LINCOLN – Even before the lunchtime school bell rang, there were smiles and new aromas in the lunchroom kitchen here last week at Lincoln Middle School.
The Lincoln Consolidated School District was participating in the first of several programs over the next three years to improve and serve healthier breakfast and noon time meal options and snacks for its students.
Partnered with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Office of Community Health and Research and the Alice L. Walton Foundation, consulting executive chef, Kent Getzin of Chelan, Wash., was meeting and working alongside Lincoln dietary staffs at the elementary, middle and high schools, as part of a three-day visit to the school district.
Getzin, a nationally recognized school chef, added new items to the regular school menu last week: fried rice, teriyaki chicken, with accompanying fresh made egg rolls, a crisp Asian themed salad and even a fortune cookie.
The menu served Oct. 17 at the elementary school was well received, according to Chef Getzin.
"It's been fun, and good," said Gwen Barron, the child nutrition specialist and manager of Lincoln Middle School cafeteria. "We've all learned a lot and introduced some new, healthier options for the students."
The Asian themed additions to the meal menu "were certainly a hit," said Alexa Cueto, program manager for UAMS Northwest Regional Campus, who is overseeing the program.
"We were at the elementary school yesterday and the students were excited about other options than the standard hamburger, fries and pizza," she said.
"One young man said, 'Where's my hamburger?' but he opted to get an egg roll and entrée and came back for more (foregoing his traditional lunch of a hamburger)," said Cueto. "He was excited about the Asian style menu and new foods being offered."
Offering and serving up a healthier options meal, even at the elementary school level, is the goal of the grant.
The usual school cafeteria standards of serving hamburgers, pizza or nachos day after day is not the best economic or healthiest dietary menu, but offering a different and healthier option may increase the number of students in the lunchroom and improve on the amounts of healthier food they consume, Getzin said.
The spry executive chef seemed at home with all the school district employees and the day-to-day job they do in the kitchen for the district.
"I was here at 6 a.m. when we opened (at the middle school) today," said Getzin, a resident of the Wenatchee area of Washington. "We got busy and got breakfast going, and started on the menu items for lunch."
He said he was there as an extra pair of hands in the cafeteria and to help with food prep, answer any questions about planning future menus and to clean up afterward.
But Getzin's main role in Lincoln was as an important cog in the ongoing program to help local schools serve better and healthier meals on behalf of a three-year program through UAMS Northwest Campus and a grant from the Alice L. Walton Foundation. He will be visiting five other school districts several times over the next three years.
The Farmington School District is another of the stops along Chef Getzin's trail in Northwest Arkansas. He also served in Fayetteville's schools a couple of years ago, as a consultant.
The other districts in the program to introduce healthier and tastier options in the area include Springdale, Bentonville, Rogers and Siloam Springs.
Assisting in the kitchen and with the Lincoln dietary staff at the middle school were Alexa Cueto, area program manager for the UAMS Northwest Campus, and Jenn Clampitt, a UAMS registered dietitian.
Others on the middle school cafeteria staff included Lorene Jewett, a 25-year Lincoln school employee; Tammy Wilson in her first year at Lincoln but with 28 years in school cafeteria experience; and Jennifer Gates, a first-year employee at Lincoln.
All seemed happy with the new and expanded options that were freshly made from scratch menu items.
And things sure looked and smelled good as the students lined up for the lunchtime walk to the cafeteria.
Maylon Rice/Special to Enterprise-Leader
Everyone on the Lincoln Middle School dietary staff was busy last week making new and healthier entrees for their students. Here (left) Jennifer Gates, head cook, (center) Tammy Wilson and Lorene Jewett prepare lunch for the districts students. Jewett has been with the Lincoln District for 25 years.
Maylon Rice/Special to Enterprise-Leader
Gwen Barron, Lincoln Middle School child nutrition manager, mixes an Asian salad Oct. 17 with Executive Chef Kent Getzin of Chelan, Washington, a visiting chef who is a consultant for a UAMS grant with the Alice L. Walton Foundation. He is participating in a new program with six area school districts to introduce new, fresh and healthier foods to lunchroom menus. Getzin worked in all the Lincoln schools last week, assisting cafeteria staff.