upLIFT Newsletter | SY 2022-2023 | Issue 2 | October 2022

Inside This Issue...
The Arizona Department of Education Health and Nutrition Services (HNS) is excited to announce the "Serve a Rainbow" initiative for this school year! This initiative aims to urge operators to promote a colorful spread of unique and delicious fruits and vegetables for students to enjoy throughout the school year. Every other month starting in September, HNS/upLIFT will announce a new "Serve a Rainbow" produce color for your team to feature and serve in your schools. Service can be as simple as a vegetable plated on a tray, or fruits and vegetables intricately presented to students in a colorful display or salad bar! The creativity is up to you!
The featured color for September and October is... 
This month, HNS received photos from Globe Unified School District. This district served the featured color several times this past month, and took advantage of National School Lunch Week (NSLW) to promote their fruits and vegetables even more! We are so excited to see schools having fun with the Serve a Rainbow Initiative and can't wait to see more photos of your green/dark green produce this coming month!
Help us continue to color the rainbow! Email Ashley.Kennedy@azed.gov any pictures of your colorful service lines so we can showcase your beautiful produce in future upLIFT newsletters! HNS can't wait to see how YOU "serve a rainbow" to your students! 
Join us for our upcoming upLIFT Webinar!

upLIFT Webinar Series: upLIFT Your Produce - Go Local!
October 18, 2022 at 1:30 pm
Join us for this month’s upLIFT webinar where we will discuss strategies to utilize USDA and HNS resources, as well as outline different approaches to sourcing and purchasing local foods! Additionally, the webinar will feature Elizabeth Allen, Director of Food Services at Palominas Elementary School District, where she will discuss her firsthand experience with serving local produce and how she is able to take advantage of outside resources to overcome hurdles during the procurement process. She will also share her experience participating in the Farm Fresh Challenge! Be there on October 18th to learn about how you can start serving local produce, hear from a guest speaker on the benefits, and hopefully implement some of these strategies into your own meal service!! 
Register Here
Palominas Elementary School District serves up a lovely meal for National School Lunch Week!

Students at Palominas enjoyed this meal on "Farm Fresh Friday" during NSLW. This meal included a 'Tubular' Turkey Wrap, 'Boombox' Broccoli, and 'Funky Fresh' Fruit. This totally groovy plate only cost $.40 cents to produce and was a huge hit while celebrating NSLW! We also love the use of this month's featured "Serve a Rainbow" color! Keep them coming!

Want to see more inspirational photos of nutritious meals? Visit HNS' "Find Your Inspiration: upLIFT Photostream"! 
Research Rundown

This month's Research Rundown article examined the relationship between high school students’ agricultural experiences and their attitudes about consuming local fruits and vegetables, willingness to try new fruits and vegetables, and fruit and vegetable consumption. The study used a questionnaire to analyze student's behaviors and perceptions. The information in this article can be used to determine creative ways to incorporate agricultural experiences in your cafeteria to increase produce consumption!
Featured Food - Romaine Lettuce!

This month's Featured Food is Romaine Lettuce! Read more about this popular leafy green vegetable by checking out the How to Use Whole Foods handout and Whole Food Profile on the upLIFT webpage.  
Together, we can influence positive 
dietary behaviors in students!
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Health and Nutrition Services

1535 West Jefferson Street, Phoenix, AZ 85007

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