Addi-tional
sets will be available for pur-chase
on a limited basis. Three sets
will be deposited at USDA's Food and
Nutrition Information Center in
Beltsville. Maryland. ♦
For more information, contact:
Ann Horiuchi
NET Program Coordinator
189 Lunalilo Home Road, 2nd Floor
Honolulu. HI 96825
December 1992 25
".In South Dakota
A Classroom
Visitor Offers
A Fresh Taste
Tasting parties are one way to get
children interested in trying new
foods. But can they turn kids into fruit
and vegetable fanatics? In South
Dakota, Marie Olson, director of food
services for Rapid City schools, has
found they can.
Looking for a way to increase
children's awareness of what fresh
produce contributes to their diets,
Olson enlisted the help of food
industry representative Tom Bybee
from Cloverdale Foods. Cloverdale,
a well-known food distributor, is a
supplier for the Rapid City school
food service operation.
Bybee accepted the invitation
to do a series of classroom visits,
and he came equipped. For each
visit, he brought and set up a large
produce stand, filling it with every-thing
from red apples to golden
mangos and green zucchini. The
children were encouraged to see,
touch, smell, and taste, and "just
have fun."
Visits have made
a difference-
Olson says the visits have made a
difference. "Students learned the
value and enjoyment of adding fresh
fruits and vegetables to their diets,"
she says. "And when Tom explained
where most of them are grown and
how they get to our school lunch
program in South Dakota, the stu-dents
realized that having these foods
in their school lunch is something
special."
Parents report that the children
were enthusiastic about the tasting
parties. Such requests as "Mom, let's
buy some kiwi!" and pronouncements
like "I love broccoli with dip" illustrate
the value of these classroom experi-ences,
made possible through teacher
and food service staff coordination.
And parents learned, too. "I taught
my mom something she hadn't known
about picking out fruits and vegeta-bles
in the store." said one first
grader.
During March, National Nutrition
Month, Olson and Bybee held tasting
parties in seven elementary class-rooms,
each with about 25 children.
Special invitations went to each Rapid
City school board member, the school
superintendent, the business manag-er,
and school principals.
National School Breakfast Week is
also celebrated in March, and in
South Dakota the week of March 15-
21 was proclaimed Child Nutrition
Week. At the schools, along with the
tasting parties, there were tours of the
production kitchens, and guests from
the community were invited to have
lunch with the children in any school,
any day.
The school district's 25 schools
serve lunch to more than 8,000
children daily. They also serve break-fast
to the children and prepare and
serve meals to school district em-ployees.
Obviously. Mane Olson has a big
job. But she still manages to find time
to work with teachers and children on
classroom activities that are fun and
educational.
"In our NET workshops, we encour-age
school food service personnel to
do classroom activities." says Sandy
Kangas. acting NET coordinator in
South Dakota. "We hope they'll be
inspired by Marie's example."
Children respond
enthusiastically
From the thank-you notes and
drawings Olson and Bybee have re-ceived
from children, the classroom
activities made a big impression.
Sharon Stern, first-grade teacher at
Grandview School, wrote: "Thank
you so much for coming to my
classroom...What a wonderful way
for my children to learn more about
nutrition."
Terri Hogarth, fifth-grade teacher at
Rapid Valley, sent letters from her
students. "My favorite part was the
education on the foods," wrote Dustin
D. Floyd. "I think that other schools
would enjoy this, too. Please come
again!"
As a result, Cloverdale Foods is
thinking about presenting some
programs in North Dakota, since the
company's headquarters are located
there. Olson is anticipating continuing
the tasting parties in Rapid City. too.
Parents in both North and South
Dakota may be hearing: "More
broccoli, please!" ♦
For more information, contact:
Sandy Kangas
Acting NET Program Coordinator
Child and Adult Nutrition Services
Division of Education
700 Governors Drive
Pierre. SD 57501-2291
Telephone: (605) 773-3413
26 Food and Nutrition
December 1992 ?<■
In North Dakota
Schools Take
Team Approach
To Training
In North Dakota, NET coordinator
Loris Freier is encouraging school
teamwork Dy offering mini-grants to
support in-service training for teachers.
The state also awards mini-grants
on a competitive basis to help schools
purchase materials and conduct more
comprehensive school nutrition
education projects.
As Freier explains, schools have
used the mini-grants to put together a
variety of in-service training programs
for teachers, and using teamwork has
been very effective. "Many of these
programs involve school administra-tors,
the food service staff, parents,
and other members of the community
who may benefit," she says.
When a grant is awarded. Freier
works with the school district to find
a resource person to teach the in-service
course. The person is often a
home economics instructor, a regis-tered
dietitian, an Extension home
economist, or a licensed nutritionist.
