Healthy Food Fuels Hungry Minds: a stakeholders conference for school food

In a time where many school children get more than half their daily calories from school food programs, we launched an annual one-day conference to bring together all the school food stakeholders.  National experts and activists join local parents and school nutrition professionals for a spirited one-day conference on school food. The goal is to educate across common concerns and create a set of action steps that can mobilize all the stakeholders equally.

Speakers and attendees come from the worlds of school food professionals, parents, policy and wellness advocates, and officials and academicians in the fields of law, nutrition, public health and education.

The first “Healthy Food Fuels Hungry Minds: Serving Change in Public School Food,” was held on Wednesday, June 10, 2015, with a goal of enabling participants to understand the current state of childhood nutrition, the nuances of the federal law, the economic, logistical and technical constraints faced by foodservice providers, and creative solutions for improving offerings.

“Healthy Food Fuels Hungry Minds” is the product of a partnership between Let's Talk About Food, the Massachusetts State Office of Nutrition and Health, the Greater Boston Food Bank, Project Bread and numerous Harvard collaborators, including the Food Law & Policy Clinic, the School of Education and Dining Services' Food Literacy Project.

It is generously supported through grants and sponsorships from Eos Foundation, Trimark United East, Northcoast Seafood, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cargill and the Kendall Foundation, as well as numerous in-kind sponsors including Revolution Foods.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015 from 8:30am to 4:00pm

Schedule:

8:30amBreakfast & Welcome
David P. Davidson, Managing Director, Harvard University Dining Services – Video
Kathleen Millett, Executive Director, Massachusetts State Office of Nutrition and Health – Video

9:00am Keynote Introduction
Jody Adams, Chef/Owner, Rialto Restaurant & Trade

9:05am Keynote Address – Video
Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children
Ann Cooper, Founder, The Chef Ann Foundation

10:00am Understanding the Policy: Federal Child Nutrition Reauthorization and the Role of State and Local Decision-makers – Video
Emily Broad Leib, Deputy Director, Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation and Director, Food Law and Policy Clinic and Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School
Bettina Neuefeind, Research Fellow, Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic

10:30am The Business of School Food - Challenges & Opportunities
Scott Richardson, Director of Research and Strategic Initiatives, Project Bread – Video
Donna Lombardi, School Nutrition Services Director, Worcester Public Schools – Video

11:00am What Do Kids Actually Eat: The current state of student nutrition – Video
Eric Rimm, Professor in the Departments of Epidemiology and Nutrition and Professor of Medicine, Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School

11:30am Models of Change
Moderator: Mara Fleishman, Executive Director, The Chef Ann Foundation

  • Kristen Saenz Tobey, Founder and Chief Impact Officer, Revolution Foods – Video

  • Bertrand Weber, Director, Culinary and Nutrition Services, Minneapolis Public Schools – Video

  • Curt Ellis, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, FoodCorps – Video

  • Christy Mach Dub, Director, The Eos Foundation – Video

12:30pm Lunch provided by Revolution Foods

2:00pm Feeding the Hungry Mind: Why school food matters
Moderator: Jennifer Woo Baidal, MD, MPH, Attending Physician, Children’s Hospital, Instructor, Harvard Medical School

  • The link between food and performance: Roxanne Moore, MS, RD, National Director of Wellness, Sodexo Schools – Video

  • The thin line between kids and hunger: Catherine D’Amato, Greater Boston Food Bank – Video

  • Child Development and well-being: Paul Reville, Francis Keppel Professor of Practice of Educational Policy and Administration, Harvard Graduate School of Education; former Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts – Video

  • Panel Discussion – Video

3:00pm BREAKOUTS

Marketing New Flavors to Kids: Food trends, age trends, cultural foods, and reaching your target audience
Moderator: Crista Martin, Director of Marketing, Harvard University Dining Services

  • Joseph Blatt, Senior Lecturer on Education and Director of Technology, Innovation and Education Masters Program, Harvard Graduate School of Education

