Happy Holidays! I would like to wish all of you a holiday season filled with relaxation and cheer. We have reached the halfway mark of the school year and a winter break is well deserved by all!
I would like to take a moment and thank all of the fantastic directors we’ve been working with over the past months in developing new ideas and programs in schools. Your input, opinions and continued support are extremely valuable to us!
And now for the contents of Peach Press! We have some really great articles in this issue and I hope you find them useful. Diane Deshler gives us an update on how things are going at her school district and shares a preview of CSNA in our Director-to-Director column. We also have registered dietitian, Roberta Duyff, sharing her favorite ideas on keeping up with fruit and vegetable servings during the cold winter months. She has wonderful tips, so please be sure to check it out. We’re featuring Bill Chandler, who has been growing California Cling Peaches for over 45 years, in our Grower Profile. He’ll give you a glimpse into his day-to-day life as a California farmer. And we’ll wrap up our Peach Press with a great on-the-go recipe to warm up your students during the winter – Grab & Go California Cling Peach Muffin Bars.
As I’m sure everyone has heard, the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act was passed by the House of Representatives on December 2nd. We’ve included the School Nutrition Association press release so please be sure to read below for more details.
I also want to personally invite all of you to attend the 2010 CSNA Conference in Pasadena, CA this coming January! Adrienne Martin and Ginny Hair will be there representing the Board; please stop by our booth, #226, and visit with them!
And lastly, please remember that as we enter into these cold, winter months, canned peaches are a perfect choice for all of your favorite peach recipes. In addition to great taste and convenience, Cling Peaches are also a good source of Vitamin A and C – two very important vitamins that are necessary in keeping immune systems strong.
Congratulations for reaching the halfway mark of the school year. Keep up the good work!
Sarb Johl, Chairman
calclingpeach@echopr.com
Greetings! We’re in the midst of completing the December sprint towards our holiday breaks, and I wanted to congratulate everyone on a job well done. I find
it difficult at times to incorporate enough fruits and vegetables on my menu
during the cold winter months. This is the perfect opportunity to use canned and
frozen fruits and veggies, including California Cling Peaches. Be sure to check
our newsletter and website for kid-friendly recipes to ensure a well-rounded
menu. This month we’re featuring Grab & Go California Cling Peach Muffin Bars,
perfect for those cold mornings!
I’m looking forward to visiting with many of you at the California School Nutrition
Association Conference in Pasadena next month. The California conference
is always a wonderful learning experience. We work in a field that regularly and
openly shares “trade secrets,” and at no place is this more evident than at conferences.
The California Cling Peach Board has many exciting things to share
with you this year –including preliminary research from Oregon State University
on the nutritional benefits of canned peaches and tasty new recipes. I hope to
see you there!
As we move into 2011, know that our commitment to stay connected with you
and attuned to the unique challenges and accomplishments of your work
remains as strong as ever. Please call or write us and keep us informed of noteworthy
people you work with or do business with. We are always looking to
highlight new and interesting programs and people in school foodservice and
nutrition. Please send all stories and comments to adriennem@echopr.com.
Until then, wishing everyone a happy holiday season!
Best,
Diane Wegner Deshler
School Foodservice Director
With a well-stocked kitchen, fruit and vegetables are always in season! Canned
and frozen fruit and vegetables provide nutrient-rich menu options during the
winter months, especially when seasonal fresh produce isn't as available or as
affordable. Good news: All forms (fresh, frozen, canned) deliver comparable
nutrition.
Fall, winter, spring ... school meals help provide ample amounts of fruit and
vegetables, encouraging young people to establish healthful eating habits for
life, notes the National Action Plan to Promote Health Through Increased Fruit
and Vegetable Consumption, 2010 Report Card, released this November. Being
low in calories and high in fiber, fruits and vegetables can help with weight control.
And in an overall healthful eating pattern, eating enough fruit and vegetables
over time likely reduces risks for chronic diseases (heart disease, type 2
diabetes, and some cancers) later in life.
Despite the benefits, most children, teens, and adults don't consume nearly
enough fruit and vegetables. According to the NPD Group, Nutrient Intake Database,
only eight percent of individuals consume their recommended intake of
vegetables, and only six percent hit their vegetable target. Yet fruits and vegetables,
including canned varieties for school menus, do contribute to key nutrients
(vitamins A and C, potassium, and fiber) and don't contribute significant
amounts of sugar or sodium,.
Winter Meals: 'Tis the Season for Canned, Frozen, and Dried Fruit!
To put a full or partial fruit serving in "cold weather" meals for your school
breakfast and school lunch program, or for your à la carte dishes, try these
menu suggestions:
For breakfast ...
