Whomever is listening, right?

Wherever you're at in this stage of engaging students, the community,

really think of the one next step you can do that's realistic.

Whether that's creating that survey and finding one and using it, there's

templates out there, or maybe it's just emailing someone from your community.

Hey, can we talk about what I'm doing and how we can partner, right?

Tara, how are you doing today?

Welcome back to the show.

Thank you so much for having me Wes.

I am doing great.

It's You know, August back to school season and loving the all of the

celebratory things on social media and being able to be out to some school

districts to see what they're doing.

So it's a good time of the year.

Exciting.

Yeah.

You so this time of year, obviously for everyone in child nutrition,

this is like the busiest time.

This is go time, this is what you've been preparing for all summer.

And so for you, what does that preparation process and then ultimately going

into the new school year look like?

Are you traveling a lot?

Is a lot of Zoom meetings?

What is what does a day in the life of Tara we camp look like these days?

Thank you.

Yeah, it's different every day, but definitely a lot of training.

So getting schools ready back to school, getting that excitement around that.

So I've done either in person or on zoom or a virtual meeting about food

allergies and some other nutritional, like one on one kind of things.

So traveling some but doing a lot of virtual meetings to

accommodate the different.

School districts since we, they're far and spread wide.

But in addition to that, it's a lot of menu prep, so getting allergy

menus prepped, and even some clients, I help them with their actual menus.

Getting them into those software systems and making sure they're

compliant, so they're ready to roll out.

One less thing to worry about, yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely.

In all of your traveling and talking with people from all over the country in

different school districts nationwide.

I'm curious, have you ever had an encounter maybe recently with

just a random individual that has maybe left an impression on you?

Maybe it was some words of advice that either you left

on them or they left on you.

But is there anything in your travels recently that's, really impacted you

and what you do on a daily basis?

Say the most recent one, I was just at a board meeting to talk about

travel to present for a client on what we're doing for their grant.

And it was really inspiring.

And sometimes you don't always hear that in child nutrition,

like a good pat on your back.

But The superintendent and the entire board were like really thankful and

grateful for what we were doing there.

And that was really amazing to see the support for that food service director.

And just the kind of community wraparound support for what she's

doing and wanting to elevate her and to really celebrate her.

So that was really cool.

I've never met, the entire board before, so it was just really great

to see that and to see her celebrated because she's doing a great job.

That, that is really encouraging to hear that, things like that

are happening where we're starting to celebrate school nutrition and

the amazing work that they do.

I think back, so I do a lot of traveling this time of year as well.

And I was on an airplane just recently.

I think you were in Boston as well for the school nutrition

association conference, weren't you?

Yes.

Yes, it was.

Yes.

That, that trip, especially for me, it's like a five and a half hour plane flight.

And, coming from Southern California, going to Boston, first

off, I'm going into that journey as Look, just keep my head down.

It's a five and a half hour flight.

Like I'm gonna try and get some sleep.

And I have like my routine.

I don't know if you have like a travel routine, over the years

I've got like my one to punch routine and it works great for me.

I get off the plane.

I'm still feeling like good.

I'm mentally there.

But part of my routine is that I usually put my headphones on noise

cancellation and I just zone out.

I either sleep or I read a book or maybe prepare for a presentation that

I'm going into it to actually give to either a school district or a group.

And, during that, process, as long as I can follow the process, I

get off the plane, I feel good.

However.

Yeah.

Going to big national conference, you inevitably end up running into people

that either or that, you have met in the past and you're on the same

flight and then you end up having conversations for the entire trip.

Now going out there, on the trip out there was no different

than any other trip for me.

I, had my little routine down.

I get on the plane, I get off, I got to sleep for the majority of the trip.

However, on the way back.

For anyone that has never gone to a national conference, if you're not a

vendor, it's a different experience for vendors than it is for school

nutrition professionals and operators.

As vendors, we're like little caged animals for three days.

We're in our little 10 by 10 square, pacing back and forth, hoping someone's

gonna come and talk to us at some point.

And then by the end of the conference, you are finished.

So exhausted by the end of conference, like all you want to do is just go into

a little mini coma for a week and just emerge refreshed at the end of that.

