CHARITABLE GIVING
Teaming Up for
Nutritional Health
Montgomery County Public Schools partners with Silver Diner and Real Food
for Kids to get more plant-based foods onto school lunch menus.

S weet potatoes topped with a sweet
chili mix and ranch sauce.

Thai curry sauce over edamame
and chickpeas with whole-grain rice.

White bean and pesto dip with roasted
tomatoes on a flatbread.

A three-bean torta with roasted corn salad.

These may sound more like menu items
at a vegetarian restaurant than offerings in
a school lunch line. But they’re all dishes
that were recently being considered for the
Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS)
school lunch menu.

MCPS partnered with local diner chain
Silver Diner and local advocacy group Real
Food for Kids to develop delicious and
healthy plant-based recipes to add to its
menu. On Sept. 29, about a dozen MCPS
middle and high school students took part
in a student focus group, in which they got
to try the dishes and offer their feedback. All
of the dishes were created by Silver Diner
Executive Chef Ype Von Hengst.

“Even though [Washington] D.C. has very
wealthy suburbs, there are pockets of kids
who experience food insecurity every day,”
says Bonnie Moore, executive director of
Real Food for Kids. “Our goal is to provide
equity and access to real, whole foods for
all students.”
Approaching the holiday season, many
individuals, families and businesses are
thinking about ways they can give back. By
bringing healthy food options onto school
menus, this partnership gives back not just
financially—but with lasting change.

The Need for Healthier Food
Food insecurity is a major concern through-
out the U.S., not just the D.C. area. According
to the School Nutrition Association, one
in seven American kids live in households
without consistent access to adequate food.

That’s 11 million U.S. children who don’t
have enough to eat—which can have detri-
mental effects on their health and well-being.

A review of 17 recent studies, published
last September in the International Journal
of Environmental Research and Public
Health, found that food insecurity is asso-
ciated with lower academic outcomes,
16 Washington FAMILY DECEMBER 2022
increased behavioral problems, higher stress
and anxiety and even developmental delays
in children.

Even kids who don’t suffer from food
insecurity often only have access to highly
processed foods that are high in calories,
sodium and fat. Perhaps it’s no surprise,
then, that the rate of childhood obesity in
the U.S. has more than tripled since the
1970s. Today, about one in five (or 14.7 mil-
lion) American children and teens ages 2-19
are affected by obesity, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC). Obesity can lead to health problems
such as high blood pressure and cholesterol,
diabetes, joint problems and breathing prob-
lems such as asthma and sleep apnea.

MCPS is one of many school districts
across the country working to combat food
insecurity and poor nutrition among kids
by revamping their lunch menus. All of the
school district’s offerings, including vending
machine and a la carte items, meet current
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
guidelines. That means the food contains 30
percent or less calories from fat, 10 percent
ATLAS / ADOBESTOCK
BY JENNIFER MARINO WALTERS



or less calories from saturated fat and zero
grams of trans-fat. MCPS also exceeds
national standards for sodium in its food,
with sodium levels that are lower than the
limit set by the USDA.

But non-meat options for students have
been mostly limited to items like pizza,
grilled cheese, and peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches, which aren’t exactly the health-
iest choices. And, many MCPS students
have expressed the desire for more variety
in lunch offerings to meet the dietary needs
of vegetarians, vegans, students with food
allergies and those with religious restric-
tions such as halal or kosher diets. The
district’s partnership with Real Food for
Kids and Silver Diner— which has one of the
healthiest kids’ menus in the country—seeks
to provide those options.

“Silver Diner has a lot of experience with
vegan foods, and Chef Ype understands food
as a sensory experience,” says Moore. “He
created recipes for MCPS that show what a
vegan dish can be in terms of colors, aromas
and textures.”
Von Hengst helps students competing to get their dish
added to school menus.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DEB LINDSEY
A Changing Lunch Menu
Addy Hogan is one MCPS student who wel-
comes the idea of seeing more plant-based
options on the school lunch menu. The
Takoma Park Middle School eighth-grader
is one of the students who participated in
the focus group to taste and provide feed-
back on Chef Ype’s recipes. While she’s not a
strict vegetarian, Addy does stick to a mostly
plant-based diet.

“I like to stay away from meats because it’s
healthier, and it makes me feel better,” Addy
says. “Plus, it’s better for the environment.”
Addy says that while she mostly liked the
recipes, she thought some of them were a lit-
tle too difficult and messy for busy students
Silver Diner Chef Ype Von Hengst, student advocate,
Real Food for Kids Culinary Challenge
Even kids who don’t suffer from food insecurity often only have access
to highly processed foods that are high in calories, sodium and fat.

WashingtonFAMILY.com 17