This year beautiful San Diego, CA will be host to the 2016 School Nutrition Industry Conference (SNIC), January 16-19, 2016.  Each year hundreds of school nutrition professionals and their industry partners gather together at SNIC (formerly CNIC) to network and collaborate.  With the business of school nutrition and the children they serve as the primary focus, attendees take this opportunity to look to the future.    

Thanksgiving is the perfect time for a school community to come together and celebrate the spirit of the holiday with one another. How are you celebrating Thanksgiving in your district this year?

If you need a little inspiration, below are a few activities you can do with your staff and students to help you get into the spirit of the holiday.

Whether it's festivities at school or birthday parties at home, celebrations tend to offer foods that may undermine healthy eating habits for kids. But with some creative party planning you can take steps to make celebrations healthier.

Check out this month's FitFuture Parent Newsletter for a few tips on how to make celebrations healthier at school and at home:

Convenience, simplicity, and security are just a few of the benefits of accepting online donations for your school fundraising efforts. But how else does collecting school donations online benefit you, your volunteers, and your donors?

Here are the top 6 benefits of collecting school donations online:

This year's theme 'School Lunch Snapshot' encourages schools to share pictures of real school food on their social media pages, blogs, websites, newsletters, and more.

Social sharing provides nutrition programs the perfect avenue for showing off their healthy menus, helping to increase overall participation and educating their community on the benefits of school food.

To CEP, or not to CEP?
That is the question. Whether ‘tis easier to suffer the pains of paper application processing, or to take Community Eligibility against a sea of applications.

CEP is more than just another USDA delivered acronym. The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) allows school districts with high poverty rates to easily serve free meals to eligible students. Both breakfast and lunch can be served to all students by removing the need for schools to distribute, collect, and process paper applications.

School nutrition programs offer students a large variety of healthy and delicious options. Parents can take an active role in supporting these programs and encouraging their kids to choose a balanced meal when they go through the line.

Supporting good health at school is simple. Check out this month's FitFuture Parent Newsletter for a few tips on how parents can be an advocate for school nutrition:

Project Bread is a non-profit organization based in Boston, MA that strives to “bring a fresh approach to ending hunger”. With a dedicated group of public educators, thought leaders, nutrition professionals, and loyal donors, Project Bread has grown to become a huge player and catalyst in the fight for ending hunger.

One of their primary initiatives is providing schools with resources that help them serve healthy meals to our students every day. In Project Bread’s Let’s Cook Healthy School Meals Cookbook, they generously provide 100 healthy, satisfying, kid-approved recipes for schools across the nation.

Need some school fundraising inspiration?  You've come to the right place!  Whether your volunteers are feeling artistically inclined, ready to get active, or just want to keep things simple, we’ve got you covered.

Here's 20 school fundraising ideas that your district should try:

Don't throw out those milk cartons this fall! The Made By Milk 2015 Carton Construction Contest is gearing up for the new school year with another fall contest.  Each year, Made By Milk holds a themed competition to see which school can build the best milk carton creation. This semester's theme is 'Animals'. 

This is a great way to get students involved and teach them about recycling. Encourage students to help collect milk cartons, brainstorm ideas, and create your school's competition entry. Contest entries must be submitted by November 18, 2015.