Everyone likes
team approach
The instructors as well as work-shop
participants like having many
people involved in the training. "To
do a workshop when a whole team is
involved is rewarding," says nutrition
education consultant Pam Vukelic of
Bismarck, who conducted a training
program in the Selfridge School
District. "And getting the message to
everyone at the same time ensures
the success of the project."
Selfridge was awarded a $500
mini-grant to fund a 7-hour program,
presented in two afterschool sessions.
According to district superintendent
Robert Braun, who was very support-ive
of the project, the team approach
was a natural for the district.
"As small as our school community
is." he says, "we really work closely in
all we do. People attending the
nutrition workshop weren't there
because they were required to be, but
because they're all dependent on
each other to carry it out.
"That's why the princinals, coach-es,
cooks, teachers, ano teachers'
aides all feel the commitment they do.
We sent a letter home to all parents
inviting them to participate, too."
Training targeted
to the district
Districts receiving in-service grants
must have teachers complete a
survey indicating which nutrition
topics they need to know more about.
Based on Selfridge teachers' respons-es,
Vukelic identified two priority areas.
"I included an overview of nutrition-al
requirements in relation to health,
then provided more indepth informa-tion
on how to meet daily nutrition
needs by eating the right variety of
foods." she says.
Holding the two sessions one
month apart in February and March
gave teachers an opportunity to try
out nutrition activities in their class-rooms
and come back with feedback
and questions. As well as working
with the students, the teachers
gathered personal information about
their own nutritional status and habits.
In addition to all of the district's
teachers, a number of parents partici-pated,
including the parent-teacher
organization president. Cheryl Feist,
who helped with the grant appli-cation
process.
"The parents learned some of the
foods they typically fed their children
weren't the best choices." says Braun.
Results were
noticeable
There were many noticeable results
from the training. "After teachers
introduced new foods in classroom
nutrition activities, we could see that
students were more interested in
trying different foods offered in the
cafeteria. We also now have more
students who regularly participate in
school lunch," says Braun.
"I have also noticed much more
excitement among the teachers about
doing nutrition activities. In fact, some
of them spent their own money to get
additional resource materials. We've
already submitted u proposal for a
mini-grant to purchase more materials
for next year."
In all. 91 North Dakota school
districts receive , mini-grants last
year. Eight of the grants were for in-service
teacher training. This year a
number of new schools as well as
some previous grantees are submit-ting
proposals for projects. ♦
For more information, contact:
Lons Freier
NET Piogram Coordinator
Assistant Director, Child Nutrition and
Food Distribution Programs
State Department of Public Instruction
600 East Boulevard Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58505-0440
Telephone: (701)224-2294
28 Food and Nutrition
...In the Southwest
Schools Sign Up
To "Build A...
Better World"
As a result of a cooperative effort
called "Project 2001." many schools
in the Southwest are adopting a new
slogan: "Build a Better Body. Build a
Better World."
Project 2001 is designed to give
schools tools they can use \r getting
students and parents interested in
nutrition education. It's also aimed at
helping schools bring their meals in
line with federal dietary guidelines and
to demonstrate how far they've
already come , offering students
healthy lunch o oices.
Now in its second year, this pilot
project was developed by the Food
and Nutrition Service's Southwest
regional office (SWRO) together with
state NET coordinators and school
food service directors in five states—
Arkansas. Louisiana, New Mexico.
Ohio, and Texas.
"In the past, school systems
working to implement the U.S. Dietary
Guidelines have not had the resources
to promote or market their efforts."
says Alice Carroll, state NET coordi-nator
in Louisiana.
"For example, many schools were
offering low-calorie salad dressings,
but did not advertise that fact. They
were also baking rather than frying
breaded items, and making changes
like using more whole-grain flour and
serving more fresh fruits and vegeta-bles.
Unfortunately, no one but the
school food service personnel knew
what a good job they were doing.
"The average school food service
supervisor and manager didn't think
they had the time or the skills to
promote their programs or them-selves,"
Carroll adds. "Project 2001
has given them a tool for tooting their
own horn."
Newspaper coverage of Project
2001 has helped publicize the project
in communities throughout Louisiana.
One reporter, in fact, challenged
parents "to serve the same caliber
meals to children at home as they
receive at school." The Louisiana
parent-teacher association and the
Louisiana Nutrition Council have
published articles in their newsletters
based on information Alice Carroll
provided.
Several states
worked together
"Project 2001: Nutrition For A New
Century" is the project's complete
name. It got its start in the spring of
1991 when Louise Lapeze. regional
nutrition coordinator in FNS' South-west
office, was looking for ways to
help spread the word on the innova-tions
taking place in school meals.
She got in touch with school
nutrition staff in the region's five
states and suggested they form a
project team. Team members agreed
to explore ways to help schools
continue to make improvements and
get credit for what they were doing.
