National School Lunch Week, October 15-19: “School Lunch—What’s Cooking?”

It may feel like the school year has just started, but National School Lunch Week is already just around the corner! This year’s theme—“School Lunch—What’s Cooking?”—is celebrating the positive changes made in cafeterias around the country. School lunch programs (and breakfast programs!) have demonstrated dedication and creativity in school kitchens, meeting the new meal pattern regulations, inviting chefs into the cafeteria, and introducing more fresh and scratch-made foods to school menus. National School Lunch Week is an opportunity for you to share those stories—the strides you are making in your cafeteria—with your community.

To help you spread the word about the great things you are doing with school lunch in your cafeteria, the School Nutrition Association has provided a host of online resources for you to use during National School Lunch Week.

Tools & Resources

Visit the Tools & Resources page to get the 10+ page toolkit, shop the NSLW Emporium, and request “What’s Cooking” logos and artwork. You can also find tools for kids—puzzles, and school-related brainteasers—as well as a backpack brochure for parents. To make sure you can effectively and widely communicate your school’s National School Lunch Week events SNA has also provided a host of marketing and PR tools: foodservice staff presentations, stakeholder presentations, press releases, and web banners.

Sweepstakes

Share your story, and explain how “What’s Cooking” has impacted your school lunch participation, to enter to win “What’s Cooking” stickers for your school—the deadline is October 31, 2012!

Recipes

Check out sample recipes—all school-made—from around the country including entrees, fruits/veggies/salads, and breads/whole grains.

National Take Your Parents to Lunch Day

National Take Your Parents to Lunch Day—October 17 (or a day of your choosing)—is a great opportunity to share the healthy new changes with your students’ parents.

Sharing your National School Lunch Week Celebration

SNA is collecting NSLW stories for the April 2013 issue of SNA Magazine—submit yours for a chance to be featured! And check out SNA’s other suggestions for how to share your NSLW stories with social media, newsletters, and at ANC 2013.