Put an End to ‘Mystery Meat’

By: Alyssa Martinez

The Lunchbreak Chronicles

It happened again-- you forgot your lunch in a rush this morning to get to your kiddos,
and you need more time in the 40-minute lunch break to grab lunch. You decide to head to the
cafeteria and see some kind of mystery meat, decorated with limp lettuce scattered around the
plate. You decide to skip lunch, thinking that you aren't too hungry anyway. Unfortunately, you
aren't alone. Other children in line pick around their meals and avoid the sad pale veggies. There
must be a better system for these kids, you think, but ultimately, that isn’t your place as an
educator. But that is not entirely the case.
When kids enter a classroom, they open their minds to learn. This makes your classroom
the perfect space for nutrition education, to help feed their growing minds. To help you do this,
consider incorporating a nutrition education curriculum for elementary school classrooms; these
programs are inclusive of low-income neighborhoods. One method is through the California
Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), which is currently accepting applications for
farm-to-school programs such as those listed on the National Farm-to-School Network (CDFA -
California Farm-to-School Incubator Grant Program, 2024).

A new approach: the farm-to-school program

A farm-to-school program provides direct access to local farmers, giving the school
access to fresh produce, nutrition education, and even classroom gardens. That means better
lunches, happier bellies, and better-performing students. Regular breakfast consumption has been
linked to increased IQ in children (Liu et al., 2013); similarly, skipping breakfast has also been
linked to lower classroom engagement (Moller et al., 2021). These studies show that there is a
direct correlation between your students’ nutrition and their ability to perform well in the
classroom.
Another study found many low-income parents have gaps in nutrition education, with
many relying on their family members for information (Davis et. al., 2013). This is carried down
to children, leaving them unaware of the nutritional content of food or what the benefits of
certain foods are (Romanos-Nanclares et al., 2018).
Kindergarten nutrition education programs have been proven to work, with one showing
that hands-on guardian-involved nutrition education encouraged healthy snack consumption, and
successfully educated students on food groups (Robertson et al., 2016). This program focused on
educating parents as well as students, to help carry the curriculum from the classroom to the
home. Although hands-on nutrition is effective, there have been issues with staff having proper
resources to teach the material (Johannessen et al., 2018). It is recommended that educators
review the material beforehand and contact a pediatric dietitian who would be happy to provide
information regarding educating on nutrition-related topics. Farm-to-school programs can work
with the school to bring in guest speakers or provide resources to teachers wanting to incorporate
nutrition into their curriculum. These programs leave a lasting impression, with classroom
nutrition programs showing positive results in cooking confidence going into adulthood
(Fredericks et al., 2023).

What can I do to help?

Educators like you can promote dialogue in the classroom about food, discuss possible
curricula with other educators in your school and district, and reach out to the administration
regarding enrolling your school in a farm-to-school program. One study in the Journal of
Community Health found that barriers to nutrition education programs as reported by
superintendents and principals include lack of time for coordination between teachers and food
service staff, and lack of facilitating staff (Laundry et al., 2015). Thus, starting the conversation
is a great first step. Perhaps directing the administration toward a site such as the National Farm
to School Network at https://www.farmtoschool.org/ can help kickstart the movement toward
better food and better education. Grants such as the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant
Program fund the addition of farm fresh foods directly to your school’s cafeteria.
So, bring the farm to your classroom and have fun with it! Create a plan to add farm-to-
school programs in your classroom, contact a local dietitian to come in and talk about nutrition,
and talk about your favorite foods. Just exposing kids to a variety of fruits and vegetables by
talking about them, showing them, and singing about them is a great first step. Doing whatever
you can to introduce your students to healthier eating habits will help them form positive food
relationships in their early years.

References

CDFA - California Farm to School Incubator Grant Program. (2024). Retrieved February

18, 2024, from https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/caf2sgrant/

Davis, A. M., Befort, C., Steiger, K., Simpson, S., & Mijares, M. (2013). The nutrition

needs of low-income families regarding living healthier lifestyles: Findings from a

qualitative study. Journal of Child Health Care, 17(1), 53–61.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1367493512446715

Fredericks, L., Utter, J., Tang, L., Shah, A., Wilson Lofts, C., Parry, J., & Koch, P. A.

(2023). Can the effects of high school culinary nutrition education be sustained into

adulthood? Health Education Journal, 82(6), 611–622.

https://doi.org/10.1177/00178969231178593
Johannessen, B., Helland, S. H., Bere, E., Øverby, N. C., & Fegran, L. (2018). “A bumpy

road”: Kindergarten staff’s experiences with an intervention to promote healthy diets in

toddlers. Appetite, 127, 37–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2018.04.008

Laundry, A., Lingsch, K., Weiss, C., Connell, C., & Yadrick, K. (2015). Barriers and

Possible Facilitators to Participation in Farm to School Week.

Https://Schoolnutrition.Org/. https://schoolnutrition.org/journal/spring-2015-barriers-

and-possible-facilitators-to-participation-in-farm-to-school-week/

Liu, J., Hwang, W.-T., Dickerman, B., & Compher, C. (2013). Regular breakfast

consumption is associated with increased IQ in kindergarten children. Early Human

Development, 89(4), 257–262. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2013.01.006

Moller, H., Sincovich, A., Gregory, T., & Smithers, L. (2021). Breakfast skipping and

cognitive and emotional engagement at school: A cross-sectional population-level

study. Public Health Nutrition, 25(12), 3356–3365.

https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980021004870

Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program | Food and Nutrition Service. (2024).

Retrieved March 11, 2024, from https://www.fns.usda.gov/f2s/farm-school-grant-

program

Robertson, T., Larsen, A., Liao, Y., Dunton, G. F., Hu, J., & Alberts, J. (2016). Building

Healthier Kindergarten Students Through Nutrition Education. Journal of Nutrition

Education and Behavior, 48(7, Supplement), S82.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2016.04.218

Romanos-Nanclares, A., Zazpe, I., Santiago, S., Marín, L., Rico-Campà, A., & Martín-

Calvo, N. (2018). Influence of Parental Healthy-Eating Attitudes and Nutritional

 Knowledge on Nutritional Adequacy and Diet Quality among Preschoolers: The

SENDO Project. Nutrients, 10(12), 1875. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10121875

Target Audience: Kindergarten educators in low-income areas who want to improve

nutrition in their schools