They also agreed it was important
to give parents ideas about how
schools and the community can work
together on nutrition education for
children.
"We know that school food service
directors have incredible demands
placed on them." says Lapeze.
"Simply operating a successful
program requires most of their efforts
and frequently little time or resources
are left that could be used to develop
local nutrition education projects."
Team members decided on a two-pronged
approach. First, they would
establish some basic criteria schools
would agree to meet in order to
participate in Project 2001. Second,
with the criteria in place, they would
develop a series of attractive nutrition
education fact sheets schools could
reproduce and use locally.
"The NET coordinators gave us
their full support." says Lapeze.
"Along with other state agency per-sonnel
and some local school food
service directors, they helped us
select the criteria and develop the
fact sheets."
Practical steps
schools can take
The criteria provide guidance
schools can use to help bring their
meals in line with the latest nutritional
knowledge.
The criteria are consistent with the
kinds of changes USDA is recom-mending
schools make nationwide to
implement the federal dietary guide-lines.
They do not change or substi-tute
for the nutritional requirements of
the National School Lunch Program
(NSLP) and the meal patterns NSLP
schools follow.
\i Madisonville Elementary in St Tammany
Parish, Louisiana, first yradei Asliley Tlioinas
helps herself to some fresh red grapes
December 1992 29
Casey Strander, another Madisonville student,
selects fresli pineapplefor dessert. He's also
having./ hamburger <»/ ii wlu>lc wlteal bun
(baked that morning al school), french fried
potatoes, fresli red grapes, and skim milk.
Using Project 2001 criteria:
• Schools emphasize reducing the
levels of fat. sodium, and sugar in
meals they serve to children. This
affects not only how they plan
menus, but also how they procure
and prepare food.
• They offer a fresh fruit or vegetable
every day. Also on a daily basis,
they offer at least one item contain-ing
whole-grain flour or meal, such
as cornmeal. This might be a
bread or bread alternate, or a
dessert. In addition, they offer dry
beans or peas at least once a
week.
• Schools using a single menu (as
opposed to offering students a
choice of several menus) limit to
once a week the number of times
they include processed meats or
meat alternates that have not been
modified to reduce fat and/or
sodium. At each meal these
schools offer no more than one
high-fat menu item.
• In addition, schools provide salt
shakers and butter only at stu-dents'
request. They offer unfa-vored
low-fat milk (containing no
more than 1-percent milkfat) and
unflavored skim milk.
Project materials
are reproducible
Nutrition education materials
developed for the project include
reproducible sheets participating
schools can personalize. On each is
Project 2001 's distinctive logo and
border. The slogan "Build a Better
Body, Build a Better World" is also on
the attractive stickers and buttons
developed for the project.
Each school receives a sheet of
black-and-white camera-ready
copies of the logo. They use these,
for example, on school menus and
correspondence, on press releases
and letters to parents, and on the
16 camera-ready nutrition education
sheets that contain information on the
dietary guidelines and related topics.
"Project 2001 has given our NET
program a focus for promoting the
U.S. dietary guidelines," says Alice
Carroll. "The criteria are clearly
defined and realistic in scope.
"We are pieased to have a central
theme that is identifiable throughout
the state," she adds. "Project 2001 is
neatly packaged with professional
graphics that appeal to students,
parents, school personnel, and food
service staff."
A local school system may choose
any number of schools to participate:
some begin with one school and add
others later on They can |om any time
during the school year. The first step
is an agreement signed by USDA. the
state agency, and several people in
the school district—the superinten-dent,
the food service director, the
school principal, and the lunch
program manager.
"This ensures the support of the
entire school system," says Lapeze.
"We emphasize that the project is
strictly voluntary and that the school
system will not be monitored by
USDA or the state for adherence to
project criteria.
"But we also emphasize that the
nutrition education sheets tell parents
what the school will be doing to
implement the dietary guidelines. So
schools will be monitored by the
students, parents, and teachers, and
they will quickly lose credibility if they
do not do what they say they are
going to do."
Carroll agrees. "We're here to
serve as liaison and to coordinate, not
to monitor," she says. "The school
districts like the idea that Project 2001
can be implemented on an honor
system."
30 Food and Nutrition
When Carroll first introduced the
project in her state at a summer 1991
Louisiana School Food Service
Association conference, food service
directors in a number of parishes were
eager to participate. ("Parish" is used
instead of "school district" in
Louisiana.)
Sylvia Hornsby-Dunn, child nutri-tion
programs director for St. Tam-many
Parish, began Project 2001 at
Whispering Forest Elementary School
in Slidell the following October. She
found Project 2001 criteria easy to
meld with the "Go-Grow-Glow"
program she had put into place 6
years earlier, focusing on the nutrition-al
needs of kindergartners and first
graders.
