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September 2007
Becoming America's Best
Food Services Department
Teaching Kids to Make Healthy Choices
Students Enjoy the Variety of Healthy Food Options “I wake up at 5 to start my daily routine
As I’m savoring for something sweet like ice cream
But I need an education for me
So I reach for the treat with the Vitamin C…”
So go the words to a rap song by SCPA 10th grader Quintin Cummins, one of four first-place winners in the 2007 Essay, Poetry and Rap Contest, “Why does eating a healthy breakfast and lunch help you do well in school?” The annual contest is one of several exciting developments from our Food Services Department.

For the second year in a row, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine named SDUSD school lunches among the healthiest in the U.S. The district received the highest score in California and the second highest in the nation for offering fresh and healthful low-fat foods. Vegetarian entrées are available every day. All elementary schools and most secondary schools offer a fresh salad bar daily. Each month the department’s newsletter spotlights a Harvest of the Month item, grown in California.

Innovative programs include “Breakfast in the Classroom,” which provides breakfast to students in their classrooms at six district elementary schools. The Summer Food Program offers free lunches and snacks to children at 18 City of San Diego Park and Recreation Centers. The program, funded by the US Department of Agriculture, requires no enrollment, paperwork or income qualification to participate.

“We are pleased to score so highly among U.S. schools, “ says Joanne Tucker, Food Services Marketing Coordinator, “but the real satisfaction comes from the response we have gotten from students, parents, teachers and principals. These are changes we have been planning for a long time.”

For more information, visit www.sandi.net/food.