Though it’s not always possible, it’s a beautiful thing to serve fresh fruits and veggies year-round. When it’s not, be creative with canned fruits and vegetables. They’re just as nutritious as fresh when preserved correctly.¹

Inspire your menu all year long with unique recipes from sites such as Pacific Northwest Canned Pears. Its creative take on the fruit can easily wake up any menu whether it’s Pear and Peanut Butter French Toast or Pear Spinach Salad.

Adding new items to your menu keeps students excited about eating in the cafeteria. And utilizing merchandising materials helps increase participation. Look for other sites that offer free recipes and merchandising ideas such as NORPAC Foods, Inc. NORPAC has been offering quality frozen vegetables, among other products from farmers, since 1924.

Fruits and veggies are essential to a balanced diet and menu. Remember that canned and frozen vegetables offer an excellent alternative ideal for maintaining a balanced menu all year long.

¹ University of California, Davis Nutrition Study 2007

Looking for a website dedicated to nutrition and wellness within your district? School Nutrition and Fitness is an organization that provides FSDs with an affordable website. The site incorporates school nutrition resources in an easy-to-use, image-rich website for district food and nutrition departments. Try using customized websites like this for communicating with parents, increasing participation, or spreading a wellness message throughout the community.

For more website information and ideas on increasing revenue and participation, visit schoolnutritionandfitness.com.

Whole foods do a whole lot of good since they provide great health benefits and complement a balanced diet. But when whole foods aren’t possible, fortified foods may be something to consider.

Peanut butter with Omega 3. Yogurt with probiotics. Sound good? Most consumers think so. In the last couple of years, we’ve seen a fortified foods boom, making up a $30.7 billion market,¹ and consumers are eating it up. In fact, 83 percent of consumers have said they are interested in products with added health benefits.²

While purchase of fortified foods is projected to increase by 40 percent over the next 5 years, the concept is really nothing new. Iodine was first added to salt in 1924 to help reduce the instance of goiter in Michigan. After showing signs of success, the iodization of salt became a national measure.

As with all foods, experts recommend paying close attention to labels to make sure the positive food enhancements aren’t outweighed by the negative. For instance, sports drinks contain a lot of vitamins, but the amount of sugar they contain negates the fortification. Dr. Lawrence Cheskin, associate professor of medicine and human nutrition at Johns Hopkins University, says, “A lot of this boils down to common sense. As with all foods, the key here is simply to get it from a good source and eat it in moderation.”

¹ Packaged Facts Research
² International Food Information Council Survey, 2008
Source: The Wall Street Journal

Do you have an opinion regarding the pros and cons of fortified foods? We’d love to hear it. Email us at ozone@spunkmeyer.com.