However, I have our booth, I pack up our booth, I get on the airplane and

immediately upon sitting down, the gentleman next to me is super friendly,

super nice, but just a talker, like really wanted to talk and he was

like, so what were you in Boston for?

Where are you going?

All the whole life story asking me the gamut of questions.

And so one of the questions he asked me though was he is, so

what do you do professionally?

What do you do for work?

I said that's actually the reason why I am here in Boston.

I work with school districts all around the country and we have our annual

national conference here every year for the school nutrition association.

We go and, it's a great networking event and all that kind of stuff.

And he goes, Oh, you work with schools.

That must be really awesome for you because you get all summer off.

And I just laughed because I wish I got all summer off and I wish

that the other people are watching this podcast right now got all

summer off, but summer is oftentimes the busiest time of year for us.

And it got me thinking and, to the question that I asked you a second

ago, what kind of impact, has maybe a stranger left on you, this

individual, whether he knew it or not.

That greatly impacted me because he made me realize.

is that the public's perception of what we do as an industry is so misunderstood.

They have really no idea what child nutrition professionals do on a daily

basis and just as a general public.

And one of the things I, we had a conversation last week or a little

while ago about allergens and setting up an allergen management program.

So I wanted to have you back on the show today to really discuss with you.

You know the I guess how can we involve students and parents more in the school

nutrition environment so that we can really Help change the perception that

school meals has at the moment and really show parents and students that school

meals rock school meals are awesome and I know you, have a lot of experience

with kind of talking with groups, helping them with, navigating these trains.

So I'd love to hear your thoughts on So what can we do as an industry, as

industry members, but also as child nutrition operators and professionals

to really help change that perspective and really get more students and

parents involved in the process?

Yeah.

This is a very important topic and because, we want, I also think

about like how can we change our profession so that more students

will grow up wanting to be in it.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

So if they don't know about it we can't really get the future

set for also impacting it.

And so that's the one thing I always have in the back of my mind of

how we can involve the community.

So we're keeping the bench going, if you will, for years down the road.

So we can talk a lot about different avenues here.

What would you want to start with?

Because that's a big question.

Want to.

Focus on do you want to talk about students first or just overall?

Because I think the first thing, yeah, go ahead.

I think, a good place to start is really in anything in life.

I think that we need to understand what the benefits of even getting

students involved is going to look like.

From your experience and the districts you've worked with, What type of benefits

do districts typically see when they start getting more students in the cafeterias

when they start, engaging students, maybe through questionnaires or having them

come and actually put hands on the food and also, what types of, a participation

involvement do we see boost in those types of things when students get involved?

But I'd really love to, First off, define what it is that we're looking

at as far as potential benefits and gains from getting students and

parents involved in the process.

Yeah, of course.

That's that is the point, right?

Like, why should we care?

You mentioned the first one that everyone in child nutrition

really cares about, right?

Participation.

And every scenario I've done this, every example Yeah.

It increases participation almost immediately.

I have several different examples from different programs so summer feeding

program, I did a it's like a, National School Lunch Week, I think, is pirate

themed this year, but I did a similar thing for summer feeding one year where

I let the kiddos answer a nutrition education question, they had to find the

location so they had to follow the map and find the location, but by having that

interaction throughout the summer, that actually increased participation by 60%.

And then, breakfast in the classroom's a big one, right?

But if you don't have that buy in from either the teachers or the students,

it's hard to get it up and going.

I've seen a lot of school districts have that issue, right?

They want to do it, they have this grant to do it, but, when it gets down

to the actually implementing it, it's hard because the buy in's not there.

So for what I love to do with like breakfast in the classroom is to have

the students involved in that process.

Almost like a role models and some leadership there.

Simple to do you just, identify the oldest grade in that building

and just let them be part of it.

You can ask them what they want to do, but the easiest one to do is let them take

the, like the coolers or whatever you're putting the food in and walk it down

to the the cafeteria in the classroom.

So they take it and deliver it but you give them a certificate, right?

You make them feel special and all of those things that really

helps participation and buy in.

BIC breakfast in the classroom with that model, it, 70 percent

increase in participation.

So those are just different examples.

And those are different school districts too, so that's very interesting.

One was more urban and one was more rural.

Shows that it can be done in either setting, if you will.

But besides participation you're talking about that misconception

of what our profession is, and that also plays a big role.

