Colorado Proud School Meal Day to Showcase Colorado Products on DPS School Menus

Denver Public Schools’ Food and Nutrition Services today announced a celebration for Colorado Proud School Meal Day on Wednesday, September 8 at 10:00 a.m. at Centennial K-8 School (4665 Raleigh Street, Denver). Colorado Proud School Meal Day celebrates local Colorado farmers by highlighting Colorado products on the school menu, as proclaimed by Governor Bill Ritter.

“We believe in educating the whole child. It is important to know where your food comes from and how to make healthy choices each day,” said Leo Lesh, Director of DPS Food and Nutrition Services. “Better nutrition equals better students.”

On September 8 at Centennial School, attendees will learn about Colorado agriculture from John Stulp, the Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture; hear Jacob Howes talk about the Rocky Ford cantaloupe he grew for lunch; and receive a garden tour from Centennial parents and Catia Chavez from Integrated Nutrition Education Program (INEP). Following the tour, guests will enjoy a school meal featuring Colorado cantaloupe, beef, green chili, milk, peaches, and tortillas.

At other DPS schools (Barnum, Bradley, Bromwell, Brown, Eagleton, Edison, Ellis, Fairmont, Fairview, Hallett, Lincoln, Lowry, McGlone, Munroe, Park Hill, Polaris at Ebert, Steele) community partners Slow Food Denver, Denver Urban Gardens, and the Integrated Nutrition Education Program will lead students in school garden tours and preparation of healthy recipes utilizing school garden produce or Colorado grown produce after the garden tours. EatDenver Serves Schools (EDSS) is working to partner its member restaurants with neighborhood schools to provide chefs for cooking demonstrations in the cafeteria.

Colorado agribusinesses contribute nearly $16 billion to the state economy annually and provide more than 105,000 jobs. Colorado has 36,000 farms and ranches that encompass 31 million acres (from www.colorado.gov/ag).

Colorado Proud School Meal Day is sponsored by Colorado Proud, a program created in 1999 to promote local foods through the Colorado Department of Agriculture. For more information, visit www.coloradoproud.org.

For more information, please contact Anne Wilson, with DPS Food and Nutrition Services Department, at 720-423-5608 or Wendy White, with the Colorado Department of Agriculture’s Colorado Proud program, at 303-239-4119.

About EatDenver/EDSS
EatDenver is an association of more than 50 locally-owned, independent restaurants committed to supporting and promoting the value of independent dining within the community. EatDenver Serves Schools (EDSS) is the new service arm of the organization and will assist Denver Public Schools in creating and supporting programs aimed at bettering the nutritional offerings of the city's children, such as school gardens and 'scratch' kitchen training. Through EDDS, EatDenver member restaurants will be matched with a school to help foster an ongoing relationship. Other outreach includes service projects, education and chef demonstrations, awareness and fundraising. Visit www.eatdenver.com to learn more.


About Slow Food Denver
Slow Food Denver is one of more than 200 local chapters of Slow Food USA that carry out the Slow Food mission in their communities. Slow Food Denver strengthens our local food community by offering educational experiences to all ages; connecting consumers, producers and partners; and, transforming food policies on a local, regional and national level. Slow Food Denver’s flagship Seed to Table program encompasses our work with Denver area schools to teach students about their food; how it is grown, how to prepare it and the importance of sharing it with friends and family. Through collaboration with our community partners, we create meaningful relationships between young people and food through projects such as STT School Gardens, Youth Farmer’s Markets, School Food FOCUS farm to cafeteria, DPS Scratch Cooking and Garden to Cafeteria. Visit www.slowfooddenver.org to learn more.