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$600K Available to Five School Districts for Healthier Meals

The number one request we hear across the country from food service teams that want to innovate and improve their school meal programs is: “How do we start?” Assessing your current operations is a key step towards enriching and building a stronger food service program. It allows you to identify opportunities and challenges to accomplish your department’s goals.

Dedicated to improving school meals, three top school food nutrition foundations have teamed up to provide $600,000 in support to five school districts across the nation committed to serving healthier meals through the School Food Support Initiative.

Launched by the Life Time Foundation, in partnership with the Chef Ann Foundation and the Whole Kids Foundation, the School Food Support Initiative is seeking five motivated school districts that want to establish healthier meal programs, and want the guidance and support to truly improve the health of children in their communities.

Applications will be accepted now through October 30, 2015. Selected districts each will receive program services valued at $120,000, including:

  • Program implementation by a team of renowned school food experts:​

- Chef Ann Cooper, an internationally recognized chef, educator and advocate of healthy food for all children, and Food Service Director of Boulder Valley School District

- Chef Beth Collins, a School Food Systems Consultant and Director of Operations for the Chef Ann Foundation

- Nancy Howatt, a Fiscal Analyst and School District Administration Consultant at Lunch Lessons LLC

  • A one-day intensive workshop for Food Service Directors at Boulder Valley School District, focused on human resources, finance, procurement, menu planning, facilities and community engagement
  • Three-day on-site assessment and technical assistance
  • Report of assessment findings and recommendations
  • On-site strategic planning based on assessment findings
  • Twenty hours of technical assistance and peer-to-peer collaboration
  • Ongoing peer-to-peer collaboration for best practices, sharing and support through the Life Time Foundation Collaborative
  • As an outcome of each assessment, selected school districts may apply for a one-time $50,000 grant that is designed to support the identified needs and goals of each program in implementing sustainable healthy food recommendations

School districts that have an interest in being considered must meet the following criteria:

  • A firm commitment to improve their meal program, including a commitment to reduce and remove the Life Time Foundation’s “Seven Ingredients of Concern”: high-fructose corn syrup; artificial colors; artificial sweeteners; artificial preservatives; trans fats and hydrogenated oils; bleached flour; and hormones and antibiotics in animal products when possible; and focus on scratch cooking.
  • Participation in the National School Lunch Program
  • Ideally serve 3,000 to 12,000 students and located within 20 miles of either a Life Time destination or a Whole Foods Market for additional support

Applications must be submitted by October 30, 2015. Eligible districts will be ranked for selection based on applications and top candidate will be invited to participate in an interview prior to final selection.

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School districts that have an interest in being considered must meet the following criteria:

  • A firm commitment to improve their meal program, including a commitment to reduce and remove the Life Time Foundation’s “Seven Ingredients of Concern”: high-fructose corn syrup; artificial colors; artificial sweeteners; artificial preservatives; trans fats and hydrogenated oils; bleached flour; and hormones and antibiotics in animal products when possible; and focus on scratch cooking.
  • Participation in the National School Lunch Program
  • Ideally serve 3,000 to 12,000 students and located within 20 miles of either a Life Time destination or a Whole Foods Market for additional support

Applications must be submitted by October 30, 2015. Eligible districts will be ranked for selection based on applications and top candidate will be invited to participate in an interview prior to final selection.

Interested in reading more helpful articles from us? Sign-up for our newsletter in the footer below.

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