Ideas to consider
Here you’ll find examples of ideas that could be included as part of the school food system project you’re designing. These are not recommended as stand-alone projects for these awards. These ideas may enhance your community engagement or project quality as components of your innovative project.
Please see Inspiration for Projects for examples of innovative, community-driven project ideas that improve the local school food system.
The ideas below can be filtered by type of project and by partners. You can select more than one category in each field. The more categories you select, the more narrow your results will be.
School Wellness Policy
School wellness policies, which can include local procurement goals as well as nutrition education, are written documents that guide a school district’s efforts to support an environment of healthy eating.
Project includes opportunities to incorporate a committee of students into school policy initiatives (i.e.– student council).
Scratch Cooking Assessment and Learning Evaluation (SCALE)
Complete the SCALE self-assessment and receive custom recommendations and a step-by-step guide to improving school meals.
Resources
Seasoning Bar
Work with a food industry partner to offer a “seasoning bar” or “flavor station” with culturally relevant, salt-free herbs and spices.
Example
Resources
State Value Chain Coordinators
Value chain coordinators can support farmers in connecting with buyers, including schools.
State-Level Food Procurement
State agencies procure local food from growers, with school districts purchasing from the state agency, reducing time and cost for SFAs.
Student Recipe Competition
Students in culinary class have a competition to create a recipe to be standardized and featured on the school menu.