MEEKER I The Meeker School District is among a select group of school districts in Colorado that has accepted the LiveWell Colorado challenge to provide more freshly prepared school lunches that taste good and are good for students.
During the next year, Meeker’s School Lunch Program will receive assistance from the LiveWell@School Food Initiative to transition their kitchen operations to serve healthier school food. In addition, the district has received a grant to purchase kitchen equipment, free culinary training plus on-site support from a LiveWell Colorado chef consultant.
This means change—or the better—is on its way to your school kitchens and lunchrooms. But, it doesn’t happen on its own. To be successful, school food directors need the support of their school community: parent advisory volunteers, student taste test organizers, newsletter writers and more. By championing change, these lunchroom revolution leaders help set a national example for healthier school food.
Currently, nearly 58 percent of Colorado adults and a quarter of its children are overweight or obese. The goal of the LiveWell@School Food Initiative is to reverse childhood obesity trends by making it easy for kids to make healthy lunch choices. LiveWell Colorado believes that partnering with food service directors and their staffs is a key ingredient in getting students to demand and make healthier food choices.
Research also proves that when kids eat a balanced diet, they are better able to focus on both academics and extracurricular activities.
“Meeker’s school lunch program is very excited to be participating in this initiative and looks forward to serving meals that are both good for students and taste good,” says Cindy S. Nelson, director of Meeker’s food services department. “It’s going to take some time and effort to complete the process, but it’ll be worth it because it’s the right thing to do for our kids.”
LiveWell Colorado is a nonprofit organization committed to preventing and reducing obesity in Colorado. It’s LiveWell@School Food Initiative was launched with funding and support from the Colorado Health Foundation, and further advanced by a transformational leadership gift of $1 million from Rob Katz, CEO of Vail Resorts, Inc., and his wife Elana Amsterdam. The goal of the LiveWell@School Food Initiative is to ensure all children in Colorado have access to and choose healthy food at school by 2022. For more information, visit www.livewellcolorado.org
