Reflect Diversity

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Preparing foods that reflect the diverse food cultures and food traditions of your students can promote a sense of belonging and also help expand your school menu offerings. Use the ideas below to start expanding the flavors and foods of your program.

Instructions

Time Considerations: Can be a quick printing of flyers or a prolonged process for engaging caregivers depending on the scale of your plan

Materials Needed: Recipe cards printed out

Participants: You and your team (if you have nutritionists on staff they can be very helpful here), parents, kitchen teams

Step One

Get to know your students and their families using the range of activities and tools provided in this guide. Make an effort to reach out to groups that are not currently participating or have little representation in the meal program.

Sample questions could include:

What foods or cuisines do they like?
What spices do they enjoy?
What reminds them of home?
For students who do not typically eat school meals in particular – what would they like to see on the menu?

Step Two

Talk with teachers and administrators for ideas on the types of foods that might reinforce lessons in the classroom. Connect with community organizations that could help come up with ideas reflective of their culture. In Seattle, for instance, the district works very closely with CISC (Chinese Information and Service Center), an immigrant-serving organization, to develop recipes.

Step Three

Find recipes that kids and parents would like to see on the menu using excellent resources like USDA’s Culture and Food collection. If you have capacity to develop and adapt recipes in house, you can use an outline of a recipe provided by a caregiver, staff member, or student to create something that would be USDA-compliant. We’ve heard of Chopped-like contests for students with the winning recipe being placed on the menu, a congee recipe adapted from a kitchen staff member that was a major hit among students, and parents coming into the kitchen to show team members how to cook their recipes. Consider these additional questions:

How should we present this dish?
What story are we going to tell about this dish?
How is it relevant to our school community?

Step Four

Test the recipe at select sites and grades before rolling it out across your district. Give students a taste of the new item in a small disposable cup and offer full portions if they like the flavor. Post information about the food in the line to help kids understand its importance and connection to the community or broader lessons they are learning in school. Ask students to vote or provide feedback on the option. Are they excited by the food and trying new options in general? Capturing a few quotes about why students like a particular option could be useful as you share the story of this effort. Check out the FoodCorps Taste Test Guide for more tips.