By Delphine Michaud, Director of Lower School
Butter Beans has graciously been serving many of our students lunch since January 2012. In order to best serve them in our lunchroom, the staff – Avis Ambrose, Cindy Leandry, and Yolanda Gonzalez – have gotten to know our students’ names and many of their food-related likes and dislikes. We are now looking to grow this great relationship with Butter Beans by expanding ways they can share their wonderful knowledge around healthy food with ISB students outside of the lunchroom. Plans are in the works to have Butter Beans enrich our classroom learning around the units of inquiry and the Middle School curriculum, and to dialogue with our students about food and nutrition in many different contexts.
Last week, Belinda DiGiambattista, Butter Beans Co-Founder and CEO, and Flora McKay, Director of Community and Nutrition, came to meet with two PA reps, Middle School Director Joe Santos, and Lower School Director Delphine Michaud to discuss ways that we can bridge the experiences. Below are some wonderful ideas that will be put into action in the coming weeks, as well as others that are in the works for the near future:
Building the Butter Beans relationship in the coming weeks:
Field Trips to the Butter Beans Kitchen: Butter Beans’ Sunnyside, Queens commissary kitchen provides tours and workshops for students around food and its preparation. This is a great opportunity to enrich many of our units of inquiry, such as the “Community Helpers” unit in PreK, the “Happy Healthy Me” unit in Kindergarten, the “Farm to Market” unit in 2nd grade, the “Living Plants” unit in in 3rd grade, and more. Teachers will begin to visit the Butter Beans kitchen when they identify opportunities for it to enrich classroom learning.
Round Table Conversations: To begin after midwinter break, Butter Beans staff and chefs will come in monthly to sit and have lunch with ISB Middle and Lower School students, discussing topics around food texture, tastings, portions, food waste, and balanced eating. Menus will be posted in classrooms for kids to help them think about their healthy lunch well before lunchtime. Regular tastings of foods will circulate during lunch times so students can continue to expand their pallets and enjoy new foods.
Coming Later:
Butter Beans is a wonderful community-based organization that wants to hear your feedback, so never hesitate to share with them directly at info@butterbeanskitchen.com. Butter Beans has an active blog, currently featuring a post on portion sizes. Read their blog here www.butterbeanskitchen.com/blog.
