Teaching Kitchens in Schools: Harvesting a District Model for Culinary Nutrition

Presentation Summary: Consumption of fruits, vegetables, and fiber is associated with decreased risk of obesity, diabetes, cancer and other chronic diseases. Yet it was estimated in 2017 that less than 7% of US high school students were meeting fruit and vegetable intake recommendations, and in 2021, 49% of children ages 1-5 had not eaten a vegetable in the entire preceding week. The difference between the amount of daily fiber recommended and the amount actually consumed has been coined the “fiber gap,” which is larger amongst individuals of racial and ethnic minorities and those struggling with food insecurity. Children eat up to 50% of their daily caloric intake while at school and 60% of US students participate in the National School Lunch Program, which makes schools a high impact setting for nutrition intervention. However, available data suggest that school meals fall short of recommended fiber content. Farm to School and culinary nutrition programming help address the fiber gap by providing all students with hands-on experiences that improve nutrition literacy while offering them exposure to local produce prepared in tasty creative ways in their school meals. In this session, a lifestyle medicine certified physician from the Medical University of South Carolina Boeing Center for Children’s Wellness, a registered dietitian from Clemson University Department of Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciences, and the Farm to School coordinator at F1S will explore how The Farm at F1S has successfully integrated a district-wide Farm to School program through its state-of-the-art facility. Metrics for Harvest of the Month will be shared including staffing costs, barriers to food service incorporation, pounds and servings of local produce distributed to students, feedback from students and staff, and fiber content of meals provided. Scientific evidence and financial framework supporting this scalable model will be described with the goal of offering valuable insights to participants who desire to incorporate culinary nutrition programs within their local school district. Don’t have a state-of-the-art school farm near you? Participants will learn how to build effective partnerships, increase farm-to-school programming from available funding sources, leverage teaching kitchen activities to increase student nutrition literacy, and create sustainable, plant-forward school nutrition programming in any district.