The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) set forth nationwide requirements for sodium reduction in school meals, giving schools years to adjust their menus. Through a project called RISE – Reducing Intake of Sodium for Everyone – the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has partnered with public school systems in northwest Arkansas, including Springdale, Rogers, Siloam Springs, and Gravette, to help them meet the USDA requirements years ahead of schedule. The desired outcomes of low sodium meals are reduced rates of childhood obesity, and eventually lower rates of adult obesity, hypertension, and heart disease.
Sodium Consumption
2,300 milligrams—Maximum recommended daily sodium intake[1]
1,500 milligrams—Ideal daily sodium intake[2]
1,495 milligrams—Average sodium content of school lunch (nationwide)[3]
1,100 milligrams—Average sodium content of school lunch, Springdale Schools, 2016[4]
710 milligrams—Year 5 goal for lunches provided in the Springdale Schools
Culinary Partnerships
The challenge with reducing sodium in school breakfast and lunch programs is in creating meals children and teenagers will eat. To address this problem, UAMS and the Springdale Public Schools have partnered with the Brightwater Culinary Institute, a division of the Northwest Arkansas Community College. Carol Godfrey, supervisor of food service for the Springdale Public Schools, surveyed students to determine the most and least popular menu items, and provided recipes for those foods to culinary nutrition students at Brightwater.
Under the direction of Chef Paulina Rojas, Brightwater students are tasked with modifying these recipes to create a new version that has less sodium but tastes enough like the original to be palatable to young consumers. The final revised recipes are put to the ultimate test: a tasting with Springdale students.
Recipes modified by Brightwater students include:
- Macaroni and cheese
- Sloppy joes
- Chicken spaghetti
- Chili mac
- Chicken tortilla soup
- Burritos
- Jambalaya
- Chicken pot pie
- Sweet and sour chicken
- Fried rice
The culinary nutrition students present their modified recipes to an audience of Springdale students and school officials and staff from UAMS as part of their final grade. This gives them an opportunity to explain how they modified the recipes and how the nutritional content was improved.
Common methods for modifying recipes include:
- Swapping regular chicken broth or stock for low sodium versions
- Using frozen vegetables or low sodium canned vegetables instead of the regular canned versions
- Using plain tomatoes instead of ketchup
- Replacing white flour with wheat
- Mixing their own version of spices instead of using pre-packaged (high sodium) taco seasoning or Cajun seasoning
- Thickening sauces with pureed vegetables
- Using spices in place of salt.
One of the more popular items with the Springdale students was a healthier version of macaroni and cheese that had the bright orange color and texture of processed macaroni and cheese. The chef-in-training who created the recipe blended navy beans and butternut squash with cheddar cheese to create a rich and creamy sauce that was significantly healthier than the original version.
Modified recipes created by Brightwater students are shared with the school district’s supervisor of food service who can then take into account student feedback on the new recipes and make changes to the school lunch menus. By implementing tasty menu changes and gradually reducing sodium content over a five year period, Springdale students will be able to adjust to healthier meals without drastic change – and some may not even realize they’re eating low sodium foods!
The partnership between UAMS, the Springdale Public Schools, and Brightwater Culinary Institute will result in healthy, flavorful meals for more than 22,000 public school students while also furthering the education of future chefs and culinary experts and teaching children and teens nutrition habits that will hopefully last a lifetime.
[1] American Heart Association
[2] American Heart Association
[3] United States Department of Agriculture
[4] Data collection by UAMS Office of Community Health and Research