Fresh Bites Winter Edition 2022

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Industry Feature

BY GREG SZKLANY AMERICAN DAIRY ASSOCIATION NORTH EAST 5 Ways to Add Milk to Your Menu

Bridge the Gap with Students by “Cooking with Love”

Celebrity Chef Jernard Wells Delivers Keynote at Annual NYSNA Conference

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently released helpful tips on ways to add more variety to school menus, including “ 5 Ways to Add Milk to Your Back-to- School Menus ” along with suggestions for veggies, fruit, and more. In case you missed it, here are the USDA’s five tips, along with resources and ways American Dairy Association North East can help enhance your school meal offerings. 1. SOURCE LOCAL MILK As the Farm to School movement has grown, serving locally- sourced options for students to enjoy, such as milk, have become even easier. There’s an abundance of dairy farms in New York State, so it’s no surprise that milk is the second most popular local item served in cafeterias across the state (fruit is first), according to the 2019 Farm to School Census . With programs like NY Thursdays and NY 30% Incentive Program , serving farm-fresh milk is beneficial for both schools and students. 2. MAKE SURE MILK IS COLD Students drink more milk - and get more of the essential nutrients – if you serve it to them cold. Oftentimes this means having the right equipment to ensure that milk is served at the optimal temperature – between 35 and 40 degrees. American Dairy Association North East’s “ Strive for 35 Cold Milk Program ” can do just that for school districts. When schools register, they will receive a milk temperature kit that includes a free digital thermometer – plus a chance to win a milk cooler! 3. ENSURE EQUITABLE ACCESSTOMILK’S NUTRIENTS Just because students might be lactose intolerant, doesn’t mean they can’t receive all of the nutritional benefits that milk has to offer. Nutritionally speaking, lactose-free milk has all the same 13 essential nutrients as regular milk. Furthermore, many cheeses are naturally lactose-free and Greek yogurt tends to be lower in lactose. Both can still provide many of the same nutrients as milk. 4. ENCOURAGE MILK American Dairy Association North East is committed to helping schools implement new and exciting menu items to

help boost meal participation. Kids love milk, cheese and yogurt, and we’re here to help improve access to delicious and nutritious school meals. Recent program additions include Hot Chocolate Milk and Yogurt All Ways . And our AmericanDairy.com website houses dozens of popular recipes that students just can’t get enough of ! 5. PLAN FOR A DYNAMIC FOOD ENVIRONMENT We have seen many schools adopt new meal service models since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. Whether it was serving students in the classroom, increasing “Grab n’ Go” offerings, or delivering meals to students across their communities, schools were quick to adapt to meet

BY GREG SZKLANY AMERICAN DAIRY ASSOCIATION NORTH EAST

American Dairy Association North East partnered with celebrity Chef Jernard Wells, of Food Network fame and the current host of “ ew Soul Kitche ” on CLEO TV , for the virtual portion of this year’s New York School Nutrition Association Annual Conference. Wells, who delivered the keynote speech and facilitated two recipe demonstrations, challenged food service directors to bridge the gap between food and the students they serve, and to not settle for the status quo when it comes to cooking in the kitchen. Wells said the way to start bridging the gap is to consider what can be prepared and served to students that stays within the school meal guidelines, while still making it fun, exciting, and most importantly, good, all at the same time. “The key is taking the raw ingredients you have on hand and creating a unique masterpiece with it,” Wells said. “Because you can do a lot with less. It’s about how you blend and what you mix it with. Take the time to add your touch to it.” Wells practiced what he preached as he led school nutrition directors through two cooking demonstrations using kid-tested and approved grab- and-go recipes that will work for all service models. Rather than simply serving yogurt, Wells, developed two innovative parfaits exclusively for American Dairy Association North East – a Red, White & Blue Yogurt Parfait and a Barbecue Ranch Chicken Parfait - that both featured Greek yogurt as the base along with other ingredients to dress up the creations.

“It’s these types of dishes that can get students excited for school meals again,” says Wells. “When you pay attention to what the ones that you are serving are saying, you’ll always hit a home run.” Additionally, American Dairy Association North East gave school nutritiondirectors a chance tohear directly from two students during a breakout session led by Buffalo Bills defensive lineman Harrison Phillips. Phillips expressed how important and essential school meals are for students and applauded school nutrition directors for ensuring that students and families have continued access to nutritious meals. Convenience, accessibility, variety of options, and schools’ use of social media to promote menu offerings were the popular student suggestions. Wells reiterated that food service departments have an opportunity to positively impact the lives of their students by simply listening to what they want. “It starts with you. You can change a child’s life. You can change the students’ perspective on how they see school,” said Wells. “These are the meals that they need. Because if it wasn’t for you being there, they may not have any.” American Dairy Association North East was honored to host Chef Wells at this year’s annual conference. We are committed to providing unparalleled service to school districts across the state, we’re proud to promote recipes kids really enjoy, and we are here to help improve your school meal offerings. Contact us at schools@milk4u.org or visit AmericanDairy.com .

students where they were. You can always count on American Dairy Association North East to be a friend to school nutrition directors. We are committed to assist your efforts to raise program awareness, improve efficiency with meal delivery and service models, and provide new menu and recipe ideas. Please contact us at schools@milk4u . org or visit AmericanDairy.com . Adapted from the USDA’s “5 Ways to Add Milk to Your Back-to-School Menus”

FreshBites

WINTER 2022

FreshBites

WINTER 2022