Second graders at Annandale Terrace Elementary School were joined in the lunch line today by federal agency heads. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack sat at a round table in the cafeteria, munching on a chicken parmesan sandwich that was recently added to Fairfax County Public Schools. Lunch menu.
Cafeteria Manager Rama Gundapaneni and FCPS Executive Director of Food and Nutrition Services Sean Soko said the sandwiches were served with low-sodium tomato sauce and fresh basil, and the secretaries’ lunch trays also had salads. I made sure Mr. Vilsack knew that it would be included. Featuring red peppers, cucumbers, and hard-boiled eggs, every FCPS school lunchroom has a salad bar.
In commemoration of National School Lunch Week and National Farm-to-School Month, USDA Secretary Vilsack toured Annandale Terrace Elementary School. The school has an active learning garden growing beets, radishes and red peppers that some families will eventually enjoy. All Annandale Terrace students are eligible for free breakfast and lunch, regardless of their family’s ability to pay.
Principal Ingrid Badia led Vilsack, FCPS Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reed, School Board Vice Chair Karl Frisch, and Mason District Representative Riccardi Anderson to build the Annandale Terrace kitchen, cafeteria, and courtyard. I took a tour.
While welcoming the group to the school, Badia explained that the school focuses on nutrition and said each day starts the same way.
“The first question we ask the children who walk through our front door every day is, ‘Did you have breakfast today?'” Badia said. “We know that students cannot reach their full potential without adequate nutrition, so we make sure no student enters our classrooms hungry.”
This focus aligns with FCPS Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reed’s commitment to increasing the district’s emphasis on healthy school meals. Mr Reid wanted to focus on improving nutritional standards from the beginning of his tenure, he said. On her first visit to the FCPS cafeteria last year, she picked up a prepackaged breakfast muffin and noticed it contained 28 grams of sugar.
The district is also offering a global menu that goes beyond orange chicken and ground beef tacos and adding plant-based ingredients to school lunch trays to accommodate students who are vegan, vegetarian, or adhere to kosher or halal diets. of protein. Reid said.
“Soon we’ll be saying goodbye to that heat and serving corn dog snacks,” Reed said. “I can say with confidence that they don’t grow naturally everywhere.”
Students working in the Annandale Terrace Courtyard Learning Garden, near where Mr Reid was speaking, said his comments resonated with them.
“I can’t even eat corn dogs, so I’m really looking forward to the new menu,” said fifth-grader Yaphet Seif. “I don’t eat pork. So I’m all about trying new things.”
Fairfax County School Board Vice Chairman Karl Frisch said the partnership with FCPS deserves credit for increasing the availability of fresh, locally grown produce in school cafeterias.
USDA grants have also been helpful, Frisch said, noting that last year alone, thanks to a centralized local sourcing pilot program, FCPS was able to provide more than 180,000 pounds of locally grown produce in schools.
Vilsack, whose agency oversees the National School Lunch Program, said he was inspired by the organization’s dedication to child nutrition and its push for local sourcing of fruits and vegetables.
“What do you get when you come to a school like this?” Vilsack said in a speech to a crowd gathered in the school’s courtyard. “Dedicated educators who care about the whole child. Math, language, and science aren’t the only parts of the day. We want the young people who come here to feel good about themselves, and we want them to feel good about themselves in a committed and healthy way. Start each day with this.”
Click here for more information on changes to the FCPS school menu.