We’re so excited to celebrate National School Lunch Week! This year’s #NSLW18 theme is “Lots 2 Love” and we’ll be spending the week of October 15-19, talking all things #SchoolLunch. There is #Lots2Love about school lunch and we want to know: How is your school celebrating NSLW 2018? We have a few suggestions, plus resources to help you put the finishing touches on your school’s celebration.
National School Lunch Week Resources
Get started with School Nutrition Association’s NSLW 2018 tools and resources, which include:
- Marketing & PR materials
- Certificates of Recognition and Increased Participation
- Logos & artwork (available by request for SNA members)
- Handouts
SNA also invites you to submit your stories and photos after NSLW for a chance to be featured in School Nutrition magazine.
On Trend for School Lunch
Least year SNA released their 2017 School Nutrition Trends Report, which revealed some exciting trends in school nutrition:
- Are you serving dishes with international flair? The trend report revealed 60 percent of responding districts offered new menu items featuring international flavors; an additional 26 percent of respondents were considering or testing those dishes.
- Can your students customize their dishes? Last year, 87 percent of respondents said allowing students to customize meal choices was a trend.
- What are you serving prepared that could be made in-house? In 2017, 61 percent of respondents said they had increased scratch preparation for school meals.
Make sure you check out the 2017 School Nutrition Trends Report to tap into trends that will help you create and market school lunch dishes during NSLW, and throughout the school year.
Celebration Ideas
Why celebrate National School Lunch Week? It’s a great way to spread the word to parents and students about the nutritious, delicious lunch you’re serving every day at school! Celebrating NSLW can help you increase participation, earn media coverage, and connect with school stakeholders about the high quality of your school meals.
- Cross-promote your school breakfast and school lunch programs by serving breakfast-for-lunch, or creating a new breakfast-for-lunch dish;
- Have a contest where students compete to name (or rename) a school-favorite menu item;
- Invite a prominent member of the community—a local politician or athlete, for example—to visit with students to talk about the importance of healthy choices.
October is Farm to School Month
Another great way to promote school lunch during NSLW is to highlight the locally-sourced ingredients on your menu. October is Farm to School Month, which makes it the perfect time to promote school lunch, the local ingredients you’re using in school lunch dishes, and the farmers, ranchers, and food vendors that provide them to you.