It's not the stereotypical Lunch Lady Land. The cafeterias in Clear Lake schools are offering fresh, locally sourced, healthful food choices.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited the Clear Lake Community School District on Monday to recognize the food service department for its efforts to improve school meals. Earlier this month, the district received a Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition AwardĀ for its work to create nutritious, enjoyable meals for students.Ā
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Clear Lake was one of the first four winners of the award, jointly created by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Action for Healthy Kids as part of USDAāsĀ Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative.Ā
Julie Udelhofen is Clear Lake's food service director. Over the last two years she's overseen changes to improve the nutritional content of breakfast and lunch. She's also educating students about how to eat healthier without sacrificing taste.
One component is lowering sodium content in prepared foods by choosing low or no sodium options. When it comes to seasoning foods, the staff has come up with salt-free blends of herbs and spices includingĀ buffalo, Greek, ranch, vegetable, garlic and herb, and Italian seasonings to flavor dishes.
Cooks use the blends to season vegetables, and they're only available on the lunch line. Vilsack asked Udelhofen if she had considered marketing the spice blends outside of the school.
"There could be a revenue stream there," Vilsack said.
The Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative also provided the schools with funds for some much-needed equipment upgrades. Barbara Mechurra directs the Action for Healthy Kids program that oversees the Clear Lake programs.Ā
"A lot of times, schools haven't had equipment upgrades done at all over the years. They're operating the same equipment that was installed when the schools were built 60 or 70 years ago," Mechurra said. "By upgrading equipment, food service can focus on preparing fresh foods in appealing ways and moving away from convenience foods for kids."
Udelhofen and the team installed a new walk-in freezer in the middle school, purchased food processors for each kitchen and updated the serving line to provide fresh salads daily for students.
Mechurra said none of this would have been possible without "the adventurous spirit of the school nutrition team." The team was on hand in matching T-shirts to hear from stakeholders in the Healthy Meals Incentives Initiatives program, including local producers and food hubs that help to source fresh produce for students to enjoy.
Of all the changes staff and their partners have implemented, Udelhofen sees the education component as one of the most valuable. "Trying new foods has been amazing for the students," she said. "By sharing foods, we build relationships and trust with the kids, not just when it comes to lunches."
Each time staff bring out a new item of produce to try, it is accompanied by an informational poster filled with facts about the food and a QR code that takes users to a Google page with recipes and other information about the item.
"We rotate out which school we go to," Udelhofen said. "One month it's elementary, then middle, then high school. The kids are pretty enthusiastic. They were excited when we tried a variety of potatoes, like fingerling and even purple potatoes. A lot of them had never seen one like that before."
So far, students have tried varieties of tomatoes, peppers, pears, parsnips, rutabagas, carrots and potatoes. Working with agencies like Healthy Harvest of North Iowa and the Iowa Food Hub, Clear Lake schools are able to source produce from local growers like Kittleson Brothers in St. Ansgar who grow potatoes and onions.
Mechurra says the benefits are extensive. "Not only do students have access to fresh, local produce, the program supports small and midsize growers. Diversity of crops improves soil quality and it goes on and on."
Vilsack echoed Mechurra.
"From our perspective, it's important for us to continue to look for creative ways to support that system and schools are critically important to that," the former Iowa governor said.