janey thornton

Special holiday series – Blog 1 of 5

As we look forward to spending the holidays with friends and family and making meals and memories together, we all want to put good food on the table and do it safely.  We especially want to keep the threat of food poisoning at bay.  Over the next few days, we will share some delicious low-cost holiday recipes with some simple food safety tips to help you prepare healthy and safe holiday meals. The first recipe below talks about preparing and cooking a turkey safely. Recipes to follow will include Grandma’s Stuffing, Baked Apples and Sweet Potatoes, Green Bean Sauté, and Crunchy Pumpkin Pie.

Best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season!

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog:

We’re entering the home stretch in the First Lady’s Recipes for Healthy Kids competition. Judges will be fanning out to schools across the country to watch them prepare the delicious recipes that have made it to the semi-finals. My colleague, Audrey Rowe, recently lead a team of judges to Harold S. Winograd School in Greeley, Colo., to kick off this phase of the competition, which is part of the First Lady’s effort to partner chefs with schools through her Let’s Move! initiative.

As soon as you enter the front doors, it is clear that nutrition and health are at the forefront of life at Bruce-Monroe Elementary in Washington, D.C.  That message was unmistakable on Thursday, April 28, when I visited the dual-language school to celebrate their Gold Level of Distinction honor in USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge.  But more importantly, the event represented a broader commitment to the welfare of the kids we met, and to our nation’s next great generation.

On January 24, 2011, a wintry day in Chicago, 20,000 high school students in the Chicago Public Schools were treated to a prize-winning, delicious and healthy school lunch created by their fellow students.  Topping the menu was Afro-Caribe Plancha (Cuban turkey, black beans, provolone cheese and marinated cucumbers baked in a whole grain pizza crust), along with Soup of Sunshine (yellow squash, bell pepper, tomatoes, apples, bananas and peanut butter with cilantro and spices), and Caribbean Crunch Salad (julienned oranges, cucumber apple, cilantro, orange juice and black pepper).

I was privileged to go to the State of Mississippi on Dec. 9, for a HealthierUS School Challenge event.  Actually, I was there for three events and 11 schools received either USDA’s Gold of Distinction Awards or Gold Awards.  One of the six schools that was recognized for the Gold of Distinction Award was Purvis High School in Purvis, Miss.  This school is actually the first high school in the country to win this award and counting the other five Gold of Distinction award winners; these six schools are the first in Mississippi to be recognized for this particular award.

I was thrilled to stand in the Civic Center in Pelham, Ala., on October 29^th to celebrate the State of Alabama’s great accomplishment of 52 Alabama Public Schools meeting USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge.  Alabama has received 39, more than half of HealthierUS School Challenge Gold Awards of Distinction that have been awarded in the nation.  Two schools received HealthierUS School Challenge Gold Awards, seven silver and four bronze.

Recently, I had the privilege of visiting Northern Mississippi to recognize two schools for meeting USDA’s HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC). I stopped at Pope Elementary/Junior High School in Pope, Miss. and met with and congratulated the cafeteria and other staff for achieving a Bronze Award.  I then traveled to Grenada Upper Elementary School in Grenada, Miss., for an assembly where I recognized the school for earning a Gold Award.

Dr. Janey Thornton, Deputy Under Secretary for USDA Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services

By Darlene Barnes, Mountain Plain Regional Administrator, USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service
Colorado Springs, Colorado, May 12, 2010