Canteen Managers
Notes
Developed by:
Marie Connolly
Canteen Manager
&
Central Coast Health Promotion Unit Ph: 4349 4800
Central Coast Nutrition Services Ph:4320 3691
Oct 2006
Canteen Managers Notes
CONTENTS
1 Introduction
2 “Go 4 Green”Promotion Committee
3 Green Environmental Packaging
4 Newsletter Inserts
5 Canteen Managers Time Schedule
6 Canteens Lunch & Recess Promotions
7 “Go 4 Green”Meal deal ideas
8 How to use disc guide
9 Helpful Web sites
1. Introduction
Canteen Notes
These notes are a guide to help you promote “Go 4 Green”not just as a canteen but as a
whole school. The aim of “Go 4 Green”is for teachers, students, parents, & the canteen to
work together towards a healthy & environmentally friendly way of eating while still having a
whole stack of fun. The aim is also to reduce the amount of “
sometimes foods”eaten.
This can be done by allocating a week or day where the students bring only healthy snacks &
lunches that have minimal packaging from home during this promotion.
The canteen is all about food. The canteen can be involved by selling only “
green category”
food from the Fresh Tastes @ School criteria.
A “Go 4 Green”committee is a great way to gain support & encourage involvement within
the school community. Together with the in class activities, the fun games in the playground,
the yummy food in the lunch boxes & canteen and the environmental aspect, this can all be
co-ordinated together to form a communal effort .
2. Go 4 Green Committee
Canteen Notes
Gathering a “Go 4 Green”committee is easy. The aim is to have a committee made up
of a teacher, canteen manager, & students meeting to discuss all aspects of “Go 4
Green”. For example the class activities, the fun games in the playground, the yummy
food in the lunch boxes & canteen and the environmental aspect.
Here are some points about the committee:•
Principal- Has already approved this as your school has applied for this promotion. Talk
to the Principal about which teacher is involved at your school. The Principal is also the
person to talk to about dates for the event.
•
Teacher-The “Go 4 Green”promotion has already been introduced to the school
community as part of the “Q4:Lunchbox Activity”, which may have been conducted in
your school. The contact teacher heading that promotion is the person to talk to about
being on your committee.
•
Students- The schools SRC group is a good place to start-ask the teacher involved
which students would be suitable, they might wish to go with peer group leaders or year
6.
•
Parents- may have interesting input into your group
•
Canteen Manager –That’
s you. This tool kit will help you, but remember your
knowledge about healthy food will help the committee.
•
Meetings-
•
Aim for two meetings prior to the promotional week so everyone can work together with
ideas etc that will use the school resources to the fullest to make this promotion a great
success. Eg: a worm farm, a parent in the school that is a green grocer or a recycler &
great books from the school library.
Here are some ideas for things to discuss at these meetings:•
School Newsletter items –see resource pack
•
Classroom activities- see resource pack
•
Playground games- environmentally friendly or fruit & vegetable theme
•
Recycling- three bins, one for recycling, one for the worms and one for other waste
•
Canteen “Go 4 Green”lunch –see lunch & recess promotions
•
Green Mufti day –with a donation to the P&C / P&F, environment or health charity or
direct to canteen.
•
Poster competition.
Cont next page……
2. Go 4 Green Committee cont….
Canteen Notes
Example of a “Go 4 Green ”week
•
•
•
•
Newsletter items leading up to “Go 4 Green”week
Classroom activities, playground games, recycling are implemented all week Monday to
Friday
Canteen also has “green recess specials”all week
On Friday comes the big Green Finale. A fun day involving green mufti, special
canteen meal deal, & after lunch round robin activities.
3. Green environmental aspect
“Go 4 Green”is not just about the eating great healthy food whether it’
s from home or
from the canteen, it’
s also about the environment.
From the canteens’point of view the environment aspect is the packaging & recycling.
The packaging for all foods should be recycled material. Paper, waxed paper, recycled
plastic & cardboard are just a few examples of this. Perhaps the teachers will have some
classroom ideas to support this activity with their students.
Different types of bins in the playground can be used as a recycling lesson for the children.
Bin type one can be used for recycling, bin type two can be used for the worm farm, & bin
type three can be used for other waste. If the canteen packaging is recycled material, this
will encourage the children to recycle.
4. Newsletter Inserts
Canteen Notes
There are some newsletter item provided with this tool kit- see disc:The following newsletter article can be used to explain the Go 4 Green promotion.
As the next step in the Q4 Lunchbox Activity looking at healthy school lunches, we are
conducting a Go 4 Green Day / Week this term during week (insert date)
The purpose of a ‘
Go 4 Green Day’is to encourage students to bring healthy food to
school in their lunchboxes and/or to buy healthy food from the canteen. This idea
comes from the Fresh tastes @ school healthy canteen policy. It also has an
environmental aim to reduce the amount of wrapping from pre-packaged snacks.
