National School Lunch Week (NSLW) is right around the corner starting October 14, 2019! This is the perfect opportunity to promote the importance of your school's lunch program and emphasize why students need to eat healthy meals. NSLW helps highlight the healthy menu options you have in your cafeteria and get students excited to try new foods.
This year's theme is "School Lunch: What's on your playlist", which encourages nutrition programs to showcase the wide variety of flavors and food options they're serving up on a daily basis. Highlighting your meals and showing that you offer menu items students want is important for parents to see. Let everyone know that school meals are music to their ears and you're serving faves on every tray.
3 Ways to Celebrate NSLW!
Invite parents to lunch
Designate a day of the week for parents to come have lunch with their students! You can use this time to showcase what your school lunch program can do for students. Hand out these infographic sheets during the lunch period so parents can see key information about the NSLW program and all the healthy options available to their children.
Plan a themed lunch for each day of the week
Have some fun with this year's NSLW theme! Have each day of the week correspond with a different decade of music. For example, Monday - 70's music, Tuesday - 80's music, Wednesday - 90's, Thursday - 2000's, and Friday is today's top hits. Each day you can play that specific decade of music in the cafeteria and have food service staff dress up to match the theme. To add some extra flair, you could also hang musical notes on the walls and have fun, music inspired names for your menu items, like 'Groovy Grapes' or 'Rascal Flatbreads'.
Do a taste test survey
Take the opportunity this week to get feedback from your students about any new recipes you've been wanting to try or see how your existing options are faring. This is a great way to get your students involved and let them know their feedback is valued. Check out some tips and best practices for hosting a successful taste testing event.
For more ideas and tips that can help promote National School Lunch Week check out these free resources from SNA:
Also, don't forget to share your celebrations on Facebook using #NSLW19 so other schools can see your fun festivities. What's on your playlist this year for NSLW? Let us know in the comments below!
