The California Endowment announced the first six ‘Health Happens Heroes’ award recipients honoring school food and nutrition directors from across the state who are pioneers in making healthier school meals that kids want to eat. 

The awards coincided with National School Lunch Week (Oct. 10-14), a time to raise awareness about how healthy school meals contribute to the well-being and academic achievement of children.

The California Endowment would like to applaud the work of Jennifer Lebarre, Director of Nutrition Services, Oakland Unified School District, for innovations she’s made by offering a larger variety of food choices and more freshly prepared food. She’s also worked to increase community access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

As director of the district’s nutrition service, LeBarre crafts weekly menus that she hopes will satisfy all constituents: federal and state agencies that set guidelines on student nutrition, school administrators, parents and, last but not least, her customers - the students. She must do all of this without spending more than about $1.20 for the food on the plate – less than half of what some wealthier districts spend.

Thanks to LeBarre and her team, Oakland school menus now feature Meatless Mondays, offering pasta primavera, vegetable stir-fry and bean and cheese burritos as alternatives.

“We don’t emphasize what’s not there,” LeBarre told the Bay Citizen. “We tell them, ‘you don’t need beef or pork or chicken to have a complete lunch.’”

Every year, 900 million meals are served to students in California schools. With families struggling to make ends meet during the economic recession, more children than ever depend on school meals for their daily nutrition. In California, 55.9 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced school lunches, according to the website KidsData.org.

Among Oakland and West Contra Costa district students, more than a third were considered overweight in school year 2008-09, according to the state’s fitness test.

“We’re proud to give Health Happens Heroes awards to leaders who ‘walk the walk’ to improve health in our schools, neighborhoods and with prevention” said Robert K. Ross, M.D., CEO of The California Endowment. “Today we honor school district innovators who understand the important role that good nutrition plays in the fitness and academic success of California’s children. These pioneers are embracing and defending new federal standards for healthier school meals and offering kids great-tasting healthy food that they can’t wait to eat.”

In 2010, President Obama signed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act establishing new healthier standards for school meals that include increasing fruits and vegetables, increasing whole grains and low-fat dairy, and reducing sodium, unhealthy trans- and saturated fats, and calories. These new standards enjoy broad public support, with more than three out of four American voters - or 78 percent - believing that schools should be required to meet higher nutrition standards for all foods they serve or sell to students, and 61 percent support providing schools with more funding to meet those standards, according to a 2011 poll conducted by the bipartisan team of Hart Research and American Viewpoint.

“Through promoting healthier school meals for more California children, we can help reduce childhood obesity and improve academic performance,” Ross said. “When schools are healthier, kids are healthier and more successful in school. This is the right thing to do for our children, our schools and our communities.”

Other Health Happens Heroes include nutrition innovators from around the state:

• DENNIS BARRETT, Food Service Director for Los Angeles Unified School District; DENISE OHM, Director of Nutrition Services for Enterprise Elementary School District; GARY PETILL, Nutrition Services Director for San Diego Unified School District; ROBERT SCHRAM, Director of Food Services for Clovis Unified School District; and RODNEY TAYLOR, Student Nutrition Director for Riverside Unified School District.

The California Endowment will announce new awardees throughout the year. Health Happens Heroes receive a certificate honoring their work and $500 to be donated in their name to the California health-related charity of their choice.

Read more about Jennifer LeBarre’s efforts here.