  • Alex Freedman, Massachusetts Fellow, FoodCorps

  • Adriene Worthington, Senior Manager of Nutrition, The Greater Boston Food Bank

  • Jeanne Sheridan, School Nutrition Director, Blackstone Millville Regional School District, MA

Innovative Procurement Strategies: Regional cooperatives, hubs, commissaries and vendors
Moderator: Louisa Kasdon, Let’s Talk About Food

  • Simca Horwitz, Eastern Mass. Program Director, Mass Farm to School Project

  • Ron Adams, School Nutrition Services Director, Portland, Maine Public Schools

  • Bertrand Weber, Director, Culinary and Nutrition Services, Minneapolis Public Schools

  • Melissa Honeywood, Director of Food and Nutrition Services, Cambridge Public Schools

A Primer for Parents: How to engage with school nutrition departments
Moderator: Mara Fleishman, Executive Director, The Chef Ann Foundation, Moderator

  • Stephanie Shapiro, Parent of Boston Public School students

  • Ruth Griffin, School Nutrition Director, Needham Public Schools

  • Kirsten Davison, Donald and Sue Pritzker Associate Professor of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health

  • Bettina Elias Siegel, TheLunchTray.com

  • Beatriz Beckford, WHYHunger.org

4:00pmWrap-Up Discussion – How can we help?
Holly Fowler, Co-founder & CEO, Northbound Ventures, LLC

Conference Speakers Include:

Ronald Adams, SNS Director/Consultant, Portland Public School FoodServices Portland, ME

Beatriz Beckford, Grassroots Action Network Manager, WhyHunger

Lisa Beaudin, Director of Nutrition Services, Ashland Public Schools

Joe Blatt, Senior Lecturer in Education; Faculty Director of the Technology, Innovation, and Education Program, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Emily M. Broad Leib, Director, Food Law and Policy Clinic; Deputy Director, Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation, Harvard Law School

Ann Cooper, Founder and Board President, Chef Ann Foundation

Catherine D’Amato, President and CEO, The Greater Boston Food Bank

David P. Davidson, Managing Director, Harvard University Dining Services

Kirsten Davison, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health

Bettina Elias Siegel, Writer, The Lunch Tray

Curt Ellis, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, FoodCorps

Mara Fleishman, Executive Director, Chef Ann Foundation

Holly Fowler, Co-founder & CEO, Northbound Ventures, LLC

Alex Freedman, FoodCorps Massachusetts Fellow, in partnership with The Food Project

Ruth Griffin, RD, SNS, Nutrition Services Director, Needham Public Schools

Melissa Honeywood RD, LDN, Director of Food and Nutrition Services, Cambridge Public Schools

Simca Horwitz M.S., Eastern Massachusetts Program Director, Massachusetts Farm to School

Christy Mach Dubé , Director, The Eos Foundation

Kathleen Millett, Executive Director, Office for Nutrition, Health, and Safety Programs

Roxanne Moore MS, RD, National Director of Wellness, Sodexo School Services

Bettina Neuefeind, Research Fellow, Harvard Law School; Affiliate, Food Law and Policy Clinic

Paul Reville, Francis Keppel Professor of Practice of Educational Policy and Administration, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Scott Richardson, Director of Research and Strategic Initiatives, Project Bread

Eric B. Rimm, Sc.D., Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition, Director, Program in Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Kirsten Saenz Tobey, Founder and Chief Impact Officer, Revolution Foods

Stephanie Shapiro Berkson, PhD, MPH, Boston Public School parent

Jeanne Sheridan, School Nutrition Director, Blackstone Millville Regional School District

John Turenne, FCSI, President & Founder, Sustainable Food Systems, LLC

Bertrand Weber, Director, Culinary and Nutrition Services, Minneapolis Public Schools

Jennifer Woo Baidal, MD, MPH, Instructor, Harvard Medical School; Attending Physician, Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Boston Children’s Hospital

Adriene Worthington, RD, LDN, Senior Manager of Nutrition, The Greater Boston Food Bank