‘Fresh Attitude Week’ Promotes Variety In Fruits And Vegetables In School Meals

Tom Stenzel, President and CEO, United Fresh Produce Association, talks with members of the French Delegation, detailing United Fresh’s work to increase children’s access to fresh fruits and vegetables at schools across the country.

Tom Stenzel, President and CEO, United Fresh Produce Association, talks with members of the French Delegation, detailing United Fresh’s work to increase children’s access to fresh fruits and vegetables at schools across the country.

Earlier this month, representatives from the United Fresh Start Foundation joined the Urban School Food Alliance and French dignitaries to celebrate “Fresh Attitude Week” in the U.S. The Urban School Food Alliance, a coalition of the largest U.S. school districts including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago Miami-Dade, Dallas, and Orange County in Orlando, FL, celebrated Fresh Attitude Week by highlighting a greater variety of fresh fruits and vegetables in their meals and by hosting farm to school and other nutrition education activities, throughout the week of May 9-13.

The United Fresh Start Foundation was invited to participate in this year’s celebration, helping to arrange events in Chicago and New York City, and to promote Fresh Attitude Week to other U.S. schools.

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“We were so pleased to have United Fresh join us in promoting Fresh Attitude Week this year,” said Eric Goldstein, from the Urban School Food Alliance and Chief Executive Officer of School Support Services at the New York City Department of Education. “I know all members of the Urban School Food Alliance are looking forward to attending this year’s United Fresh convention, where we hope to see new and creative fruit and vegetable products for our programs, as well as get ideas on how to support Fresh Attitude Week in our schools next year.”

In Chicago, the Foundation worked with Strube Celery & Vegetable Company and JAB Produce to arrange a tour of the Chicago Terminal Produce Market for the Chicago Public Schools’ foodservice team and Interfel, which is the French organization also known as The Inter-Branch Association of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables .

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United Fresh also helped organize the educational program, which included speakers from several produce companies that supply fresh fruits and vegetables for Chicago Public Schools (CPS), both for their meal programs and the nearly 200 CPS schools that participate in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable “School Snack” Program (FFVP).

In New York City, United Fresh President and CEO, Tom Stenzel joined school district leaders as judge for New York City (NYC) School Food “Super Chef,” an event where school cafeteria chefs throughout the city’s five boroughs competed to develop a healthy and tasty entree that complies with USDA school lunch nutrition standards. The two winning dishes chicken enchiladas with pico de gallo and black beans and chicken souvlaki with cilantro tzatziki sauce, will appear on school menus next year. The winning chefs, Yolanda Vendrell, cook in charge, and Antonia Fernandez, sous chef, are both from the Bronx. They were awarded a trip to San Antonio, courtesy of the district, and Bruno Dupont, President of Interfel announced the winners would receive a trip to France.

“This competition was fantastic. The school chefs were inspired to creative unique healthy dishes, all of which highlighted fresh produce. I would love to figure out a way to bring this concept to more school districts across the country,” Stenzel said. “The kids in New York City are lucky to have such dedicated foodservice staff who are developing tasty recipes that get kids excited about dishes that include fresh fruits and veggies.”

While in New York, Stenzel also spoke with NYC School Food leaders and the French Delegation about the current child obesity crisis in the U.S. and the work the United Fresh Start Foundation is doing to increase children’s access to and consumption of fresh produce at school and beyond.

Fresh Attitude Week was initially created by Interfel,, as a way to introduce French children to fresh produce, help them understand where their food is grown and how it gets from the farm to their plate, as well as introducing them to the country’s culinary heritage which celebrates eating freshly prepared foods.

Fresh Attitude Week has been a mainstay of French classrooms for more than 10 years, and two years ago was implemented in Italy, as well. This is the second year that the Urban School Food Alliance has celebrated Fresh Attitude Week in U.S. schools, working with the French Department of Agriculture and Interfel.

The Urban School Food Alliance will join more than 50 school nutrition directors June 21-22 in Chicago at United Fresh 2016  for “The Produce Forum for School Success.” Hosted by the United Fresh Start Foundation, “The Produce Forum for School Success” brings K-12 school foodservice directors from the nation’s largest and most influential school districts to the United Fresh convention to meet produce industry leaders, share best practices with school foodservice colleagues, interact with USDA child nutrition officials, participate in education sessions focused on serving fresh produce in schools, and to walk the trade show floor where they will be introduced to the newest fruit and vegetable innovations.

 

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