Top French toast or toaster waffles with sliced or puréed fruit ... as a nourishing
alternative to syrup. Canned peaches or frozen berries, tossed with cinnamon, is
an easy topper!
Have a topping bar for hearty oatmeal or cold cereal, or for yogurt ... with
raisins, chopped apples, canned peaches, and nuts.
Serve a colorful fruit cup to go with whole grain muffins, bagels, or toast ... as
an alternative to juice.
For lunch:
Mix cut-up fruit into sandwich wraps ... as a flavorful condiment on turkey or
ham wraps.
Flavor cooked sweet potatoes or carrots ... perhaps with pineapple chunks,
sliced peaches, or dried cranberries.
Top a "signature" cafeteria-made pizza with fruit... maybe canned pineapple as
a flavorful topping partner to ham or turkey ham. Ask students for their creative
ideas!
Add sweet flavors to your salad bar ... with peach slices, chopped apple, dried
cranberries, and raisins.
Sweeten tuna and chicken salad ... with chopped or dried fruit of your choice.
Add raisins or dried cranberries to oatmeal cookies ... to make them more
nutrient-rich.
Fruit and Veggies: Eat Right with Color!
Winter menus culminate with National Nutrition Month! With the theme, "Eat
Right With Color,” the 2011 commemoration offers one more chance to promote
the good nutrition from colorful fruits and vegetables. Start with these ideas,
inspired by the American Dietetic Association's National Nutrition Month (NNM)
campaign:
Color your menu. Plan menus now to feature a variety of colorful fruits and
vegetables: green salads and grapes; red tomatoes and berries; yellow pineapple
and squash; blueberries and purple eggplant; white potatoes and pears;
and orange carrots and peaches. For a list of fruits and vegetables, matched by
colors, and ways to serve and merchandise them, see Fruits and Vegetables
Galore for school food service from USDA's Team Nutrition: teamnutrition.usda.gov/Resources/fv_galore.html.
Print your menus in color ... showing the colors of the fruits and vegetables.
Use the NNM logo on the menu. See www.eatright.org/nnm/
Put a fruit and veggie quiz trivia question on your March daily menu. Gather
students' answers (with their names) daily. Award a winner daily, or enter the
name of every contestant who answered correctly in a weekly prize drawing.Prizes could be NNM promotional items.
Serve a mystery tasting event. Provide unusual vegetables and fruits, cut into
bite-size pieces. Offer an opportunity to taste and guess the food. Give a sticker
to everyone who tastes and perhaps a chance to win in a NNM drawing for those
who name the fruit or vegetable correctly!
•Sponsor a pentathlon with the entry fee being a can of fruit or vegetables.
Have contestants engage in a push-ups or sit-ups contest, or whatever activities
you can handle in the cafeteria during a lunch hour. It's a great way to encourage
physical activity, too! Donate the canned fruits and vegetables to a local
food bank.
"Warm up" your winter menus in a healthful way ... with plenty of fruits and
veggies!
Bill Chandler knows agriculture; he has been in the business for more than 45
years as a grower and an experienced voice on the California Cling Board.
Chandler’s career in farming began in 1965 when he took over the land his
grandfather bought in the 1880’s, making Bill Chandler a third-generation farmer.
In addition to the three varieties of California Cling Peaches and the nine varieties
of freestone peaches that the Chandler land produces, also grown on the
farm are nectarines, plums, wine grapes, raisin grapes, and almonds.
When asked about defining what is most rewarding about working in agriculture,
Chandler responds quite simply that harvesting a good crop, stewardship of the
land, and making ends meet are among his greatest accomplishments in farming.
When prompted to describe a typical day on the farm during harvest,
Chandler describes a day filled with activity from start to finish. Days begin at 5
a.m. and commence quickly with a worker meeting at 6 a.m. Chandler then
monitors the harvest until workers leave around 2:30 p.m., when he then follows
his peaches to the packinghouse or cannery to check grades. After the day’s
harvest is complete, it is back to the farm to tend to bookkeeping.
Challenges always accompany rewards, however, and Chandler explains that the
increasing cost of labor as well as labor shortages, government regulations, and
mounting global competition have made staying in the business of agriculture
more difficult than ever.
“It’s more critical than ever before to have the support of the school foodservice
market,” Chandler stresses. “As a grower and a grandfather, I know firsthand
how good our peaches are for kids. Canned peaches are one of life’s simple
pleasures that just happen to be good for you too! And I think that, sometimes,
we lose sight of this just a little bit.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Diane Pratt-Heavner
301-686-3124 Ext.
media@schoolnutrition.org
House Passes Child Nutrition Reauthorization
National Harbor, MD (December 2, 2010) – Today, the US House of Representatives passed S. 3307, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act by a vote of 264 to 157.
