Implementing USDA's Pledge for Healthier School Meals: Our Expert Recommendations

This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Administration unveiled the Pledge for Healthier School Meals, a voluntary pledge with six core recommendations that states and school food programs can implement to support healthier meals for students within current USDA guidelines.

Since 2009, Chef Ann Foundation has supported school food programs across the country with their transition to more scratch, whole-ingredient cooking, implementing many of the same recommendations outlined in the pledge — from substituting breakfast pastries with more whole-food, nutrient-dense options to purchasing and preparing healthier protein options.

“What we’ve learned after doing this work for over 17 years is that recommendations and resources, such as adequate kitchen equipment, coupled with on-the-ground technical assistance, are what truly move the needle on scratch cooking in schools,” said Chef Ann Foundation Co-Founder and CEO Mara Fleishman. 

At the Chef Ann Foundation, our goal is to support school food programs in serving more scratch-cooked meals that allow them to choose higher-quality ingredients and develop menus that meet the needs of and strengthen their local communities.

In that spirit, below are some of our recommendations and resources related to the Pledge for Healthier School Meals that align with our mission and years of experience moving school food programs along their scratch-cooking journey. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list but rather a guide for school food programs and states looking for a starting point.

Our Recommendations

• Limit grain-based desserts to one day per month using a phased approach.
  • During menu development, school food programs can determine what scratch, speed-scratch, and low-sugar, pre-made breakfast items may be popular and manageable, based on cooking production, ideally emphasizing protein in place of or in addition to grain-based entrées. Staff can then be trained on standardized recipes, and taste tests can be conducted with students to gain feedback and buy-in.
• Programs should develop their own added sugar limits, either by product (e.g., milk, grain entrées, cereal) or by total added sugar per day.
  • Programs should include added-sugar limits in recipe and menu development and, where necessary, solicitations.

Resources

• We have 38 USDA-compliant scratch-made breakfast recipes on The Lunch Box, our free online resource library of scratch cooking recipes and resources.
• Chef Ann Foundation’s Fiscal Management Tools to model scratch-made breakfast.
• USDA's Reducing Added Sugars at School Breakfast, which can largely be applied to lunch as well.
• USDA Grain Requirements, with grain-based desserts listed in red.

Our Recommendations

• Programs should allocate a greater portion of their USDA entitlement funds to the Department of Defense Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (DoD Fresh) and Brown Box food items, effectively minimizing further processing of USDA Foods.
  • During menu and recipe development, identify ingredients that could be purchased through DoD Fresh and/or Brown Box. Shift entitlement funds away from processing and toward ingredients that can be used in scratch and speed scratch recipes.
• Programs should procure a greater percentage of raw proteins.
  • Identify current items that could be switched to raw, focusing first on items purchased in larger amounts. Reviewing your velocity data can help guide which items would have the greatest impact if switched to raw.
  • During menu development, commodity selection, and the forecasting process with farmers and vendors, assess the quantities of raw products available, financially viable, and required for your menu.
  • Ensure adjustments are made to standardized recipes to reflect changes to raw proteins. Provide relevant staff training on the production of raw items and food safety. Track success over multiple years by analyzing velocity data.

Resources

• Cooking Fresh Animal Proteins
• Introducing Raw Proteins to Your School Food Menu
• Fresh/Raw Beef SOP (Fresh/Raw Beef SOP en español)
• Fresh/Raw Poultry SOP (Fresh/Raw Poultry SOP en español)

Our Recommendations

• We recommend that school food programs focus their time and labor on reimbursable meals and building and improving their meal program that way. Furthermore, offering ultraprocessed items as á la carte options conflicts with the broader wellness goals of transforming a school food program to more scratch cooking with whole ingredients.
  • For á la carte, we recommend programs allowing students to purchase second entrées and extra milk as á la carte items.
  • Phase out non-reimbursable á la carte items, including chips, cookies, and ice cream, from order guides.
  • Communicate the 'why' behind the change to kitchen staff and school communities: Kitchen staff will have more time to dedicate to preparing high-quality meals for students, and the transition to more scratch cooking is in the interest of student and environmental health.
• Eliminate caffeinated and high sugar beverages as á la carte options.
  • Phase out caffeinated beverages from order guides.
  • Communicate to school sites the 'why' behind the change: The district is aligning with improved health standards for students.
• Develop á la carte guidelines, including acceptable or unacceptable ingredients or products.
  • Consider ingredients of concern, such as highly processed items, sugars and oils, as well as common allergens such as soy, nuts, and gluten. Consider getting input from parent groups and/or other community stakeholders.

Resources

• Ingredient Guide for Better School Food Purchasing
• Chef Ann Foundation’s Ingredient Guide

Our Recommendations

• Eliminate juice at breakfast and lunch with a phased approach.
  • Limit juice to no more than two times per week to start.
  • Determine a timeline for phasing out juice at breakfast and lunch. If the change will be met with resistance from staff or the school community, consider reducing it to twice per week at lunch before eliminating it entirely from lunch. 
  • Communicate change to kitchen staff and the school community, ensuring the ‘why’ behind it is clear: We are working to improve children’s health outcomes and lifelong eating habits and will introduce them to other whole-fruit options that are nutritious and delicious. Juice also lacks naturally occurring fiber, a critical nutrient, which is found in whole fruits.
• Ensure staff have processes and tools in place for prepping whole or cut fruits in place of juice at lunch. Implement salad bars at all school sites where possible. 
  • Schools should implement salad bars as part of the reimbursable meal to offer daily access to fresh fruit.
  • During menu development for the upcoming school year, research seasonal salad bar items, prioritizing local ingredients when possible. 
  • Using the templates and examples provided, develop seasonal salad bar grids, ensuring that menus by grade level are consistent. Ensure sites are provided with salad bar grids and any necessary training related to salad bar setup and implementation.

Resources

• Research article: Juice Displaces Milk and Fruit in High School Lunches
• The Lunch Box - Salad Bars
• Sample Salad Bar SOP
• Salad Bars to Schools Survey Summary
• Salad Bar Layouts

We're here to help

If you are a governor, state agency, or school food program looking for where to begin your scratch cooking journey, Chef Ann Foundation is here to support you. We know that guidance coupled with resources is a recipe for success, and we look forward to partnering with you to support healthier futures for our students. 

Reach out to us at info@chefannfoundation.org and sign up for our newsletter so we can help get your schools cooking!