On behalf of HFFA we would like to thank you for attending our Lunchbox Toolbox Workshop last Thursday! It was nice to see so many families talking, sharing ideas and trying new ways to prepare lunch. Our station hosts all reported that they too enjoyed this experience and most of all were thrilled to see your children eagerly explore new options.
It’s hard to summarize the night into a few highlights, but here are some of our observations as we browsed the stations:
- Registered Dietitian Jacalyn Dryland offered many excellent tips on offering new foods to our children and how to introduce them in a fun and encouraging way, exploring them with our senses.
- The surveys you filled out showed us that many of you will take Chef Phil DeWar's encouragement seriously; to welcome children into the grocery shopping experience. This lays the groundwork for a positive food relationship at an early age and provides an opportunity for kids to select nutritious foods for their own lunches.
- RD Nicole Hambleton helped us decipher the info from nutrition labels and marketing tactics so that we can make the best choices, though there was no trouble convincing anyone that foods with no labels at all are the best!
- Farmer Becky Landman was amazed at how creative kids got with their egg cup combinations. Making this simple snack showed parents how excited children are to eat what they've made themselves.
- "Micro greens are delicious!" was overheard from children at Farmer Amy Ouchterlony and Shirley Boxem's talking table. The matchstick root veggies, greens and homemade sundried tomatoes were tasty and surprising treats.
- Kids in attendance were changing their attitude right before our eyes! Eating eggs after stating they don’t like them, taking huge bites of sliced veggies in rice paper, eating fresh sprouts and protein balls on their own and all eagerly without complaint or bribery!
We hope you not only learned something valuable, but also had fun! If you missed filling out a survey, please let us know what you thought at
food@headwaterscommunities.org
We would like to thank HHES and Primrose ES for joining together to pool their school grants and extend the invitation to all local schools. Now THAT'S a great example of "Parents Reaching Out"!
READY TO KEEP LEARNING?
Here are links to our handout for the event, as well as videos and other online resources to continue your quest for better school lunches:
Slideshow
that was playing throughout the evening. Links to the videos are included below.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
