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The Abbey Group Well Represented at St. Johnsbury. -WCAX News Story- New cookbook for Vt. cafeteria cuisine

The Vermont Education Agency and a group of local nonprofits have come together to create the first-of-it’s-kind cafeteria cookbook. Abbey Group directors and chefs were there in St. Johnsbury to help try out some of the  recipes and pick up new ideas.  Check out the WCAX link below for the full video, and quote from Abbey Chef Director Josephi Gerardi.

http://www.wcax.com/story/23140230/new-cookbook-for-vt-cafeteria-cuisine

New cookbook for Vt. cafeteria cuisine

New cookbook for Vt. cafeteria cuisine

Posted: Aug 14, 2013 6:53 PM EDTUpdated: Aug 16, 2013 5:00 PM EDT

By Alexei Rubenstein – bio | email

ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. -Call it a boot camp for school cooks. Dozens of school cooks and food directors from across the state are spending the week in St. Johnsbury to pick up new ideas and refine their techniques.When Penny Goss of Bakersfield started in the school kitchen back in the 1960s, it was simpler time.

“Back then there were hardly any regulations, you just fed the kids,” Goss said. “You did homemade things and you fed them. And now there a lot of things; you have to follow the rules.”

This year, the Vermont Education Agency and a group of local nonprofits have teamed up to produce a first-of-its-kind cookbook with recipes by school cooks for school cooks. Some seasonal items on the menu– sautéed greens and beans, Magenta-root slaw and corn salad.

“What we were trying to strive for was a cookbook that anybody would pick up and say, ‘wow, pictures– they’re great; the food looks wonderful,’ and that it brings up the level of school meals in terms of yeah, this is a profession, these are real culinary skills we’re talking about,” said Abbie Nelson of Vermont FEED.

Back in the classroom, the cooks fine-tune some of the recipes that will make the final cut.

There was a backlash at some schools last year over the news federal standards, complaints that there wasn’t enough to eat or that even popular local foods didn’t meet the standards.

“A little tough, but it really turned out well. And I think as we go forward with this, it’s going to change a bit. Kids are more accepting of it. I think it was the high school kids in the beginning that were kind of not too receptive. The younger kids coming up, they don’t know any better. They’re going to be really just learning it as they go and they think that is the norm,” said Joseph Gerardi of Townshend.

New England Culinary Institute students helped test many of the new recipes.

“The volume that school food service directors have to provide, the limited budgets that they work with, the limited staff that they get to work with was really a revelation for my students and myself, as well,” said Jim Birmingham of NECI.

The new cookbooks will go out to every school this fall– an effort to share the love of cooking with kids across the state.

 

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Free Breakfast for All! – A Real Possibility

Check out this great informational sheet put together by the Food Research and Action Center about why offering school breakfast for free to all students is a great idea for the betterment of child nutrition. For many schools and districts offering free breakfast to every student is possible to do without breaking the bank. If you’re reading this and you think your school would be a good fit for this program, shoot us an email or give us a call for more information.

Offering breakfast at no charge to all students, often called “universal”, helps remove the stigma for low-income children of participation in school breakfast and is proven to increase participation.

Many children do not eat a nutritious breakfast every morning.

  • Many families are living on very tight budgets and can’t afford to provide good breakfasts at home every day nor the money to buy them at school.
  • Regardless of income, families today live busy lives, with long commutes and long and nontraditional work hours that often make it difficult to sit down long enough in the morning to eat a nutritious breakfast.

 

Schools that offer breakfast free to all children increase student participation rates.

  • Many students who are eligible for free or reduced price school breakfast do not participate because they do not wish to identify themselves as low-income by eating school breakfast. Offering breakfast at no charge to all students helps remove the stigma for low-income children of participation in school breakfast.
  •  Only 47 children eat federally-funded free or reduced price school breakfasts for every 100 who receive free or reduced price school lunch. Studies show that offering breakfast at no charge to all dramatically increases student participation in school breakfast.
  •  Some schools offer breakfast free to all children in the classroom as school starts in the morning, rather than in the cafeteria before school starts, which makes it easier for children to participate.

 

Programs that offer breakfast free to all children improve student achievement, diets and behavior.

  •  Studies conclude that students who eat school breakfast at the start of the school day show a general increase in math and reading scores as well as improvements in their speed and memory in cognitive tests.
  •  Children who eat breakfast at school – closer to class and test-taking time – perform better on standardized tests than those who skip breakfast or eat breakfast at home.
  •  Children who have school breakfast eat more fruit, drink more milk, and consume a wider variety of foods than those who don’t eat breakfast or have breakfast at home.
  •  Schools that offer breakfast free to all students in the classroom report decreases in discipline and behavior problems, visits to school nurses and tardiness; increases in student attentiveness and attendance; and generally improved learning environments.

 

HOW CAN SCHOOLS AFFORD TO OFFER FREE BREAKFAST TO ALL?

  • Provision 2 is a federal School Breakfast Program (and National School Lunch Program) option for schools to reduce the paperwork and simplify the logistics of operating school meals programs when they serve meals to all students at no charge. Schools should contact their State Agencies for assistance on implementing Universal School Breakfast through Provision 2.
  • Many school districts that serve a large percentage of students who are eligible for free and reduced-priced school meals find that they can break even when they offer breakfast at no charge to all, even without adopting the Provision 2 option. The increased participation brings in a sufficient amount of revenue to cover the additional costs.
  •  State legislation provides special state funding for universal school breakfast programs in nine states. Illinois provides funding for a universal breakfast pilot program for schools with 80 percent or more free and reduced-price eligible students. Maryland allocates $3.1 million for “Maryland Meals for Achievement”, an in-classroom universal free school breakfast program. Massachusetts provides $2 million annually to support universal breakfast, allocated for a reimbursement of $0.24 per breakfast for any school offering universal breakfast if costs exceed other reimbursements. North Carolina allocates $2.1 million annually to provide free universal school breakfast to kindergarten students in districts where 50% or more of the kindergarten students are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals.
  •  States also provide funding to support the School Breakfast Program in general, which can provide larger benefits to schools that have larger participation rates. Some states provide additional funding for each breakfast served (California, Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin); some provide funding for breakfast start-up costs (California, Illinois, and Washington); and some provide additional incentive funds for increased participation (Pennsylvania and Virginia.)