And the more you get them involved, the more they learn, one, so knowledge is

power, and so teaching them about our regulations, what we do, that helps

them to understand oh, there's a bigger picture here than what I thought.

And then that also bleeds into the families that they interact with.

with, right?

There's their friends, their peers and letting them have that ownership

disperses the information out.

And there's different ways we could, we'll talk about in terms of low

commitment to high commitment.

If, if you're a food service director trying to figure that

out there are ways to do it.

So you have participation increase.

And then I said, misconception.

Debunked.

And then the last one I would say is that you allowing them to be

part of it lets them own the menu.

And then they're more interactive to be there, to show up, they

want to be the ones doing this.

And that then leads them then to wanting to see about a career and, be a dietician,

a chef something along those lines.

Whether it's business, and they can take that at EA to

something bigger in our field.

I think those are the bigger ones bigger, categories.

Now, within those categories I've seen kiddos come up to me and be

like, I never tried this fruit or veggie before, and I love it.

I didn't know that.

That is a win.

I always told myself, and I still do, but especially at the school district, right?

It's hard, day in and day out to see the positive impact you're making.

But I always told myself if I get one kiddo, if I change one kiddo's like

healthy habit then that's a success.

Just one because I have a ripple effect forever.

And and so that is really cool when you get that little, those

little touches of a student being like, Hey, I tried this new item.

That's something I've done with a client recently.

They're trying like healthier breakfast items to meet the new rules and High

school students were coming up to them and saying, I love these healthier options.

And so it's amazing they do, they love it.

And, you're making a difference.

Yeah, absolutely.

It, I think those are great suggestions for, helping with

getting students involved.

Is there any value in getting the parents buy in with this as well?

Because, I talked to students and parents and faculty members often.

And it seems like one of the bigger issues that they're running into

is kids bringing food from home.

And, this not even, wanting to give school meal a shot.

And I think it's great to, educate the students and really get them involved

with planning menus and trying new foods and, exposing them to things that

they otherwise would never have, tried.

But, when you have a picky, when you have picky students, you have picky

eaters and they're coming into that with I'm not trying anything new.

I'm just bringing my school lunch because, they have this,

already negative perception.

Is there any value in outreaching to the parents?

And if so, what is that outreach and getting parent involvement look like?

Yeah.

There's a lot of different avenues, but there definitely is a benefit

from getting them involved.

And even on a small scale, right?

Because if you think about it for elementary kiddos, that's where you make

the most impact with this kind of, setting the future for them to be high schoolers.

But That elementary stage is usually when the parent will print

off the menu, go with the kid and say which days do you want to eat?

And they'll circle them, right?

So that is typical.

So if you can talk to the parent and get the parent to understand,

one, eating school meals is actually budget friendly for them, right?

So do that cost comparison.

I've done that before.

And it's really eye opening for the parents to see that.

And then two, engaging them in this kind of, this conversation throughout

the school year and difference.

So I'm going to explain those different ways right now.

First, we just talked about back to school season.

So every building has a back to school night.

There usually is a registration day, right?

Having that set up to where your team is there and trying like a new

menu item that will be on this year's school menu so parents and students

can try it is really eye opening.

I've heard so many parents be like, this is nothing like what I had in school.

And so their minds are blown.

And so providing them that ability to engage with it is really something.

I just went to one in in Oakley, California, and he had a grace, like

day and students and administrators were able to come in and try and

vote on the items they loved.

And it was such a great success.

People loved it.

And it's something that you get buy in from.

So that's something to start off with, but you could think of like throughout

the year at school year, if your schools, most do individual schools have like a

newsletter or something that they send home to parents school district also

has some kind of form of communication.

How can you put in their little marketing techniques, whether it's,

you're highlighting national school lunch week or You're highlighting a,

harvest of the month thing, those little things, those little touches reinforces

what you're trying to do to educate people about school nutrition and what

you're doing for their kids, right?

So that's the kind of mindset.

into that conversation.

How do you show or prove that you are doing these great things

because you are right in school?

All everyone is how do you show that to the parent in inconsistent

ways throughout the school year?

So it's not like a one and done thing, you can use social media, right?

So there's all kinds of different levels of commitment there,

but those are definite ones That are, that make an impact.

Even you can think about serving a meal if it's, if you could figure

out the catering part, but with the school board meeting, right?