The School Nutrition Association (SNA) endorsed the child nutrition reauthorization
legislation, which will allow school meal programs to offer a greater variety
of nutritious foods in school cafeterias nationwide.
“Members of Congress, the Administration and the First Lady should be recognized
for their tireless efforts to improve children’s access to healthy, nourishing
meals during these tough economic times,” said SNA President Nancy Rice,
M.Ed., RD, LD, SNS, State Director of the Georgia Department of Education,
School Nutrition Division. "The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act gives schools
critical resources to reach more children with healthy school meals and to serve
more fresh produce, whole grains and low-fat dairy products in cafeterias. By
establishing nutrition standards for all foods served or sold in schools, the legislation
ensures that students will receive a consistent message about healthy
choices.”
The legislation contains other critical improvements to the National School Lunch
and Breakfast Programs that SNA has advocated for, including the creation of
standards and a certification process for school foodservice professionals and the
establishment of guidelines on which local school expenses (such as electricity,
telephones and janitorial services) can be charged to school nutrition programs.
SNA opposed the bill’s use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
funds to offset the cost of child nutrition reauthorization, but the Administration
has offered assurances that they will work to recover funds for SNAP. SNA will
be closely following the Administration’s outreach to members of Congress to
address this critical issue.
SNA, (http://www.schoolnutrition.org) the School Nutrition Association, is a
national, non-profit professional organization representing more than 53,000
members who provide high-quality, low-cost meals to students across the country.
Founded in 1946, the Association and its members are dedicated to feeding
children safe and nutritious meals.
Makes: 48, 4-ounce servings
Ingredients
2 #10 cans California cling peaches, in juice or light syrup, diced
1-1/2 quarts flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup nonfat dry milk
1/4 cup baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1-1/4 cups raisins
3 large eggs
2 cups reserved peach syrup
3/4 cup oil
Preparation
Preheat conventional oven to 425° F. (Preheat convection oven to 350° F).
Drain peaches well and reserve 2 cups of juice/syrup.
Blend flour, sugar, dry milk, baking powder and salt for five minutes in mixer on low speed.
Add raisins.
Combine eggs and reserved juice/syrup. Add slowly to dry ingredients while mixing on low speed. Mix only until dry ingredients are moistened, about 15-20
seconds.
Add oil slowly while mixing on low speed approximately 40 seconds.
Fold in peaches. Do not over mix. Batter should be lumpy.
Pour 2-1/2 quarts of batter into each of three, 12”x20”x2” lightly oiled pans.
Bake until lightly browned: 25 minutes in a conventional oven, 15 minutes in a
convection oven.
Cut each pan 4 x 4 (16 servings per pan).
National School Breakfast Week doesn’t start until March, but we wanted to
remind you about a few deadlines that are coming up.
The School Nutrition Association is holding a “School Breakfast Detectives Participation
Sweepstakes” from January 1, 2011 – March 31, 2011. At the end of
each month, between January and March 2011, SNA will randomly pick 10 winners
(30 in total) to receive stickers for your school. And if you enter by January
31, you can have stickers delivered in time for National School Breakfast Week!
Be sure to enter today: docs.schoolnutrition.org/meetingsandevents/nsbw2011/community.asp
Also, SNA is holding a “School Breakfast Detectives” Book Cover Contest! Students
(from grades 1-12) are invited to design their own artwork in the form of
a book cover.
The local contest will run January 1, 2011- March 11, 2011. All national entries
are due by March 31, 2011. Three national winners will receive a prize pack.
Winter break is the perfect time to have students get started on their school
breakfast detective! For more information, please visit the School Nutrition Association website: docs.schoolnutrition.org/meetingsandevents/nsbw2011/contest.asp
The California Cling Peach Board is gearing up for the 58th Annual Conference in
Pasadena, CA! As always, we want to officially extend an invitation your way to
come visit the CCPB at Booth #226. We’ll have more information to share with
you about the exciting nutrition study completed by Oregon State University on
the benefits of canned and frozen fruit. We’ll also continue our California Cling
Peach Nutrition Pledge and hope to continue getting signatures from you to show
our growers your support! Everyone who signs our survey will be entered into
our drawing to win a COACH handbag! Be sure to pick up a nutritious bite to eat
while you’re at our booth as well!
The show runs January 13th – 16th – we’ll see you there!
 A Happy and HEALTHY Holiday!
Seasons Greetings from all of us here at the Peach Press to you! We hope everyone is able to enjoy a restful winter break. Here’s to a Happy and Healthy Holiday for all! Cheers!
The Peach Press is published monthly by the California Cling Peach Board.
To submit an article or story idea, contact Adrienne Martin at
adriennem@echopr.com or at 510.654.5400. Thank you for you support!
For more information about California's finest peaches, please visit
www.calclingpeach.com
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