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2006 Golden Carrot Award Winners
 Winner
Oak
Grove School
Ojai, Calif.
Private School
Food Service Director: Irmgard James
All the food served at Oak Grove School is vegetarian. The menu is highly
varied with a wide offering of international cuisine. Every day there is
a salad bar with raw and steamed vegetables, such as artichokes, bok choy,
parsnips, leeks, pumpkins, yams, and sweet potatoes. No dessert is offered;
instead, fresh fruit platters are served daily. The fruit platters include
a diverse array of fruit, such as oranges, apples, grapes, pineapples,
berries, pummelos, kiwis, persimmons, berries, mango, and papayas. Soy
milk, rice milk, water, iced tea, and hot herbal tea are available at no
cost to students. Fried foods are rarely served. Most foods are made from
scratch and the entire menu is sugar- and white-flour-free.
Healthy food is promoted through education about the whole food process
from soil to table. Students work hard growing and harvesting produce in
the school’s own organic garden and orchard, and they reap the benefits
of that effort when that produce is served back to them in the cafeteria.
When serving a new food, Ms. James displays the food in its uncooked state
and then prepares the item in a few different ways for the students to
try. The chefs at Oak Grove School truly are passionate about their jobs
and committed to the goal of promoting maximum health.
Runners-up
Pinellas County School District
Largo, Fla.
Public School
Food Service Director: Gray Miller
Pinellas County recently received an A- in PCRM’s annual School
Lunch Report Card. The county has taken major strides toward health by
serving more vegetarian meals and emphasizing fruits and vegetables for
all students. At least one hot vegetarian meal (for example, black beans
and rice, veggie burgers, or pasta with marinara sauce) and one cold vegetarian
meal (for example, a farmer’s salad or peanut butter and jelly sandwich)
is served daily. A packet that contains recipes for vegan entrées
was recently distributed to all cafeteria managers so that if students
request vegan entrées, the cafeteria managers know how to honor
them. The managers also have the option of including these vegan items
on the menu because they are healthy. Each day, fresh fruit, a hot vegetable,
a side salad, and entrée salads are available as options. One-hundred
percent juice is available at no cost, and soy milk is available a la carte
for middle and high school students.
In elementary schools, the meatless option is always promoted as the “Hardy
Heart” pick of the day. Health is promoted throughout the district
by a series of monthly health tips that are distributed on menus, Web sites,
cable TV stations, and on posters in cafeterias. Topics include eating
high-fiber foods and “5-a-Day.”
Unity Charter School
Morristown, N.J.
Charter School
Food Service Director: Judy Mancini
Unity Charter School is an all-vegetarian school. Most entrées,
in addition to being vegetarian, are also vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free.
Along with the entrée, a salad or raw vegetables is served. Freshly
cut fruit salad is also served daily. Soy milk, rice milk, water, and organic
juice are available at no extra cost. Unity does not participate in the
government commodity food program and all recipes and snacks are prepared
fresh daily, using organic and local ingredients when possible. Students
are encouraged to eat as much fruit and salad as they desire, while entrées
and desserts are limited. The school also offers a service through which
families can purchase dinner-sized portions of the lunch menu to take home.
Ms. Mancini has strived to make the menu more kid-friendly and allows students
to taste anything they like, regardless of whether they buy lunch.
The mission of the charter school is sustainability. Students are taught
to eat “low on the food chain” and to eat local to promote
sustainability. Students also help plant and harvest vegetables in the
garden on school grounds. These vegetables are harvested throughout the
summer and frozen to be served back to the students the rest of the school
year.
 Albuquerque Academy
Albuquerque, N.M.
Private School
Food Service Director: Laura Gilbert, M.S., R.D.
Each day, two different vegetarian entrées are offered. High-fiber,
low-fat entrées such as veggie burgers, cheeseless veggie garden
pizza, portabella fajitas, scrambled tofu, and hummus wraps are always
on the menu. All vegetarian items are listed on the weekly menu and labeled
as vegetarian or vegan for the students’ convenience. A variety of
hot vegetables and soups are available daily. Fresh fruit and vegetables,
including many seasonal items, are served on a salad bar daily.
Grady High School
Atlanta, GA
Public School
Food Service Director: JoAnne DeShields
Grady High School offers a separate all-vegetarian lunch line that is
enjoyed by vegetarian and non-vegetarian students alike. The “Creations
Line” includes such healthy items as garden burgers, quesadillas
with Mexican rice, and spaghetti with vegetarian sauce. Along with a daily
mix of fresh fruit, salads, and side vegetables, each month different produce
is featured to add variety and to expose students to different types of
fruits and vegetables. All students have the choice of 100 percent fruit
juices at no additional cost. Other healthy cooking methods include baking
instead of frying, using herbs and spices to enhance flavor, and purchasing
lower fat products such as veggie sausage patties and veggie burgers. Nutrition
education is provided in a newsletter on the fronts of the menus.
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