So people see that in action.

That's really cool too.

Yeah, and I also am trying to think because, as a parent of two young kids,

obviously my kids are three and five.

Their opinion is they only want chicken nuggets and pizza right now.

That's pretty much all that is in their vocabulary.

But, as they get older, I think of, what are going to be the things as a parent

that are going to be important for me?

And one of the things that really comes to mind is academics.

Obviously, parents want their kids to perform academically,

and schools also want students to perform well on, academically.

Yes, on standardized testing and, but, ultimately, we want to prepare

students for the next level.

We want to prepare elementary kids for middle, and middle for high

school, and high school for college.

And what are some of the academic impacts that a nutritious meal has on students.

And is that something that we should be telling parents more of?

Oh, totally.

Totally.

I wasn't excluding it.

It's just one of many things you can do.

And there's so much research out there right now that you can provide that

it shows it's credible, and you have little snippets, like USDA does have

a lot research, like infographics that you could just, download and put

them in your social media or whatever.

It's really helpful for us too.

So those are all great research resources to utilize.

And why this isn't so important, it's so important is because

these years are formidable years.

Like these are the years to get them set and like you said,

ready for the next level, right?

So helping their bodies get the nutrient nutrition they need to

grow and to learn to play like all of those things are so important.

And so there's so many nutrients that a student can get in that plate.

If you think about that full reimbursable meal.

And so getting them to notice and realize that information is really helpful.

And so speaking about like research and the nutrition, there's two

different sides you can play into it.

One, you teach them about what does, milk have, what kind of nutrients does milk

have in it or kale or, anything like that.

I think that's really important.

And that's ties into that harvest of the month idea or Suggestion.

The other thing would be to utilize those resources, that research that I talked

about to speak specifically on what nutrition does to kiddos academically

and, behaviorally and all of those things.

The one that comes to the top of mind there's several out there,

but it's on school breakfast, eating that healthy, consistent.

School breakfast every day, not when I was in school districts, I had some principals

that only want to focus on that.

Like you said, that week of standardized testing, give

them a breakfast for that week.

And, it was a lot of education for my part to say actually, if you have

this all year round, that's where you're going to see the improvements.

And I have research, there's research out there that shows that healthy,

consistent breakfast every morning really does help students perform

better on standardized tests.

Academically all around.

They have better behavioral and emotional, like they don't

have as many of those issues.

So there's better improvements with that.

Fewer nurse trips.

So like headaches or upset stomach because they start their

day with a breakfast, right?

Yeah.

And so many and a higher likelihood to graduate.

So that's what we want.

Those are kinds of things.

Little snippets that I would look for and add as part of this education awareness

campaign, if you'll call it that.

Yeah.

It seems districts and nutrition professionals have been well aware of the

fact that a good meal improves your mental state and improves your overall health

and ultimately improves your academics.

And we've seen this in schools for ages, right before standardized testing, there's

memos and emails that get sent out to all the teachers and faculty, make sure the

students eat a good nutritious meal today.

We've got testing, but I guess the question is, Why are we only sending

as a district's those emails out right before standardized testing?

It sounds like we should be Communicating this on a more regular basis to

students faculty and parents So I guess the question that I have for you

is how can a school district really create more of a culture around?

Wellness in general and health in general to really draw more light onto this topic

yeah, that is like the question because also food service directors or, child

nutrition professionals do get this like feeling, because I've been there of I'm

only one person, I can't do it all so you have to think about there's more

that you can bring to the table than just you always, pushing against the

resistance, if you want to call it that, and to help people be educated and aware.

This may sound like, oh, I, once again, I don't want it to sound like it's

too much work, but a lot of the times we just got to show up and be there.

So whether it's like at that, back to school meeting or something

like that, just be there.

And that will help you to understand what are the stakeholders in the room,

in the school environment that you need to add to this this kind of group.

And so what I'm getting at, which everyone listening may be thinking the

same thing, is that really what I would start to focus on is getting a committee.

So think about the local wellness committee to really

engage different stakeholders.

Stakeholders in your community that can also be that sounding board can

echo what you're saying and not be the only ones and most of the time

when I've had these other stakeholders be involved, they were willing to.

Come into classrooms or come into the cafeteria and also play an active role

in doing this thing which is educating and providing knowledge for our families.

