Brookline Nutrition Advisory Board Minutes

1/26/07, 8:15am

Present: Elena Olson (Chair, NAB, Runkle parent), Ann Johnson (Food Service Director), Alida Castillo Freeman (Driscoll), Dawn Edell (Devotion), Theresa Gallo-Toth (Runkle Librarian), Tasso Pittas (Baker), Gloria Rudisch (Health Dept), Heather Tsatsarones (Food Service intern), Cherie Gaehde (Pierce), Susan Levin (Pierce), Todd Washburn (Pierce), Alice Wong (Pierce)

1. Approved 12/15/06 minutes

2. 8:15 am versus 2:30 pm time slot: generally, different groups attend the 2 meeting times; next meeting on March 9th will also be at 8:15, then will alternate to the 2:30 slot in April to accommodate all members.

3. Update on Wellness Policy adopted by School Committee: not presented by Peter Rowe, chair of the committee, who could not attend today.

1. The group discussed how the policy document is a general outline, with broad strokes on the issues of health and fitness; implementation will likely be school-driven, and action items tailored to each school’s environment and issues, e.g. sweets at Pierce. The Wellness Policy would be used to support action items, e.g. avoiding food or candy for rewards (provision in the policy).
2. Important to move forward on both the policy level and school implementation. Members can check in with Peter Rowe regarding the start-up of the Wellness Committee.
3. Pierce NAB met to update their principal on the Wellness Policy and outlined follow-up items: parent Susan Levin drafted talking points for a staff meeting, and a write-up for the school’s 1/25/07 newsletter.
4. Educating students on the issues is also important so that they will be “self-monitoring.”
1. Kindergarten curriculum last October was funded by a 1-time grant. It will be up to the teachers to continue the curriculum in future years. Food Service can continue to support the teachers by offering the 1-day free lunch at the end of the curriculum.
5. Massachusetts' BlueCross BlueShield education department is pushing a "5-2-1" healthy living campaign for kids: each day, all kids should get 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, should have a maximum of 2 hrs screen time (TV and computer combined), and should get an hour of exercise. All agreed this was a useful and simple-to-remember guideline. Perhaps it could be promoted through the Wellness Committee.

4. Update on lunch participation
1. Food service is projecting a surplus, thanks to an increase in revenues and more control on labor and inventory expenses.
2. Revenue increase due to more reimbursable meals and less a la carte items, i.e. snacks.
3. Surplus will help fund an update to the antiquated point-of-sale system. Food Service expects to issue an RFP this summer.
4. Current lunch participation ranges from 35%-40%. To keep the rate growing, it is important for Food Service to monitor food quality and consistency.

5. Sample model practices in schools - “Let’s learn from each other.”
1. Driscoll – need for the parent volunteers has ended; cafeteria aide has a system in place which includes assigned seating; kindergartners are served their lunch.
2. Lincoln – another strong cafeteria aide: sends kids back for vegetables; “eat 5 bites or sit w/me tomorrow.” Helps to have meals plated versus offering vegetables to children.
1. Food Service hopes to train all kitchen managers this summer to achieve consistency in “plating” (food’s appearance) and taste.
2. Food Service submit a grant application to support this training?
3. Devotion - another model for seating: one class per (long) table.
4. Pierce – Kindergartners are served their lunch for the first 4 months, in January they learn to walk the lunch line, selecting from the offerings. One kindergarten teacher mentioned it provided an opportunity to integrate the kindergarten nutrition curriculum. (Pierce NAB is currently surveying kindergarten teachers for feedback on implementing the curriculum last October and next steps). Good behavior in the cafeteria by 1^st graders was recognized with a non-food reward.
5. Driscoll – Plan to conduct a food service survey at Driscoll school. Elena offered to let her use her "SurveyMonkey" service (www.surveymonkey.com), which creates and tabulates surveys for you online. Some discussion of using this tool for a PSB-wide survey, at some point in the future.
   
6. Challenges –
1. Runkle 5^th and 6^th grade petition – focusing on poor quality and taste of food, lack of customer service. Other schools do not seem to be facing similar issues, but hard to know without canvassing entire school system (through survey).
2. Time for lunch continues to be an issue for schools represented.

7. If you are interested in chairing this NAB committee starting this Spring, please let Elena Olson know. She’s retiring from her two-year tenure as chair of NAB.

8. Next meeting is March 9^th at 8:20 am.