Newsletters 2014-15 Focus newsletter, [1] fall | Page 15

SCHOOL MEALS — FOCUS ON NUTRITION

PAGE 15

For the love of food: Noah Atlas
named new Child Nutrition director
And that’s why Atlas was interested in coming
to Anoka-Hennepin – he gets to help a lot of
people. The district teaches more than 38,000
students and he gets to lead a CNP team that has
a priority of putting good tasting food on the
plates of its student-customers.
Jeff Chounard, the district’s top chef, was hired
last year with the goal of revamping the district’s
menu, and he did so to rave reviews. Atlas said
he’s excited to work with him.
“We have to be reactive to what’s going on in
the cafeteria,” he said. “So that takes some experimentation and with (Chounard) we have a great
opportunity to continue doing that.”
New Child Nutrition Program Director Noah Atlas began
working for the district in July.

With experience making new products and
recipes and scaling them up for plant production,
Atlas thinks he can be a lot of help.

Noah Atlas loves food. He’s not picky, and
prefers simplicity, which are good things for a former chef.

“I didn’t come here to make a bunch of changes.
It’s already a successful department,” he said.
“What I’m looking forward to doing is bringing the
skills and knowledge I have to the fold.”

“But when it’s me eating — I just like it when
others cook for me,” he joked. “I’m kind of a horrible eater in that regard.”

Atlas, who grew up in Iowa, first attended the
University of Iowa before
heading to the Culinary
Institute of America in Hyde
Park, New York.

And now that Atlas is
the new director of
Anoka-Hennepin’s Child
Nutrition Program (CNP),
he’ll have more than 36
cafeterias in which to find
his lunch. “Actually, I
can’t wait to get into our
- Noah Atlas
kitchens to try some of
the food,” he said. “The reputation is becoming
very good.”

“ We have to be reactive
to what’s going on in
the cafeteria. ”

Parents and guardians will get more information
about their children’s choices for school breakfast
and lunch thanks to the new web-based Nutrislice
menu information. It replaces the traditional printed menus and provides much more information.
It’s easy to access and use. From a school website choose Lunch info under the About Us tab.
Then choose Menus and nutrients from the left
column, and then either breakfast or lunch under
Choose a menu. Parents will be able to see how
many calories, carbohydrates, vitamins, protein
and more are in each item. A feature to alert parents to potential allergens in food items will be
added.
Under the breakfast menu they will find a long
list of items available daily, including seven types
of dry cereal, two types of yogurt, string cheese,
three types of muffins and fresh and canned fruit.
If parents know their child likes Greek Yogurt, for
example, they can click on that item and learn
that a four-ounce serving contains 100 calories,
no saturated fat, 100 mg of calcium and more.
If their child needs to watch carbohydrates for
health reasons, parents can download and print
the entire list of foods with carbohydrate counts.
And, if they prefer, they can choose to get all this
information in Spanish.

But with children of his own, the opportunity to
work with Anoka-Hennepin piqued his interest,
especially with the new federal standards that were
introduced prior to the last school year.

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“We’re creating a new culture in the schools,” he
said. “In four or five years, kids aren’t going to r