Food and Nutrition. Our Green Initiative

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Shon Dean
5 years ago
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1 Food and Nutrition Good nutrition directly affects a child s health and the ability to focus and concentrate. At Montessori Academy, our faculty shares parents interest and concerns about their child s health and we work closely with you to provide our students the best possible nutrition. The following are guidelines that have been established to help all of us accomplish this. Our Green Initiative Montessori Academy is a Certified Green Business by the City of Batavia. As a part of our Green Initiatives, we are committed to consuming products that are less harmful to human health and the environment. This includes the promotion of eating of fruits and vegetables and limiting processed foods at school. The use of disposable individually packaged food or drink on campus is strongly discouraged. Please note that there are several specific rules that we follow: Disposable water bottles are not allowed Soda pop drinks are not allowed No foods containing nuts or nut products are allowed Breakfast Guidelines (Before Care) Please provide your child with a nutritious breakfast each morning. Eating a high-protein breakfast supports brain function and leads to increased focus and concentration throughout the morning work cycle. If your child arrives at school between 7:00-7:45am and has not eaten breakfast at home you may send your child to school with a healthy breakfast to enjoy during Before Care. Morning and Afternoon Snack Guidelines Primary and Lower Elementary (3-9 year olds) Each week a sharing basket will be sent home with one child in each of the environments. The basket will contain a detailed list of healthy food items requested that will be used for food preparation, tasting activities and shared snack throughout the following week in your child s class. Each family will be responsible for the sharing basket approximately 2 times per school year. Snacks in the Primary environments are focused on fruits, vegetables, whole grains and full-fat dairy products. Purified water is always available. Each classroom takes the special dietary needs of all the children into account when sending out the sharing basket. 37

2 Upper-Middle (9-14 year olds) Your child should pack a small healthy snack to enjoy when he or she needs a quick nourishing break during the morning and afternoon work cycle on Monday-Thursday. This snack should focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains or full-fat dairy. No foods containing nuts are allowed on campus. Please avoid processed foods and individually packaged foods and drinks. Purified water is always available. Each Friday, one child will be asked to provide a healthy snack to share with all of the children in the class. This shared snack should follow the Shared Snack Guidelines below. Your child s teacher may have a more detailed listing of other restrictions based upon the special dietary needs of the children for that school year. Shared Snack Guidelines (3-14 year olds) Fruits and vegetables are an excellent shared snack. Fruits and vegetables that should be labeled organic in order to avoid pesticide consumption are: peaches, nectarines, apples, cherries, pears, raspberries, strawberries, grapes, celery, bell peppers, potatoes and spinach. Homemade items are encouraged at Montessori Academy. We value the effort of children and their families to make real food to share with friends at school. Please be mindful of the ingredients in a recipe in order to make it as healthy as possible. Prior to making any homemade shared snack items please consult with your child s teacher to know of any special dietary needs of the children in the class. Ingredients and Additives That Are Not Allowed For the health of all of the children, foods which contain the following items are not appropriate for shared snacks on campus. Please be certain that any food to be shared does not contain the following: High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) or Artificial Sweeteners (aspartame, sucralose) Sodium Nitrate (found in many processed meats like hot dogs and lunch meat) Artificial Colors and Dyes (yellow #5, red #40, etc.) Trans Fats (Hydrogenated Oils) rbgh (Dairy Hormone) 38

3 Montessori Academy Health Shared Snack List A healthy fruit or vegetable snack rejuvenates and nourishes a child by providing a healthy boost of energy to aid in concentration until lunch time arrives. Shared snack provides each child with the opportunity to try new fruits and vegetables in a relaxed environment while observing their peers do the same. Most children require exposure to a food at least 8-10 times prior to accepting the food as part of their normal diet. In our mission to educate the whole child it is important that we provide the children with this exposure. Below is a list of whole fruits and vegetables that may be supplied as shared snack items either independently or paired with one of the extras. Some whole foods should be purchased as organic in order to minimize the ingestion of pesticides, antibiotics or hormones. Please choose based upon what is in season and locally available. In the Primary and Lower Elementary environments, the children will have time to prepare the snack by washing, peeling and slicing as needed. A specific sharing basket list will be sent home when it is your child s turn to provide healthy shared snack. For Upper-Middle, students, please have your child prepare at home and bring in ready to serve. WHOLE FRUIT: Bananas Peaches (organic) Nectarines (organic) Apricots Plums Blueberries Raspberries (organic) Strawberries (organic) Cantaloupe Honeydew melon Mangoes Pineapple Pomegranate Figs Cherries Navel Oranges Clementine Oranges (Cuties/Halos) Watermelon Green seedless grapes (organic if imported) Purple seedless grapes (organic if imported) Red pears (organic) Bartlett pears (organic) Anjou pears (organic) Kiwi fruit Star fruit Lychee fruit Red Delicious apples (organic) Golden Delicious apples (organic) Granny Smith apples (organic) Gala apples (organic) Macintosh apples (organic) Fuji apples (organic) Honey crisp apples (organic) RAW VEGGIES: Avocado Carrots Cucumbers Green bell peppers (organic) Yellow bell peppers (organic) Orange bell peppers (organic) Red bell peppers (organic) Sugar Snap peas Green beans radishes Zucchini Peas (fresh or frozen) Cherry Tomatoes Broccoli Cauliflower Celery (organic) Other foods: Full fat organic yogurt (1 quart) - any flavor Unsweetened Applesauce ( 32 oz. jar) Raisins (15 or 24 oz. pig) Dried fruit- any variety Homemade fruit dips or organic yogurt veggie dip Whole grain raisin bread, Whole grain mini-bagels Whole grain bread Whole grain crackers Hummus any flavor Cheese (full fat, organic)- any flavor Cream cheese (full fat, organic) Spreadable butter (full fat, organic) Hard boiled eggs (certified organic) All-fruit spread ( all-fruit jam)-any flavor Sunbutter 39