So that's really cool and why that matters is because wellness policies is part of

what we do, but more importantly, we need to start thinking of school nutrition

As part of a bigger whole of what the whole, school district's doing, right?

So if you've heard of the approach, the whole child approach that is part of it.

We're not just saying that we're not just looking at one little piece of

something that can impact a student, which would be academics, for example.

There's actually like eight, nine different aspects that we should

consider to help the kiddo be in successful in every realm.

And so that's why you get those different stakeholders that maybe can focus on the

emotional or behavioral kiddo and how, academics or nutrition plays that role.

Because it does, and we know this, right?

So really.

And starting to develop that whole student, whole child approach

really does help you with that.

That school district that I talked about earlier on, where the school

board really celebrated that food service director, that's what she did.

And it took her some time, right?

It does take time.

But it is really valuable to have reinforcement throughout different

stakeholders in the community.

Absolutely.

And, you mentioned this a second ago that, it takes time and, these things,

are going to be, a process to implement.

And I'm sure there are people watching this and they're like, you know what?

This is great.

But.

I am way too busy to do this and I just do not have the time.

My day is already jam packed.

So what are some quick, easy strategies that districts can potentially implement?

Following this, we've talked about the benefits, we've talked about some

of the different, plans with wellness plans and things that we can implement.

But if you had, if a district came to you and said, Hey, look, Tara, we need a one

two punch, that is going to be something that we can go and have a quick win with.

to really start moving us in this direction, because I think one of the

things that, just people in general is they need to make movement in a

direction and starting is oftentimes the hardest thing for people to do.

So what's that one two punch that people can quickly do to easily engage students

and start making moves towards creating either a wellness policy or something

to engage the community and really show that awesome work that they're doing?

Yeah.

So The first thing that goes to my mind is a student survey.

I used to love to do those in the spring.

So you have that data for you in the summer to then make the menus, but you

could do that throughout the school year.

Once again, just giving you ideas, right?

So what I would do, though, is I would have a student survey, tell students

about it, do the survey, right?

And then tell them the results of what you did because of their voice.

A lot of school districts just do the survey and then they don't say

what they did or, what the vote was.

And so that reinforces like, oh, the school nutrition

professionals are listening to me.

My voice is heard and this is how I made change.

That is key.

That would be one simple step.

Do a student survey, but follow it through all the way to the end, and make

sure the community knows that you made changes because of what the student said.

That's really very impactful and speaks volumes to the community

about what you're doing.

So that would be the first one.

The second one is I would get to know those individuals that have

control or write the newsletters for the school districts.

It's different in every building.

school district, right?

I would get to know them.

And then I would ask them if, monthly you could include just a little handout,

like you don't have to write it, right?

So if you go to your extension office, or if you go to USDA, you go

to other like food councils, right?

They will have little handouts that you can just pass on, and they can include it.

And it's simple for you to do.

That would be a simple one step move.

And that's educating them and letting them know Part of that, you could also, if you

want to take it a little step further, is you could think of when you're doing these

special events for your venues, right?

And then tell them about it and invite them to come.

So those are the first two things that come off the top of my head

that I would try that are easy to do.

Yeah, I think those are fantastic.

Very easy, items for people to go and implement.

And I love the student survey idea.

Just because it gets the students involved.

It's an easy way to get them involved and make those moves like

you mentioned earlier in our show.

About, really having them take some ownership in this and in the process.

And they feel like they're being heard and their opinions are

being taken into consideration.

And I think the other thing is that child nutrition professionals need

to actually take those surveys and not just dismiss them, but actually

look at them and see what can we do?

This is what our, this is what the students are telling us.

How can we do this within the guidelines and really help give

our students what they're looking for and what they're asking for?

Because, I think the worst thing that we could do is ask for our

students, our customers, opinions on things and then completely dismiss

them and don't make any changes.

Oh, yeah, for sure.

And I'd love to add in that survey, like, how do the students get information?

And I've seen it change in every school district, which is interesting.

So I would think social media was the highest point.

And one school district, it was the highest, they read their emails.

So it's Oh, I need to focus on that avenue to educate them of what we're

doing, basic nutrition education.

So that was enlightening to hear.

So this is exactly what you're saying.

