Bettendorf Community School District received a Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Award for improving the nutritional quality of their school meals. Awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) in collaboration with Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK), Bettendorf Schools received the Innovation in the Preparation of School Meals USDA HMI Recognition Award and Welcome to the Adventure! for work in Innovation in the Preparation of School Meals Award winners incorporated new menu items that are prepared from scratch using a local agricultural product or USDA food in accordance with the USDA recipe standardization process and incorporated student engagement. Some of the menu items submitted for recognition include Mexican Street Corn, Garlic Roasted Broccoli, Cilantro Lime Brown Rice, Rosy Applesauce, and homemade Taco Seasoning.
“We congratulate Bettendorf Community School District on this important achievement,” said Rob Bisceglie, Executive Officer & President for Action for Healthy Kids. “The HMI Recognition Awards are an opportunity to showcase innovative school nutrition practices that provide children with access to nutritious school meals,” he added.
“One of America’s best opportunities to improve child health is by supporting schools in providing tasty and nutritious meals is,” said Cindy Long, administrator of USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. “This Recognition Award highlights the remarkable achievements Bettendorf schools have made in offering nutritious meals that students enjoy, and we look forward to them sharing their best practices to help other schools follow in their footsteps.” Long added that each school day, USDA school meal programs reach around 30 million children from all communities and backgrounds across the country.
“This award gives our staff a sense of pride in what we do for our students every day,” Michelle Riessen, Bettendorf Schools Nutrition & Wellness Manager. “It’s been a lot of learning and growing bringing scratch recipes into our menu rotation. This team deserves to have their efforts recognized. We have seen an increase in student participation when we have these scratch items. Hearing students comment that the food looks like it is from a restaurant puts a smile on the staff’s faces. We’ve also seen an increased need to make our cooked vegetables when we featured a scratch-made item. We are showing kids vegetables and fruits can be prepared in different ways and take on different flavors in each recipe. Making more scratch has also allowed us to lower our added sodium and still have flavor, such as our homemade taco seasoning, keeping us in line with USDA guidelines and student palatability.”
As an award recipient, Bettendorf Community School District will receive national and local recognition and travel stipends to attend a national Healthy Meals Summit in Las Vegas, NV. The HMI Recognition Awards are open to all school districts, and more information can be found at www.healthymealsincentives.org/recognition-awards/.
AFHK is recognizing school districts that have made improvements to the nutritional quality of their school meals as part of a cooperative agreement to develop and implement the USDA FNS’s Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative. The Recognition Awards spotlight innovative practices, student and community engagement activities, and strategies schools have used to provide meals that are consistent with the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Healthy school meals are an essential part of the school environment and a proven tool for improving a child’s health, growth, development, and educational outcomes. AFHK and USDA are committed to working together to strengthen school meals and investment in a bright future for our children.
About USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service
USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service works to end hunger and improve food and nutrition security through a suite of 16 nutrition assistance programs, such as the school breakfast and lunch programs, WIC and SNAP. Together, these programs serve 1 in 4 Americans over the course of a year, promoting consistent and equitable access to healthy, safe, and affordable food essential to optimal health and well-being. FNS also provides science-based nutrition recommendations through the co-development of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. FNS’s report, “Leveraging the White House Conference to Promote and Elevate Nutrition Security: The Role of the USDA Food and Nutrition Service,” highlights ways the agency will support the Biden-Harris Administration’s National Strategy, released in conjunction with the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in September 2022. To learn more about FNS, visit www.fns.usda.gov and follow @USDANutrition.
About Action for Healthy Kids
Action for Healthy Kids is dedicated to improving children’s health and well-being by bringing together and mobilizing educators, families, and other key stakeholders to help children lead healthy lives. Through its core programming and family-school partnerships, Action for Healthy Kids has impacted more than 20 million children in 55,000 schools nationwide to address systemic challenges in underserved communities. In 2023, AFHK joined in a cooperative agreement with USDA Food and Nutrition to help implement the Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative, designed to improve the nutritional quality of school meals through food systems transformation, school food authority recognition, and technical assistance. To learn more about its growing network of volunteers and champions, visit: actionforhealthykids.org.