BEAR LAKE — It’s National School Lunch Week and a Northern Michigan district is helping their students taste culinary delights from around the world.
“We’re going to be, I guess, raising the bar even more, you know, we’re going to be doing pork belly, we’re going to be even doing prime rib,” said food service director Tim Klenow.
This isn’t your typical school lunch, at Bear Lake School and Keleva Norman Dickson Schools they’re serving up culinary creations from scratch.
It’s a mission that’s earned them three awards from the department of agriculture.
“School districts get these awards based on improving nutritional standards, reducing sodium, reducing sugars and also doing more like menu items from scratch,” said Klenow.
They do this by purchasing food from local farmers and even growing some of their own produce.
“We’ve grown lettuce varieties, herbs, tomatoes and cucumbers even. We did that last year, and now we’re kind of starting to experiment with edible flowers too.”
This week a taste of the world is hitting students plates to celebrate National School Lunch Week.
“We’re doing dishes inspired by Greece, one day we did Italy, we’re doing Brazil today.”
Thursday’s Brazilian cuisine featured plantains simmered in a mix of ginger with rice, beans, cilantro, mango salsa and corn.
“We want these meals to have a long term have positive effect on the kids for their health. But also just make them aware of making smarter choices in the outside world.”
With childhood obesity rates affecting nearly 20% of children according to the Center for Disease Control, fresh nutritious meals make an impact.
" We’re just trying to do our part and making sure the kids are well fed and get nutritious healthy meals."
Mom of three Mikayla Spearman said school lunches like these help offer kids exposure to other cultures.
“Getting to broaden your horizons and taste different foods you would never have at home or at a sit down restaurant. So, I think that more schools should adopt this. I think it’s a wonderful program.”