Just giving a good example of why it's important.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I, Doing stuff like this, I think, is really going to be a really big, if we can

get up, districts to, make these types of steps to really engage students and really

give them more ownership over the meals is really a pivotal, crucial first step

in that direction of changing the overall image of school nutrition as a whole.

And, I think back on I think back on my childhood, and I had some

of the most fond, amazing memories of my childhood, all happened

around meals in some capacity.

Yeah.

Whether we were at school, and it was in the lunchroom, or it was outside at

the picnic tables, or, even if it was just dinner with my family, it was like

something I have very fond recollections and very vivid memories of mealtime.

And yes, I think that what we are, losing sight of is the fact that, we are not.

You're trying to cultivate that we're not.

We've almost forgotten that meals are so important to us from a socialization

from a nutrition standpoint, but they really bring so many people together

and they provide those environments and those moments where we can

really create those special memories.

And I was curious.

I was curious.

I mentioned, it's something in my childhood.

Those are some of my most fond memories were around meals.

I'm wondering, do you have any childhood memories or anything that really

stands out to you that has last a lasting impression on you personally?

Oh, yeah.

And I love that point that you're making but yeah, several, all of them

do include meals but the one that's very lasting impact, which actually spurred

me to my profession where I am now.

Was from a coach wanting, I was wanting to do better in volleyball and she,

encouraged me to look at what I ate on a daily basis and it wasn't, something

that, would make me scrutinize it.

My diet it was just like look at it and see if there's anything you can make

one small step to make it healthier And I did it and it was so impactful

to see how my performance changed That I like I'm a dietitian now, so that

is that was really impactful And, I also think about when you were talking

about other examples, I don't know if you did the the book thing, what was

it called, but he took it to Pizza Hut.

You got a free pizza.

If you read so many books, I forget what it's called.

Yep.

I know exactly what you're talking about.

Yeah, I felt so I felt so congratulated and so cool that, I read so many books

that I got this really cool pizza and it was a good event with my family.

Anyway, I think all of those little things make a big difference.

Here recently, much more, we hear about that cultural relevance, right?

But if you think about it, meals and every culture and every everywhere,

meals are the center of that family.

And that's where they learn the kiddos learn.

And that's where, you share your day, that social skills, all of those things.

So important.

So I think really thinking of our cafeterias as the nutrition hub of

your community really empowers to be like, Oh my, like I can, take this.

across cultures, right?

That language barrier food is so personal to everyone.

Yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely.

Let's change the image of school meals.

Let's get more, let's increase participation, get more kids in here.

And I think that's going to be the best thing for everyone.

Yeah.

Tara I, and closing for today's episode I'd love to, ask you have any parting

words of advice, any wisdom, anything that you would like to leave our listeners

with today before we wrap things up.

Yeah, I think, Wes, you've talked about being overstressed

with too many things to do.

And so I'd love to, reinforce, whomever is listening wherever you're at in

this stage of engaging students in the community, really think of the

one next step you can do that's realistic, whether that's creating that

survey and finding one and using it.

There's templates out there.

Or maybe it's just e mailing, you Someone from your community like,

Hey, can we talk about what I'm doing and how we can partner, right?

That one little step is really key and you can do it.

You can do it.

You just got to do one little thing and keep moving.

I've seen so many food service directors be so successful in

just starting the conversation.

So you are doing so much for your community that you should see the

value in you starting that conversation because it's only going to help your

kids and that's what we're here for.

So keep up the great work.

Yeah, I was told a long time ago, little hinges swing big doors and

it's the little things that we do.

It's taking that first step and implementing a student survey,

doing things to make moves in the direction that we want to go.

And then by the end of the year, you'll turn around and you'll look at all the

stuff that you did and you'll be like, how did I find time to do all of that stuff?

And it really will be amazing.

But when you look at it.

From, a zoomed out perspective.

You're like, this is way too big of a monster to even try and tackle.

Yeah.

It can be overwhelming, but it's about the little things, the little

hinges that swing the big doors.

Yes, exactly.

I love it.

Hey, Tara, thank you so much for being on the show.

I really appreciate it as always.

It's great to have you.

And we look forward to a future conversation with you here.

And yeah, we thank everyone for tuning in today and watching, and we will

see everyone on our next episode.

So thank you.

Thank you