4 Most fruits and vegetables are delicious all by themselves, but sometimes combining them makes for a new and interesting tastes and textures that appeal to children. Here are a few ideas, but feel free to mix and match from the above list and include your child. Snack Ideas Assorted sliced veggies with hummus dip Sliced peaches with yogurt dip Mixed berries fruit cup Mixed dried fruit cup Full-fat yogurt topped with pomegranate seeds Cheese and whole grain crackers Frozen grapes and cheese cubes Celery with cream cheese and raisins Mini bagels with cream cheese Whole wheat raisin bread with butter Whole wheat bread with all-fruit spread Cucumber and cream cheese mini sandwiches All fruit jam and butter mini sandwiches Avocado slices on mini bagels Raw cauliflower and carrot sticks with organic ranch dip Sliced apples with sunbuter for dipping Unsweetened applesauce with fresh blueberries topping Hardboiled eggs with crunchy raw broccoli Mixed apple and pear slices Mixed melon salad of honeydew, cantaloupe and watermelon Fresh pineapple chunks and sliced strawberry salad Whole clementine oranges and whole grain crackers Orange wedges and whole grain crackers Tropical fruit skewers of pineapple, mango, kiwi and star fruit Veggie skewers of cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella balls 40

5 Lunch At Montessori Academy, all of the children enjoy community lunch with the other children in their level along with adults. Lunch is a social experience and an opportunity to practice Grace and Courtesy. All children bring a lunch from home packed in an insulated lunch box or bag with a freezer pack as needed. All hot foods should be sent already heated in a thermos. Purified water is always available. Each child is encouraged to eat only as much as his/her hunger requires, and is free to eat the food in any order they choose. When a child is through eating, all uneaten food is returned to the lunch bag. Cores, pits, and peels are put in the compost bucket. All leftover food is returned home so that you and your child can determine the appropriate amount for the following day and to discuss food selection. A healthy lunch should include a protein, a whole grain, a fruit, a vegetable and a drink (milk, water or 100% fruit or vegetable juice). Please be mindful of the appropriate quantities of each item packed for your child. If you need healthy lunch ideas, the web site 100 Days of Real Food is an excellent resource. Waste-Free Lunches Lunches that are packed with single-use plastic bags, aluminum foil, wax paper, cling wrap, paper napkins, juice boxes or any other single-serving items that come in their own disposable package generate 67 pounds of garbage per child per year. For a school of our size, that creates an extra 6,000 pounds of garbage to be hauled away every year. As a Green Certified school we strongly encourage the use of reusable lunch containers, a washable thermos, refillable water bottles and cloth napkins in order to create waste-free lunches at school. In addition to it benefiting the environment, it allows us to direct more dollars toward instruction and less toward garbage collection. Montessori Academy has partnered with Mighty Nest, a local company that sells reusable lunch gear and a wide variety of other healthy living products. The school will receive 15% of all purchases made through their website when you purchase through this link: Primary After Care Snack Children who are at school from 4:00-5:45pm may bring an extra healthy snack to enjoy during After Care. This can be packed and marked separately in your child s lunch bag. This snack should focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains or full-fat dairy. No foods containing nuts are allowed on campus. Please avoid processed foods and individually packaged foods and drinks. Purified water is always available. Lower Elementary and Upper-Middle Children who are at school from 4:00-5:45pm may bring an extra healthy snack to enjoy during After Care. This can be packed and marked separately in your child s lunch bag. This snack should focus on fruits, vegetables, whole grains or full-fat dairy. No foods containing nuts are allowed on campus. Please avoid processed foods and individually packaged foods and drinks. Purified water is always available. 41

6 Birthday Celebrations Primary All children in the Primary environments will have the opportunity to have a birthday (or half-birthday) Celebration of Life during the school year. Your child s Lead teacher will provide specifics regarding your child s celebration date. Your child is invited to bring a small healthy birthday snack to share with his/her class on the day of the celebration, but is not required. The Celebration of Life is a special event for the child with the emphasis on the child and not the birthday snack. In lieu of a birthday snack, your child may bring in a gift for the classroom of a new book or plant. For birthday snacks, please follow the Shared Snack Guidelines. Please do not send cupcakes, cake or items with frosting. Lower Elementary For birthday celebrations in the Lower Elementary environment, your child is invited to bring a small healthy birthday snack on the day of the celebration, but is not required. Your child s Lead teacher will provide specifics regarding how birthdays will be celebrated. In lieu of a birthday snack, your child may bring a gift for the classroom of a new book or plant. For birthday snacks, please follow the Shared Snack Guidelines. Please do not send cupcakes, cake or items with frosting. Upper-Middle For birthday celebrations in the Upper-Middle environment, your child is invited to bring a healthy birthday snack to share on the day of the celebration. In lieu of a birthday snack, your child may bring a gift for the classroom of a new book or plant. For birthday snacks, please follow the Shared Snack Guidelines. Please do not send cupcakes, cake or items with frosting. 42

Coach on Call. Please give me a call if you have more questions about this or other topics.

Coach on Call. Please give me a call if you have more questions about this or other topics. Coach on Call Planning Healthy Snacks for Diabetes It was great to talk with you. Thank you for your interest in. I hope you find this tip sheet helpful. Please give me a call if you have more questions