HEALTHY GIRLS, HAPPY HEARTS:

Bnos Yisroel of Baltimore is a pre-K through 12 all-girls school that has achieved a remarkable milestone in its commitment to fostering a healthier future for its students through their Healthy Meals Incentives (HMI) subgrant. Through the HMI Initiative cooperative agreement between USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK), AFHK awarded 264 subgrants to School Food Authorities (SFAs) to enhance the nutritional quality of school meals and bolster nutrition education efforts for students and families, ensuring students receive the best possible foundation for lifelong health and wellness. With this subgrant, Bnos Yisroel of Baltimore has transformed its school meal program by incorporating more nutritious options. Their program improves the physical well-being of students by increasing access to fresh produce and reducing sodium and sugar in their lunches, increasing student participation in the salad bar by 52 percent. It also educates them about the importance of healthy eating habits, empowering them to make informed choices that will benefit them throughout their lives. This success story is a testament to Bnos Yisroel’s unwavering dedication to its students’ health and education, and it highlights the impactful collaboration between the school, AFHK, and FNS in promoting a healthier, brighter future for the community.

Prior to receiving the HMI subgrant, Bnos Yisroel of Baltimore faced several challenges in their school nutrition program, including outdated or non-existent kitchen equipment; lack of staffing; increased food costs specifically for Kosher foods; and limited purchasing power. In the school’s application for the HMI grant, School Director, Ahuvah Heyman, stated:

“We believe that we have the ideas to support healthier eating, but we lack the funding to bring our ideas to fruition. By implementing our proposed “Healthy Girls, Happy Hearts” program, our students will learn about, enjoy, and learn to prepare healthier foods. In addition to assisting the girls in making healthier food choices, we believe such instruction and opportunity will assist our school families and community as well.”

With the funding they received from the HMI subgrant, they successfully implemented a holistic approach to school nutrition with the “Healthy Girls, Happy Hearts” program. This program includes nutrition education, garden to cafeteria programming, an extensive salad bar, and scratch cooked lunches once per week. Additionally, the school purchased much needed kitchen equipment to increase their capacity to scratch cook.

One of the most notable changes from “Healthy Girls, Happy Hearts” is that student participation in the salad bar program increased from 15 percent to 67. percent. School Director Heyman said, “… [T]his is transformational because [students] are asking us, ‘What are you serving?’ Parents are reaching out to me. ‘What are the girls eating on Tuesday?’ … We have done greens. We have done salads. We have done yogurts and acai bars. We have done soups from … scratch … It’s been a game changer…”

The school attributes a large part of this program’s success to how the school engages students throughout the entire process.

Students plant and harvest vegetables that are then served in the salad bar and used to make soups. Additionally, students can voice their opinions about what meals they would like served in the cafeteria through suggestion cards. After students provide their input, school staff review the recommendations and try to find healthy recipes that match their requests. One such request was for French Onion Soup, and the school was able to fully make this soup from scratch, rather than from a pre-made mix, which reduced sodium. School Director Heyman shared that the students reacted “Wow, this is amazing.” She also said “… Because they asked for that food, they were so excited to have it. We definitely take what they want, and we create it for them.”

The benefits of this program extend beyond the healthy eating and learning opportunities for students, too. The school’s master gardener, Rachel Schwarz, teaches garden electives for elementary and middle school. She stated, “I ran a gardening class for a group of middle school students. The small gardening group allowed girls from multiple grades to make new friends with similar interests.”

The benefits of “Healthy Girls, Happy Hearts” at Bnos Yisroel of Baltimore are clear. Students and parents are equipped with important knowledge that transcends the classroom. They’re learning how to grow their own food and use fresh ingredients for scratch cooking, and about the importance of nutritious eating. It is evident that the future is bright for this school’s meal program! They have a goal to go from scratch cooking from one day per week to every school day and to expand this programming to the School Breakfast Program. As School Director Heyman says, “We’re going to go out and we’re going to find a way to make it happen. We’re going to fundraise. We’re going to look for other grants … we have a tremendous amount of energy, and we’re passionate about what we do!”

Find more HMI success stories in our Cafeteria Chronicles blog

This material is based upon work that is supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service. USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.