Food in the Classroom

Mealtime is not the only time when kids can practice making healthy food choices. Snacks and classroom celebrations are important times to emphasize healthy food. You can also integrate healthy food tastings into multiple subject areas. Here are some resources to help support healthy eating in your classroom:

• Make trying healthy foods a regular part of your classroom learning.
• Encourage healthy responses to new foods by following consistent tasting rules.
• If your school participates in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, use these resources to add nutrition education and promotion during fruit and veggie snack service.
• Learn the basics of classroom food safety through this handout.
• Use this food safety checklist to ensure food is handled safely in the classroom.
• Model healthy eating behaviors by consuming healthy foods and beverages in front of your students.

Additional Resources:

• Plan classroom celebrations that are consistent with your Local Wellness Policy, and that don’t conflict with nutrition promotion efforts.
• Include nutrition education curricula in your lesson plans.

Wellness Policy

Check your school district’s wellness policy to see if there is information about serving food in the classroom. At a minimum, ensure that you follow classroom food safety guidelines for serving food.