Montezuma-Cortez is among a select group of school districts in Colorado that have accepted the LiveWell Colorado challenge to provide more freshly prepared school lunches that taste good and are good for students.
Over the next year, Cortez Schools will receive assistance from the LiveWell@School Food Initiative to transition their kitchen operations to serve healthier school food. The district also will receive a grant to purchase kitchen equipment, free culinary training plus on-site support from a LiveWell Colorado chef consultant.
This means positive change is on its way to your school kitchens and lunchrooms. But, it doesn’t happen on its own. To be successful, student nutrition directors and cafeteria personnel need the support of their school community: parent advisory volunteers, student taste test organizers, newsletter writers and more. By championing change, these school meal revolution leaders help set a national example for healthier school food.
Nearly 58 percent of Colorado adults and a quarter of its children are overweight or obese. LiveWell hopes to reverse childhood obesity trends by making it easy for kids to make healthy lunch choices.
“The Cortez Schools are very excited to be participating in this initiative and looks forward to serving meals that are both good for students and taste good,” says Sandi Vanhoutean. “It’s going to take some time and effort to complete the process, but it’ll be worth it because it’s the right thing to do for our kids.”