Challenge aims to get more Virginia students eating breakfast

One in six Virginia children live in families that struggle with hunger.

Across the state, schools are ramping up efforts to ensure students are getting the meals they wouldn’t have otherwise — especially breakfast. Through the end of the year, Virginia schools are competing for prizes and recognition through increased school breakfast participation.

The second annual Virginia Breakfast Challenge encourages state schools to get more students to eat breakfast through a program — “Breakfast After the Bell” — that aims to break the stigma of eating school breakfast.

In the first Virginia Breakfast Challenge last year, 1,325 schools participated and about 25,000 more students had school breakfast compared with when the challenge started. http://thefoodrevolution.org

During the 2016-17 school year, Virginia schools served about 10 million more breakfasts than four years prior.

The numbers are improving, but there’s still room for improvement, said Claire Wilker Mansfield, Virginia state director for No Kid Hungry, a campaign of national nonprofit Share Our Strength.

“There’s still lots of work to do,” Mansfield said. “Nobody wants kids to be hungry.”

Only half of Virginia students who eat school lunch start the school day with school breakfast, according to No Kid Hungry, meaning about 260,000 students don’t have school breakfast.

The challenge is trying to change that.

“Teachers know their kids are hungry. They know they need to eat,” Mansfield said. “They do well when they get the meals they need.”

Breakfast After the Bell incorporates breakfast into the classroom, whether it be during a nutrition break in the morning, a grab-and-go style as they walk to class, or having breakfast delivered to each classroom.

Increased access helps students in the classroom, first lady Dorothy McAuliffe said in a news release kicking off this year’s Virginia Breakfast Challenge.

“More than ever, it’s important to bridge Virginia’s nutritional divide,” she said. “We know expanding school breakfast programs helps end childhood hunger and strengthens a student’s performance.”

The lack of quality meals is far-reaching, Mansfield said.

“It’s an urban problem. It’s a rural problem,” she said. “It encompasses the entire commonwealth.”

Across the country, school breakfast is served to 14.6 million students each day, according to the School Nutrition Association. The cost ranges from $1.39 for elementary school students to $1.51 for high school students, but some school divisions across the U.S. have enacted universal free meals policies so all students are guaranteed school meals.

About 4 in 5 school breakfasts served in the U.S. are free, according to the School Nutrition Association.

“Kids need good quality food in order to learn effectively,” said Sonya Islam, a dietitian at the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University.

In Virginia, the 3-month-long breakfast challenge aims to make sure they’re able to do just that.

The challenge runs through Dec. 31. Twelve school winners and four school division winners will be named in the spring.

Experts urge use of salt alternative in food products

Substantial amounts of salt could be removed from food after the government’s scientific advisers recommended that replacing it with potassium-based equivalents instead would improve public health. A committee of experts has urged ministers to ask food producers and supermarkets to look into how they can replace sodium with what is known as “potassium-based sodium replacers”. The scientific advisory committee on nutrition (SACN) has concluded that replacing between 15% and 25% of salt (sodium chloride) in food with potassium chloride would help reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack. http://sustainablefoodworks.com Potassium is a mineral that is found naturally in fruit, vegetables, pulses, milk, nuts, seeds, fish and shellfish. It has been proven to reduce high blood pressure – a key cause of heart problems – and is given to some patients as part of their recovery from cardiac surgery. SACN has spent the last four years looking into potassium-based alternatives to salt. In a report published on Wednesday, it said that while the health benefits from switching may prove “small”, substitution should still be pursued. It concluded: “Overall, at a population level, the potential benefits of using potassium-based sodium replacers to help reduce sodium in foods outweigh the potential risks. The beneficial effects at an individual level are likely to be small in size but will impact a large proportion of the population.”

It added: “The government should consider encouraging food companies to explore the use of potassium-based sodium replacers to help reduce sodium levels in food.” Evidence SACN reviewed had found that greater potassium intake was associated with a “significant” reduction in someone’s risk of having high blood pressure or a stroke. Britons are still consuming more salt than is considered good for their health, despite years of government and food industry initiatives to help them cut down. Public Health England says that no one should consume more than six grams a day, but its own research has found that while average daily intake has fallen since 2005, it was still at eight grams. Food campaigners want ministers to use SACN’s findings to lobby food firms to reduce what they view as their unnecessary addition of excessive amounts of salt to many of their products. “Salt is unnaturally added to food in huge amounts and is putting up our blood pressure. Conversely, potassium is contained naturally in fruit and veg and lowers our blood pressure,” said Katharine Jenner, the campaign director at Consensus Action on Salt and Health.

Overall, the potential benefits of potassium-based sodium replacers outweigh the risks.

“This advice will pave the way for thousands of food [manufacturers] to lower their salt levels[in products], whilst still being tasty and safe to eat. What’s more, it will stop thousands of people suffering and dying unnecessarily from strokes and heart disease.” SACN, working alongside experts from the committee on toxicity in food, consumer products and the environment (COT), found that the main risk from increasing potassium content was that it could lead to “an increase in fatal and life-threatening hyperkalaemia in individuals with previously undiagnosed chronic renal [kidney] impairment”.

