Austin Independent School District Receives More Than $600,000 Grant To Bring Healthy Meals To Students
Posted: March 28, 2017 in Chains
Life Time Foundation
AUSTIN, TX – Nearly 84,000 students at Austin Independent School District (AISD) will benefit from a healthy and tasty school lunch makeover with a new food truck, healthy breakfasts in the classroom, made-to-order salad bars and farm-to-table scratch cooking. All of this supported by a $608,100 grant from the Minnesota-based Life Time Foundation, which has set its sights on improving school lunch programs across America.
Among the highlights at a grant presentation event held Friday at William B. Travis High School was the district’s first mobile food vehicle aptly named, “Nacho Average Food Truck.” Overseeing all of this positive change is Anneliese Tanner, Director, AISD Nutrition and Food Services, representing the newest partner of the Life Time Foundation, a public charity created by Life Time, which operates two health clubs in Austin.
Nacho Average Food Truck will hit the road and rotate among all AISD high school campuses with a fresh, around-the-world inspired burger menu featuring: a tasty Mekong burger topped with pineapple chutney and hoisin sauce; a Mediterranean burger topped with Greek salad, feta cheese and tzatziki sauce; a Tuscan burger topped with marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese and fresh basil; and a Yucatan burger topped with guacamole, pico de gallo and cotija cheese. The truck also will serve vegetable and/or fruit sides, and a milk to provide a complete school meal.
Tanner is incredibly passionate about the move to deliver healthy meals to students and her innovation shows through. “When it comes to school food, especially amongst our high school students, we have to constantly evolve and keep our menu items fresh and new,” says Tanner. “My hope with Nacho Average Food Truck is to continue to educate students that clean, natural and wholesome foods are also delicious and to encourage them to change their eating habits now for a more healthy future.”
When it’s all said and done, the changes are in keeping with Life Time Foundation’s nutrition philosophy and focus on helping schools to remove what it calls the “Harmful 7” from student breakfast and lunch menus. The Harmful 7 includes:
- Trans Fats & Hydrogenated Oils;
- High Fructose Corn Syrup;
- Hormones and Antibiotics in animal production;
- Added and Artificial Sweeteners;
- Artificial Colors & Flavors;
- Artificial Preservatives;
- Bleached Flour.
Tanner adds, “Our collaborative work with the Life Time Foundation goes beyond simply funding programs and products to include staff training on crucial skills as we add more scratch cooking, enabling us to deliver the healthy, nutritious and high-quality foods our students deserve each and every day.”
“I’m truly excited about the work Annaliese and her staff have conducted over the 18 months since her arrival at AISD,” said Life Time Foundation Executive Director, Barbara Koch. “Through our collaboration, we see the opportunity for AISD to be among the most progressive districts in the nation when it comes to serving healthy, nutritious foods. This grant represents the largest in the history of our Foundation, and we are proud to be a part of the tremendous, sustainable underway.”
More information about AISD’s Nutrition and Food Services Department is available at www.austinisd.org/nutritionfoodservices. More information about the Life Time Foundation is available at www.LTFFoundation.org.
