Using Social Media in Your Child Nutrition Program

Here at School Nutrition Foundation, we love connecting with schools, teachers, students, and school nutrition professionals using social media. Among the tools we use:

• Beyond Breakfast blog: You are here! This is where we tell stories from our Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom schools, and about school breakfast and lunch across the U.S. This is also where we “store” our Breakfast in the Classroom Resource Center, with tools to help you implement and expand breakfast-in-the-classroom.
• Twitter: You can follow us at @beyondbreakfast, the dedicated Twitter account for the SNF Beyond Breakfast blog, to find links to our blog and other stories related to school breakfast, school lunch, and child nutrition. Among our favorite hashtags: #schoolbreakfast, #schoollunch, #nokidhungry. We also occasionally live-Tweet webinars and other SNF/childhood nutrition events.
• Facebook: The School Nutrition Foundation is also on Facebook—“Like” our page, and share links about school food with your friends, and on your own Facebook pages!
• Webinar Wednesday: Our Webinar Wednesday series is designed to help bring you tools and information you need, on topics important to you, such as meal patterns, school foodservice technology, farm- and chef-to-school programs, and more.

We recently ran across this article about schools getting creative to boost school nutrition, and meet the new meal pattern guidelines. Among the resources being used by schools to help them create new, exciting menus for students? You guessed it—social media! School foodservice professionals are hitting the Internet, visiting social media sites like Facebook and Pinterest, to overcome challenges and deliver meals the kids love.

Is your school using social media? Connect with us using the tools listed above. For more blogs we love, check out the Blogroll at Beyond Breakfast, as well as the list below:

• Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom: Find links to the websites for all Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom: FRAC, NEA-HIN, NAESP Foundation—and connect with those organizations on Facebook & Twitter as well.
• National Dairy Council: The National Dairy Report blog is written by health professionals and communications experts at the National Dairy Council. Updated frequently, it’s a wonderful resource for news, analysis, and opinion on nutrition and health research and events.
• Fuel Up to Play 60: Connect with the National Dairy Council/National Football League Fuel Up to Play 60 program on their website, and on Facebook; check out the hashtag #FUTP60 to follow Fuel Up to Play 60 news on Twitter. In addition, Fuel Up to Play 60 has a new student blog—written by, and for, students!
• School Nutrition Association: Bookmark SNA’s website, and join them on Facebook and Twitter. SNA members can also connect using the School Nutrition Network (SNN). We also recommend Tray Talk, as well as connecting with your state SNA via Facebook and Twitter!