Chartwells And Newtown Public Schools Win The Whole Grains Challenge

Newtown Public Schools and Chartwells School Dining Services, the food service provider for the town, won first place in the medium schools category for the annual Whole Grains Challenge, an initiative of the Whole Grains Council to promote consumers’ knowledge of whole grains.

The Whole Grains Challenge is a national competition for foodservice outlets organized by Oldways and the Whole Grains Council. In the challenge, schools, hospitals, workplace cafeterias, and restaurants competed with each other in delivering the most creative and pervasive promotions of whole grain foods during the month of September, which is Whole Grains Month. To be eligible, each foodservice operation had to offer at least one whole grain choice daily.

Newtown Public Schools offered at least one whole grain choice daily, and the Chartwells staff promoted the offerings in different ways. Reed Intermediate School students enjoyed whole grain samples and voted on their favorites.

On field day, students took part in a special whole grains obstacle course. Food service director for Chartwells in Newtown, Dan Shields, and Jill Patterson, resident dietitian for Chartwells in Newtown, and their staff handed out stickers to elementary students who chose whole grains at lunch or brought them from home.

“We’re honored to receive this national award because it shows that Newtown Public Schools are leading the way in offering whole grain foods in school cafeterias,” said Ms Patterson. “We strived to set ourselves apart from the other contestants by using creative ways for promoting and educating students about the benefits of whole grains. It is gratifying to know that the Whole Grains Council recognized all of our hard work and dedication to serving healthy meals to our students”.

As a winner, Newtown Public Schools and Chartwells will receive a framed medal commemorating their success, a free lifetime restaurant membership in the Whole Grains Council and valuable whole grain prizes so Newtown can continue to serve even more whole grains to its students.