DENVER, CO--(Marketwire - June 3, 2010) - This summer, nearly 100 Colorado school food service and nutrition directors will head to boot camp... culinary boot camp, that is. A series of four School Chef Culinary Boot Camps will be held in communities across the state in June and July, designed to teach nutrition directors and cafeteria staff how to prepare fresh, made-from-scratch meals and sustain programs focused on healthful eating. The events are coordinated by LiveWell Colorado (www.livewellcolorado.org), a nonprofit committed to reducing obesity by promoting healthy eating and active living.
"Our goal is to ensure that every student in Colorado gets nourishing and delicious meals at school, which is vitally important in reducing childhood obesity," said Maren C. Stewart, president and CEO of LiveWell Colorado. "These boot camps do not simply teach school food service personnel how to prepare healthier meals. They also arm them with the tools to build and sustain school food programs that will positively impact the health of Colorado's children."
In five-day, hands-on training courses, cafeteria staff and nutrition directors learn the fundamentals of cooking from scratch, as well as recipe and menu development, universal breakfast strategies, commodities ordering and much more. Each participating district receives a donation of $1,000 for minor equipment to begin implementing techniques learned at the boot camps.
The boot camps are free and offered to school districts with more than 5,000 students and at least 40 percent of the student population qualifying for free or reduced lunches. Other districts are welcomed and included if possible.
"More than one in four Colorado children are overweight or obese, and only eight percent of Colorado's children meet recommended levels of fruit and vegetable consumption," added Stewart. "The Culinary Boot Camps teach food service staff to implement a structure that allows them to meet mandated nutrition requirements on a daily basis by regularly incorporating whole fruits and vegetables, and decreasing unwanted calories, fat and sodium."
The School Chef Culinary Boot Camps will be held June 7-11 at Adams City High School in Commerce City, June 14-18 at Coronado High School in Colorado Springs, July 12-16 at Montrose High School in Montrose, and July 19-23 at Rangeview High School in Aurora.
Two highly respected chefs from New York serve as the boot camp instructional team. Chef Andrea Martin is a professionally trained chef and New York City and state certified teacher who specializes in school lunch reform. Chef Kate Adamick is a frequent speaker on institutional food systems, sustainable agriculture and childhood obesity issues.
The boot camps are part of a larger effort to provide more Colorado children access to healthy, fresh food at school, an important strategy to preventing childhood obesity. LiveWell Colorado recently initiated a bill (SB 106), which was signed by the Governor in May, and is anticipated to ultimately make it easier for schools to secure healthy local foods. This year, LiveWell Colorado unveiled a Food Policy Blueprint that recommends a statewide farm-to-school program that incentivizes and provides technical assistance for farm-to-school programs. Additionally, LiveWell Colorado this spring awarded $3.7 million to 22 communities across the state to fund obesity prevention efforts, especially those focused on children.
The boot camps are coordinated by LiveWell Colorado and funded by The Colorado Health Foundation as well as a federal grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act facilitated by the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment's (CDPHE) Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition Program (COPAN).
About LiveWell Colorado
LiveWell Colorado is a nonprofit organization committed to reducing obesity in Colorado by promoting healthy eating and active living. Leading a comprehensive approach, LiveWell Colorado inspires and advances policy, environmental and lifestyle changes that aim to provide every Coloradan with access to healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity in the places they live, work, learn and play. For more information about LiveWell Colorado, visit www.livewellcolorado.org.
Contact Information:
Contact:
Shannon Fern
CSG-PR
303-433-7020