 

It is little to spend on long term results… It gives me time to visit with [my students]… It is a nice way to start the day nutritionally, socially, and emotionally. – Minnesota teacher

 


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The Abbey Group Official Sponsor of Overall Competitions at the Tour of the Dragons

Last weekend was the world famous Tour of the Dragons bike race held in Bennington, Vermont. Since 2012, The Abbey Group, through the efforts of the Bennington area Food Service Director Maureen O’Neil, has provided the PIEzes for over 80 winners though out the weekend. Each winner receives either a  strawberry, rhubarb, apple or cherry pie. We are proud to be a part of such an important event for both the Bennington and greater bike racing community. Please read below for the full story!

 

 

Bennington and Manchester, Vermont – Organizers of the Tour of the Dragons bicycle stage race are pleased to announce that The Abbey Group is the Official Sponsor of the Overall Competition of the Tour of the Dragons.

The Abbey Group provides individually crafted food service programs that are designed for companies, institutions, colleges and schools. Their development team works with each group to develop a food service plan that meets the nutritional requirements and demanding corporate schedules.

 

The Abbey Group works closely with local growers to deliver the highest quality and most nutritious food products to its clients. “We recognize that many of the participants in the Tour of the Dragons are corporate decision makers, and the event provides a perfect platform for us to introduce Abbey Group Corporate Food Courts for their businesses,” said Marketing Director Abbey Underwood. “The Abbey Group is already well known for delivering high quality, healthy food choice to young minds in schools throughout Vermont. We want corporate leaders to learn that we offer individualized, high quality choices for the Corporate Food Courts as well. The Tour of the Dragons offers a great platform to achieve our goals.”

 

The 2013 Tour of the Dragons is a two-day, three race event, held on May 4and 5, with the most challenging race courses in New England. After Saturday morning’s 10.7-mile Time Trial, racers will tackle the Shaftsbury Circuit Race, a 50-mile route (66 miles for the Pros) in Bennington and Shaftsbury, one third of which is on dirt roads. Sunday’s Road Race in Manchester and surrounding communities is 71 miles for the amateurs and 124 miles for the Pros, again with portions on dirt roads.

 

“Race participants have increasingly sought out tough, technical courses and the Tour of the Dragons has quickly become recognized as the Most Challenging Race in New England,” said Race Director Jim Marshall. “The demographics of these athletes is a perfect match for the Abbey Group as the majority of the pacers are between the ages of 30 and 45, they own their own businesses or are the higher echelon, decision making executives in other companies. It is a great opportunity for the Abbey Group to reach these key people. We are proud to have them on our team.”

 

The Abbey Group fruit pies – strawberry/rhubarb, apple and cherry – became an instant sensation at the 2012 Tour of the Dragons. The Abbey Group has become an iconic brand and race winners from last year have already been asking if the pies are back. But first they have to win again!

 

The event is organized by Anthem Sports, organizers of the Stan’s NoTubes Great American Cycling Series and the Tour of the Battenkill in nearby New York – the largest Pro/Am cycling race in the US.

 

For more information, please see the event website at www.tourofthedragons.com

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Lunchables- Not Worth the Convenience

 

If you’ve had children in the last 25 years, there is a great likelihood at one time or another they’ve asked for a Lunchable. It seems seductive to purchase, not only would you please a nagging child in a grocery store but if you’re accustomed to packing your child’s lunch, you also wouldn’t have to worry about their lunch for the next day.

But behind the flashy packaging and salivating catch phrases aimed at both parents and children, at $3 a box, are you sure what you are buying your children is really considered lunch-worthy? The intent o this post is not to put down purchasers of this product but rather to reflect on what exactly it is that you’re purchasing.

Lunchables are marketed so that children can build their own mini sandwiches, pizzas, wraps, etc., and though there are upwards of 30+ varieties, the most popular variety usually includes, roughly 8 Ritz crackers, 8 1”X1” pieces of cheese, 8 1”X1” pieces of deli meat, a sugary juice drink such as Capri Sun and a small candy item such as an airhead or Reese’s peanut butter cup.

Not only do Lunchables not offer a very appealing looking product below the packaging, they don’t offer very much nutritional value either. I implore you to take a look at the back of a Lunchables box just to find what exactly is hiding in the seemingly innocent crackers, cheese and meat combo packs with 60+ ingredients.

In Comparison to a school lunch, priced around $2 at the full paid price, Lunchables just don’t stack up.

Lunches served at schools are required by the Federal Government to meet ridged nutrition requirements as a part of a nutritional, well balanced diet. Lunchables are not required and do not meet the federal standards.

Today, every lunch program in the country is required to serve, whole grains, fruits and vegetables with every meal and a limited salt/calorie intake. The Abbey Group always takes it a step further by offering a multitude of offerings, unlimited fruit and vegetables and scratch bake cooking. We pride ourselves on using fresh and local ingredients to make our lunches right on site. Doesn’t make the post picture so appealing, does it?

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