The cafeterias of Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools (MN) not only serve nutritious foods, they also work to offer students experiential learning opportunities in the cafeteria. The nutrition program introduces students to culturally relevant foods through a monthly program and has developed a life skills lesson component to a coffee delivery program at the high school. Through regular sampling in the cafeteria, events with local farmers and student gardens, the nutrition program engages students of all different ages in nutrition education.
“A student approached us about having more options from his culture for lunch, that sparked a program we call World Wednesday,” said Emily Malone, Director of Child Nutrition for Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools. “Now we try to incorporate items of different cultures at least once a month.”
The student’s family owns a Chinese restaurant so the nutrition department requested their fried rice recipe to make and serve to the students for lunch. To help students understand why Chinese fried rice was on the lunch menu, Malone worked with the teachers to show a video that the student’s family recorded about their restaurant and their culture.
Recently, East African cuisine was featured during World Wednesday to mark Eid al-Fitr, a holiday in the Muslim religion that celebrates the end of the month-long fast Ramadan. Celebratory foods common during the holiday are Sambusas, a savory, stuffed pastry and rice dish with fragrant East African spices. Malone reached out to Afro Deli in the Twin Cities for assistance with the dish. Sambusas are often served with Bariis Iskukaris, also known as Somali Rice and the national dish of Somalia. The nutrition team found a recipe for Bariis Iskukaris and fried plantains to serve with the Sambusas, which all received positive feedback from the students.
Making its return in the fall, the newest program at Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools called “Brewing Independence” is a collaboration between the Lake House Cafe at Prior Lake High School and the school’s Life Skills program.
“One of our Life Skills teachers came to the nutrition department with this idea about ways they could teach students real-life employment skills through a delivery program,” said Malone.
Four days a week, students deliver cafe orders to staff in the high school. The goal is to help the students feel empowered, responsible and proud to be collecting and delivering orders. One of the unexpected benefits of the program is that more teachers have signed up for a meal account to place orders.
“We like to expose the students to new and different foods. ‘Try it Tuesday’ is our way of having the children try new things in an organic, no-pressure way. We ask them to just taste it and they don’t have to take a huge portion,” said Malone. “We hope the students like some of the samples enough to incorporate them into the meal rotation.”
Watermelon radishes have found their way onto the menu as a result of a Try it Tuesday success. After multiple samples, roasted watermelon radishes, which Malone describes as looking sweet like a watermelon but having a spicy bite, are now served on a regular basis.
There are a lot of farms in the district’s region of the state and Malone takes advantage of their proximity by offering as many farm-to-school options as possible. She feels it’s important for the students to know that their food was grown locally by members of the community. Malone started the “Get to Know Your Farmer” campaign to welcome them to the lunchroom when their produce is served.
“We found the farmers loved to share their passion for growing food and the kids were really drawn to it. We heard students say ‘I met the guys who grew this’ to their friends,” said Malone.
Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools brought in a farmer to talk about microgreens with the students and share the many health benefits of the vegetable. The microgreens were so popular with students and provided such an easy way for them to get more vegetables, they are now on the menu every week.
“It was so amazing to hear a first grader talk about microgreens. Not only did that child learn a new word but a new concept,” said Malone.
Educating students about where their food comes from continues in the summer for some Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools students. The nutrition department assists with the district’s “Garden Club” which is offered as part of its summer programs.
Students in fourth and fifth grade who attend Kids’ Company, a childcare program of Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools’ Community Education Services, help tend to the gardens during the summer. They are responsible for weeding, watering and harvesting crops and can try anything they want while working in the garden. During the program, students also learn about soil, bugs and beetles.
The school garden has many hands helping to get it going. During the school year, students in science classes start growing plants from seeds and members from the after-school eco-team club do the planting.
Among crops grown into the fall are tomatoes, onions, beans, radishes, carrots, potatoes and several types of herbs. When school returns at the beginning of September, many of the harvested crops end up as part of school lunches.
Corn is a fall favorite for students. Prior Lake-Savage’s nutrition department holds a corn event each September. With the help of the district’s custodians, dozens of bags of unprocessed corn are delivered from an area farm to each of the schools. Teachers incorporate a lesson about how corn is grown with the farmer, explaining the seed-to-plant process. Students then take part in a corn husking relay and the corn is served at lunch.
This upcoming school year is sure to bring more international flavors and new foods to the students of Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools.