Executive Summary:
On June 2nd and 3rd, 2010 the entire supply chain for schools met for the first time under one roof at The Depot in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Participants from diverse sectors including grain geneticists all the way to kids who consume school lunches discussed ways that we can continue to work together.
The purpose of the meeting was to:
Examine the school food supply and its delivery chain to determine how we might improve the development, delivery and consumption of grain foods that meet dietary guidance in schools.
Identify key changes to improve the health attributes of grain foods within the context of cost and budgetary constraints of school foodservice programs, student acceptability, and convenience of preparation and service.
Explore ways we can work together throughout the school food supply chain to overcome these barriers and improve child health.
Designate a post‐conference interdisciplinary task force to plan and develop a model for delivering healthier grain foods through school food service supply systems.
Speakers delivered many key messages necessary for a better understanding of how the supply chain functions as a whole. The following are a few topics that especially resonated with meeting participants.
- It is time for a change. This is reflected in the new Institute of Medicine guidelines calling for an increase of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains served in schools as well as decreased saturated fat and sodium...
Read the Full Executive Summary and download the rest of the report here- June 2010 Meeting Follow-up.