Edible Profile: Spring Buffet at Dr. David Suzuki Public Elementary School

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Author: Josie Di Felice

Posted: September 6, 2013

Categories: Edible Education Network / Edible Education Project Profiles / Food in the News / Good Food Ideas for Kids

by Philippa von Ziegenweidt

At Dr. David Suzuki Public Elementary School in Windsor, ON, we’ve been working hard to provide students healthy food offerings at our fundraiser lunches. In May of this year, we put on an experimental buffet lunch, run by a handful of moms who feel strongly about improving the quality of school food.

Most schools raise funds for extras by holding monthly food-related fundraisers.  In the past the offerings typically consisted of pizza, hot dogs and chicken nuggets.  Nowadays there is more interest in offering children healthier fare.  Ontario also enacted legislation (“PPM 150”) aimed at improving the quality of what is served in schools.  There is a perception that most students are only interested in junk food, and that serving freshly made food to large numbers of students is too difficult or insufficiently profitable to be worth the effort required.  We were interested in challenging these perceptions.

Suzuki is the country’s first platinum LEED certified school, which means a lot of people are very interested in what we do.  We feel this gives us an additional responsibility to set the bar higher than at other schools.

The buffet was experimental due to its style and as there were no pre-orders (to cut down on admin). We told the students to bring their own plates and forks from home to cut down on waste. The school also doesn’t have a cafeteria, but we negotiated with the school administration to convert the science room into our cafe for the day.

We guesstimated numbers based on previous lunches, and ordered extra just in case.  Almost double the usual number of children decided to participate!  We realized quickly we would need additional supplies. Because of traffic and roadwork that day, it ended up being easier to buy supplies for 60 on my bicycle.

As it was served buffet-style, the lunch was very easy to set up.  Prep work involved chopping and slicing:  vegetables, cheese, meat and buns – all very straightforward.

The dessert consisted of a variety of sheet cakes, which we baked the day before.  These were simple, forgiving recipes:  rhubarb squares, and a selection of bran, banana, applesauce cakes, all made with locally produced 100% wholegrain stoneground flour.  We made them sound more enticing with some creative naming.

Not everyone remembered to bring a plate from home, though most of the students did.  We were impressed to see that most students selected a variety of veggie options for their toppings.

All in all, the lunch was a huge financial success.  It helped that we purchased many of the ingredients ahead by consulting sale flyers.  Administratively it was made easier by charging $5 which was collected at the entrance to the “cafe”.

But it wasn’t just about the money.  It was also about showing that school food can be exciting and delicious.  Anybody who thinks elementary school students don’t like healthy food might struggle to guess which was the only food we ran out of on that day:  the broccoli florets!

All the kids we spoke to afterward said they loved the lunch, and that they were enthusiastic about doing it again soon.

The organizers were thrilled as well.  Not only did we satisfy some 200 students with our offerings, but it was relatively easy to plan and set up.  And there was very little waste since the students brought their own plates.  As an added bonus, all the food scraps were gathered in pails and sent to a local chicken cooperative, where they disappeared in no time!

Philippa von Ziegenweidt can be contacted via email at mightyoaktrees@gmail.com.

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