Despite that, though, replacing up to a quarter of all salt with potassium chloride “would result in overall benefit to the general population of the UK”, SACN ruled. The Food and Drink Federation (FDF), which represents manufacturers , welcomed the outcome of SACN’s review, which it instigated in 2013 by urging ministers to review the advice they give food firms on the use of potassium-based salt alternatives. An FDF spokesperson said: “The report gives a green light to the use of potassium, which provides companies with another tool they can use as they continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in salt reformulation. “Voluntary action by companies has helped to reduce adult intakes of salt by 11% between 2005-06 and 2014, demonstrating our long–standing commitment to this work, without compromising on taste, quality or safety.” • This article was amended on 23 November 2017. An earlier version said that the Food and Drink Federation represents manufacturers and retailers. The organization represents manufacturers only.

Celebrity chef Scott Conant says you’ve been cooking pasta all wrong

A TOP chef has revealed the simple mistakes that people make when cooking pasta with tomato sauce.

It may be a simple and comforting staple dish, but it seems that we’ve been prepping our pasta all wrong.

Celebrity chef Scott Conant.

One chef believes there’s a very specific method when it comes to prepping pasta with the perfect tomato-based sauce. http://sofood.me Scott Conant, who runs New York’s Fusco restaurant and who has been dubbed “the Maestro of pasta,” shared his guide to making perfect “pantry pasta” with My Domaine. The ultimate secret, according to Scott, is adding a splash of the pasta water to the tomato sauce to bring out the “perfect” flavour.

A handful of bucatini is perfect for one person, Scott Conant says. Picture: SBSSource:Supplied

Conant says a tight handful of Bucatini (thick spaghetti style noodles) is the perfect amount for one person and says that just less than 10 minutes is the optimum time for cooking this type of pasta. Meanwhile, he fries sliced garlic with a handful of crushed red pepper, a handful of sliced tomatoes and a pinch of salt.

Celebrity chef Scott Conant says a spoonful of pasta water is the trick. Picture:

Conant says that when the tomatoes begin to cook down, this is the perfect time to add a spoonful of the pasta water. He then covers the pan and waits for it to bubble.

He explained: “Thanks to the addition of the pasta water it’s salted well but not too much; it’s more like broth. “As you cook it and it reduces, it doesn’t become too salty.”

Planning A Turkish Dinner Party – 4 Must Have Dishes

Are you hosting your first Turkish dinner party and are not sure what to prepare yet? That´s not weird, the Turkish cuisine has so much to offer, there are so many delicious dishes to choose from. So, what do you pick and add to the menu for your guests? Don´t despair, we have got you covered!  Check out our recommendations for a great Turkish dinner party with starters, two main courses and a dessert.

• First dish: Meze

Meze is the Turkish version of the Spanish tapas or the Italian antipasti and is usually a combination of small servings before the main course. You can also make a lot of different mezeas the entire meal, however, today we will discuss it as the starter. The good thing about meze is that you can prepare everything in advance, so you don´t have to miss part of your own dinner party because you´re in the kitchen. A great meze to prepare as a starter is caçik, a simple yoghurt and cucumber dip/dressing. Make sure to have some Turkish bread to dip with and olives and feta on the table and you have a great starter.

• Main course 1: Kebaps

This is probably one of the most well-known meat dishes of the Turkish cuisine and a guaranteed success for your dinner party. Kebap is the name for dishes where meat is placed around a skewer and grilled. Originally this was just beef or lamb, but these days there is also chicken kebap. For today´s menu, we are including şiş kebap where the cubes of meat (lamb, beef, chicken, or goat) are marinated in yoghurt, olive oil, onion and tomato paste and then grilled on skewers with dices of tomato and pepper in between the meat. http://divinecuisine.recipes

• Main course 2: Karnıyarık

This dish is a must at a Turkish dinner party and consists of fried eggplants with a filling of minced meat (beef or lamb), garlic, tomato, onion and parsley. If you want to serve one meat and one vegetarian main course instead, you can also choose for a vegetarian filling for the eggplants. A well-known vegetarian filling is with Quorn as a substitute for the minced meat.

• Dessert: Lokum

Lokum, or Turkish Delight, is probably one of the more well-known Turkish specialities. Originally there were just 3 flavors, however today there are many different flavors available such as hazelnut, clove and coffee, walnut, rose, pistachio, cinnamon, almond, mint, cinnamon, ginger, and fruit flavors like apricot, cherry, orange, strawberry and lemon. Lokum is usually served with Turkish coffee and makes for the perfect dessert. Serving Turkish coffee with the dessert is probably easier said than done because for one you would need a Turkish coffee pot to make real Turkish coffee. Furthermore, the coffee needs to be ground to a fine powder which can be done with special Turkish grinder or you can buy it readymade from Turkish stores. Don´t forget to serve a glass of water with the Turkish coffee. Enjoy your dinner party!