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Intermediate / Senior High Schools
SNAC (Student Nutrition Action Committee) Project
In 2005, the Healthy Eating Alliance and School Boards worked with intermediate and senior high schools and food service operators to form Student Nutrition Action Committee (SNAC) teams to a) improve the school food environment and b) begin the foundation for developing a nutrition policy for intermediate and senior high schools.
SNAC teams consist of four students, a teacher leader and a food service operator. Over the years, SNAC teams have achieved many accomplishments including improving cafeteria menu and vending machine selections, removing some unhealthy foods and beverages from their schools, and educating other students about various nutrition topics.
Each year, the Healthy Eating Alliance hosts a series of SNAC Team Meetings for intermediate and senior high schools. Teams come together and discuss healthy eating challenges, successes and more recently, components of the school nutrition policy.
Who is Participating?
- Intermediate and Senior High Schools from the Eastern School District and the Western School Board
- School District Representatives
- Food Service Representatives
- Healthy Eating Alliance Representatives
Purpose:
- To increase healthy eating and nutrition education opportunities in intermediate and senior high schools.
- To increase awareness of school nutrition policies within their school.
- To involve and encourage students to promote healthy eating and healthy living habits to their peers.
Goals:
- Receive training on leadership and nutrition
- Provide leadership to school-wide initiatives on healthy eating
- Act as liaison between other students and cafeteria staff to improve the school food environment
- Provide input on healthy eating policies
School Healthy Eating Action Plans
Here are some of the healthy eating action plans that SNAC teams have developed and implemented in PEI schools:
Quality of Food Available
- Serve healthier food choices in the cafeterias (eg. sub bar, fajitas, pasta, rice, baked potatoes, salads, yogurt, fruit, etc)
- Serve healthy meal days (eg. Wellness Wednesday)
- Introduced milk vending machines
- Offer healthier choices in vending machines
- Decreased frequency of french fries
- Many schools removed deep fryers or no longer use them to prepare food
- One school voluntarily removed pop, chips, bars and french fries
Advertising
- Have healthy meal ballot draws for free lunch
- Read specials and/or healthy eating tips over the announcements
- Posted posters
- Posted menu boards in the cafeteria
- Developed “Got milk?” and “Get Caught” posters of students and staff making health food choices
- Offer tasting trays in the cafeteria when trying a new food product
Access to Food
- Made some pricing adjustments
- Started a breakfast programs
Nutrition Education
- Borrowed WHOA Food Display and set up for students and staff to see
- Invited guest speakers to come to their school
- Formed an after-school healthy eating/healthy living club
- Formed a cooking club (Radical Radishes)
- Participated in Nutrition Month activities (bulletin board, trivia, etc)
Other
- Surveyed students about food choices
SNAC Newsbites
SNAC (Student Nutrition Action Committee) Newsbites are newsletters that were developed for intermediate/senior high school staff and SNAC teams to provide a means to share success stories related to promoting healthy eating at school. This newsletter was developed based on the success of the newsletter for elementary school staff entitled Healthy EatS (Eating at School) Newsbites.
View SNAC Newsbites
101 Healthy Eating Tips
101 Healthy Eating Tips were developed by the Healthy Eating Alliance and circulated to intermediate and senior high schools to assist them in communicating healthy eating messages through morning announcements, bulletin boards, etc. Teachers requested this information and we were happy to deliver!
Sample tip:
Discover the fun and great tastes of healthy eating. Be adventurous. Try a variety of different foods from each of the four food groups from Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide, combining shapes, flavors and colors.