Success Story: A Model of Excellence: Using Creative Ideas to Encourage Healthy Eating
Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Schools are working hard to fight the childhood obesity epidemic. Each day, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Child Nutrition program serves healthy, appealing meals to more than 100 thousand students and staff each day.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Child Nutrition Services collaborated with the Mecklenburg County Health Department to promote healthy eating selections in the school cafeterias using the Winner’s Circle program. The goal is to create healthy eating environments by identifying and promoting foods that are heart healthy. Foods that meet the Winner’s Circle criteria have a star/fork symbol on the menu and are identified on the cafeteria line. Each day the Winner’s Circle Meal of the day is posted in the cafeteria and serves as a great marketing tool for nutritious foods.
These kinds of changes are happening more frequently in schools around North Carolina as increased emphasis continues to be put on the importance of nutrition in school. So, what puts Charlotte-Mecklenburg school cafeterias a step above the rest? The Child Nutrition Program has gone above and beyond the call of duty by taking some creative measures to combat the growing waistlines of their students.
Amy Harkey, CMS Child Nutrition Nutritionist for over four years and now Assistant Director says, "We want to be one of the premier Child Nutrition Departments in North Carolina."
“Not only do they serve meals that comply with the USDA Dietary Guidelines – Charlotte-Mecklenburg school cafeterias offer a vegetarian entree every single day.”
The Road to Success
Other actions taken to provide healthier choices for students including adapting recipes to be lower in fat and saturated fat and removing fryers from all elementary schools. Fryers will be taken out of all Middle Schools before the 2006-2007 school year begins. Each month students receive a special calendar with tips to improve nutrition and health.
The Child Nutrition program developed the “Munch Box” – their version of a prepackaged meal. “Munch Boxes” are something you won’t see anywhere outside the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system. The Munch Box meal resulted from creative thinking on the part of Harkey and is an innovative alternative to prepackaged meals from the grocery stores or bag lunches from home. There are six varieties of Munch Boxes – one variety is offered each day in all elementary schools. The idea is for students to choose the more nutritionally sound Munch Box over a less nutritious prepackaged fare. Each Munch Box is a complete meal and meets all Winner’s Circle criteria. The different varieties include Pizza, Nacho, String Cheese and Yogurt, and Sunbutter. A new Chicken Fajita Munch Box will be introduced in August 2006.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools replaced peanut butter with Sunbutter. Sunbutter is a sunflower seed product that not only takes care of peanut allergies, but also has a healthier fat distribution than peanut butter.
Not only do they serve meals that comply with the USDA Dietary Guidelines – Charlotte-Mecklenburg school cafeterias offer a vegetarian entree every single day. A few of the vegetarian options available to students include cheese pizzas, meatless spaghetti, soft tacos with refried beans and Sunbutter and jelly sandwiches. If given advance notice, Charlotte-Mecklenburg school cafeterias even provide vegan meals!
Another impressive accomplishment on the part of the Child Nutrition Program in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools is their progress in implementing the Eat Smart: North Carolina’s Recommended Standards for All Foods Available in School. Although Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools did not participate in the pilot of the Eat Smart Standards, the county believes they are a good idea and are continuing to work towards the Proficient rating in the 2006-2007 school year for all elementary schools. It seems that this goal will be easily met, considering the direction the program is heading.
The primary goal of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Child Nutrition Program is to better the future of the community by reshaping the eating habits of its students. This Child Nutrition program is truly a model of excellence.
Stepping Stones...
- Harkey notes that continued support from the Superintendent and the principals has played a large part in the success of their nutrition programs.
- The strong relationship they have with the local health department and media partners is another key component in their campaign for nutrition.
Contact Information
Name, Title: Amy Harkey, MS, RD, LDN, CMS CN Assistant Director
Address: P.O. Box 668847
City, State, Zip: Charlotte, NC 28266-8847
Phone: 980-343-6041
Fax: 980-343-6045 FAX
Email: amy.harkey@cms.k12.nc.us