With support from principals and
teachers, by the end of the school
year all 43 schools in St. Tammany
Parish were participating.
Project works for
several reasons
Hornsby-Dunn believes Project
2001 works for several reasons.
"First." she says, "there is a united
commitment at the federal, state, and
local levels to serve nutritional meals
that reinforce the U.S. Dietary Guide-lines.
Also, Project 2001 provides
current information for students,
parents, and staff on the Dietary
Guidelines and USDA's child nutrition
programs.
"And." she adds, "very important in
economically challenging times,
USDA makes it possible for us to
reinforce our efforts in a very profes-sional
way by providing the materials
we need to reach parents and the
community."
In Texas, more than 200 public
schools, including all schools in Fort
Worth, participated in Project 2001
this past school year. Eighteen
private schools and residential child
care institutions also participated.
Lapeze and Texas NET coordinator
Deborah Simpson introduced the
project to public school staff through
quarterly regional meetings of the
Texas School Food Service Associa-tion.
They sent letters and brochures
to the private schools.
In Oklahoma. Joanie Hildenbrand,
then serving as NET coordinator,
invited Lapeze to introduce the
project at a workshop held in the
spring of 1991. Approximately 220
school food service representatives
attended and learned the eight criteria
they must meet to participate.
"Everyone was pretty positive,"
says Hildenbrand. "and more than
200 people obtained the required
signature of the school principal or
superintendent and signed up."
Additional workshops followed in
each of the four regions of the state
and 400 more people enrolled.
This past June. HHdenbrand asked
the Associated Milk Producers to
present their popular "Trimming the
Fat" training session as part of a
3-hour workshop.
"The food service personnel are
sold on Project 2001 as the practical,
logical way to go." she says. "Next
year we will go out to schools and
work with them one-on-one on
implementing it."
Deborah Simpson has decided to
offer a special incentive for Project
2001 schools in Texas. In preparing
her 1993 NET budget, Simpson set
aside monies to help participating
schools with possible additional costs
of promoting the project in their
communities.
She asked schools to submit
applications by June proposing how
they would use supplemental funds.
She'll be sharing with other schools
information on the creative activities
carried out by those schools that have
been awarded grants.
More schools
are signing up
During Project 2001 's first year, a
total of 105 school districts—repre-senting
619 schools in Louisiana,
Oklahoma, and Texas—took part. At
workshops this past summer, Lapeze
and state NET coordinates intro-duced
the project to representatives
from school districts in New Mexico
and Arkansas.
They are pleased with how the
project has come together. "From our
experience this past year." says
Lapeze. "we believe that participation
by schools, through their state NET
programs, creates a federal, state,
and local partnership which promotes
better nutrition and better education
for our children." ♦
For more information, contact:
Louise Lapeze
NET Program Coordinator
Southwest Regional Office
Food and Nutrition Service. USDA
1100 Commerce Street. Room 5C30
Dallas. TX 75242
Telephone: (214) 767-0234
— article by Martha Poolton
Nutrition
Education &
Training
... For more information, write to:
Joseph Shepherd, Director
Nutrition and Technical Services Division
Food and Nutrition Service, USDA
Alexandria, VA 22302
December 1992 31
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
U. S. Department of Agriculture
Food and Nutrition Service
Alexandria. Virginia 22302
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use. $300
THIRD CLASS BULK RATE
POSTAGE & FEES PAID
U. S. Department of Agriculture
Permit Number G-39
Published three or four times
a year by the Food and Nutri-tion
Service, U.S. Department
of Agriculture, Alexandria,
Vi-ginia 22302.
Edward Madigan
Secretary of Agriculture
Ann Chadwick
Acting Assistant Secretary
For Food and Consumer Services
Phyllis Gault
Acting Administrator
Food and Nutrition Service
Jan Kern, Editor
George Avalos, Art Director
Food and Nutrition magazine con-tains
articles on the family food
assistance and child nutrition
programs administered by USDA's
Food and Nutrition Service (FNS)
in cooperation with state govern-ments
and local agencies.
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.
The use of funds for printing this
publication has been approved by
the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget.
Reference to commercial products
and services does not imply en-dorsement
or discrimination by the
Department of Agriculture.
Single copies may be purchased
from the U.S. Government Printing
Office. Mail a check or money order
for $2.00, payable to the Superin-tendent
of Documents, to the fol-lowing
address: Superintendent
of Documer s. Government Printing
Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
Prints of photos may be obtained
from Photo Library. U.S. Depart-ment
of Agriculture. Washington.
D.C. 20250.
All programs of the U.S. Depart-ment
of Agriculture are available
to everyone without regard to race,
color, sex, national origin, or
handicap.
3a
Drawings bu Amanda Kronen, age 6,
from Marietta, New York