RALEIGH, N.C. (WHKY) – School nutrition professionals from across North Carolina have the opportunity to participate in regional NC K-12 Culinary Institute workshops this summer. The institute was developed by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) Office of School Nutrition in cooperation with a team of registered dietitians and chefs to increase the availability of fresh, appealing, nutritious meals at school.
The Office of School Nutrition worked with Chef Cyndie Story and the nationally-accomplished K-12 Culinary Team to develop the Institute to meet four core objectives:
Improve student health, well-being and academic success through nutritious, appealing meals at school;
Expand capacity of local school nutrition programs to purchase, prepare and serve fresh, locally grown produce;
Increase consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grain-rich foods; and
Provide continuing education opportunities for our talented school nutrition personnel.
Providing school nutrition professionals with equipment, educational resources and culinary skills can positively impact the preparation, service and consumption of school meals. Since the NC K-12 Culinary Institute was launched in 2016, more than 1,520 school nutrition professionals have graduated as culinary specialists from School Food Authorities statewide, including traditional public school units (PSUs), charter schools, non-public schools and residential child-care institutions.
Through the NC K-12 Culinary Institute, over 200 recipes have been developed for school meals in North Carolina, featuring whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, low-fat dairy and locally grown ingredients. Additionally, some meals have been revised to help reduce sugar and sodium. A family resource offers a collection of the NC K-12 Culinary Institute recipes that students and their families can prepare at home.
Recipes developed by NC Jr. Chef teams have also been incorporated into the NC K-12 Institute recipe database and workshops. For the NC Jr. Chef Competition, high school students across the state work with their teachers and local school nutrition programs to create school lunch entrée recipes that appeal to their peers while adhering to National School Lunch Program nutrition guidelines and including North Carolina-grown ingredients.
The three-day NC K-12 Culinary Institute workshops include interactive classroom and in-kitchen instruction. Planned instructional segments cover topics such as knife skills, weighing and measuring accurately, effective use of equipment, quality food preparation, and service for a variety of meats, grains, fruits and vegetables. In addition, merchandising, marketing and nutrition education best practices are addressed. Participants in the NC K-12 Culinary Institute graduate as chef ambassadors. Utilizing teach-it-forward lessons and resources, the ambassadors are charged with teaching skills learned during the workshops to other school nutrition professionals at the local district or school level.
The NCDPI, Office of School Nutrition and the K-12 Culinary Team work with local PSUs to offer NC K-12 Culinary Institute workshops. This summer, Rowan Salisbury Schools and the Wake County Public School System are hosting regional workshops.
[News release courtesy of North Carolina Department of Public Instruction]