Good Food for Oxford Schools: Bringing healthier food to Oxford cafeterias

If you’ve noticed healthier food options being offered in any Oxford school, then you can thank the new program Good Food for Oxford Schools. Good Food for Oxford Schools is Oxford’s first attempt at bringing in local produce to make cafeteria trays more nutritious.

Sunny Young, project coordinator of Good Food for Oxford Schools, started this program with the help of the Oxford school district.

“When I was looking at new places to move [and start a new project] I looked in the salad bar grant database and the only state that had never received a salad bar, or even applied was Mississippi,” said Young. “Oxford seemed like a great place to start a project like this.”

“Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools” is a nationwide public health effort to support salad bars in schools. The idea of connecting farm produce to school lunches was the incentive in starting Good Food For Oxford Schools.

In order to promote local produce, Young said once a month they will have a Harvest of the Month program where, for one day, each kid in the school district will have the opportunity to try a type of fresh produce that grows in Mississippi. During the month of September, Young said that each kid got to try a locally grown watermelon.

Young hopes that in the future Good Food for Oxford Schools will be able to incorporate local foods into the every day lunch menu instead of doing a special monthly event like Harvest of the Month.

The program, although still young, is currently implemented in all the schools in the school district. The school district consists of seven schools: Bramlett Elementary, Oxford Elementary, Della Davidson Elementary, Oxford Middle School, Oxford High School, Oxford Learning Center and the C.M. Scott Center.

In Mississippi the obesity rate is a leading health concern. Good Food for Oxford Schools is promoting healthier options by educating students on where their food is coming from.

“As kids become more connected with where their food is coming from, the more that they’re creating a positive association with healthy food, homemade foods, the more they learn how to cook, learn how to garden, the more we will see a healthier change in Mississippi,” said Young. “So, I hope that this program creates a positive aura around healthier food.”

Good Food for Oxford Schools is also letting the kids have a “hands-on” role. With the help of donations, people are sponsoring gardens where kids can plant seeds and watch the growing progress of the plants.

Good Food for Oxford Schools is having their Food Day on October 24 at Oxford Elementary School. Food Day is designed to promote healthy eating, and there will be activities throughout the day to help emphasize the “garden-to-table” philosophy.

“I want people to know that Good Food for Oxford Schools is changing cafeteria menus,” said Young. “There are changes constantly. Every new menu cycle there are more menu items cooked from scratch. I feel that we are really addressing a need.”

If you’re interested in volunteering with Good Food for Oxford School, or interested in helping with fundraising please or email Sunny Young at [email protected] or visit volunteeroxford.org to see more about these volunteer opportunities as well as others around the community.