The results of the recent Q4 Lunchbox Activity run in 20 local primary schools showed a
significant proportion of unhealthy ‘
sometimes foods’(mainly chips, sweet biscuits,
muesli bars) in our children’
s lunchboxes, and only small amounts of the healthy core
foods such as dairy foods, vegetables, meat and meat alternatives and breads and
cereal foods. Fruit was the only food group where the amount brought from home was
adequate.
Our school canteen will also be involved, and will promote and sell ”green foods on
(insert date)
Our students will be looking at what a healthy lunch is in the classroom, and will be
bringing home information and healthy lunch ideas.
This is a great opportunity to show our students how easy it is to pack a healthy lunch,
with the important nutrition needed for their health, growth and development,
and the nourishment they need to be able to think and behave at their best at school.
See school resources for more newsletter inserts like these below.
Healthy Lunchbox Basics
Water and milk are
the best drinks for
children
They can be frozen to
help keep foods in the
lunch box cool. Sweet
drinks such as fruit
juices, juice drinks, and
cordials are high in sugar
and not necessary. These
drinks can increase the
risk of tooth decay, are
filling and may take the
place of healthier foods.
Lu nchb o x Tip s p r oduce d by the
Q4 Te am 2 00 6
Healthy lunches are important for
children at school to help with
concentration and learning.
Almost all 'bars' are too high in sugar however some cereal
bars are better for teeth than chewy, sticky muesli type
bars. Try not to pack chocolate bars and muesli bars in lunch
boxes. These are expensive and stuck
together with fats and sugar.
Choose healthy snack food options
including cheese sticks, canned or
Use this checklist to include food
from ALL these food groups, inclu ding snacks.
Fruit 
Dairy foods 
Vegetables 
Lean meats 
Bread and cereal foods 
Drinks 
fresh fruit, rice cakes, pikelets etc.
Remember:
Keep lunches cold!
Lunc hbo x Tips p roduced b y the
Q4 Te am 20 06
Lu nc hb o x Tip s p r o duc e d b y the
Q4 Te am 20 0 6
5. Sample Canteen Manager Time Schedule
A little planning is all it takes to make “Go 4 Green”a success.
Week1-Term 4
4 weeks
before "Green Week"
~Talk to the Principal
Canteen Notes
~Try and organize a
~Pick a date for the
meeting asap
Promo, as term 4 is
~Talk to the teacher
very busy for the whole
heading this promotion
school.
~Put one healthy note
~ Have a final meeting
in the newsletter
with all concerned to
co-ordinate everything
together
3 weeks
before "Green Week"
~Put one healthy note
~In the tool kit there are ~Make sure you at
in the newsletter
some pictures that will
least have green
help you dress-up your
balloons.
~A breathing & thinking canteen. Now is the
week.
time to organise these
ready to put up.
~Try to think of different
ways to decorate the
~You may-be rushed
canteen.
later and run out of
time.
2 weeks
before "Green Week"
1 week
before "Green Week"
~Put the major
~Put flyers about
newsletter item
special meal in
in the newsletter
newsletter.
~Put flyers about
~ Talk to the children
~Talk to your volunteers
special meal in
in assembly, get them
make sure they are
newsletter.
excited about the day.
coming.
~you may have to call
~Put a flyer of the
~ Remind everyone of
special meal up out side the pre-order dates
a few extra in to counter
for the extra food.
the canteen, this allows
2 days
before "Green Day"
the kids to talk about
~ you may have to look ~Talk to your volunteers
what they are having
at doing some
to eat on "Green Day"
pre-ordering, depending ask them to dress in
on your distributors'
green, ask them to be
delivery dates
creative.
~ do a count of all the
~decorate the canteen,
food & drinks etc
this reminds the kids
that there is a special
~ do last minute
day coming up.
ordering
THE BIG DAY
"GREEN DAY"
~Try to be as organised
as you can be.
that are on "Green Day"
~Remember to
have fun.
Canteen Manager Time Schedule
A little planning is all it takes to make “Go 4 Green”a success.
Week1-Term 4
4 weeks
before "Green Week"
3 weeks
before "Green Week"
2 weeks
before "Green Week"
1 week
before "Green Week"
2 days
before "Green Day"
THE BIG DAY
"GREEN DAY"
Canteen Notes
6.Canteen Lunch & Recess Promotion
Canteen Notes
There are some templates with this tool kit which will help you make this promotion a great
success. See disc
If fruit is a hard thing to sell in the canteen, use “Go 4 Green”to promote all those fabulous
fruit ideas that you have.
7. “Go 4 Green”meal deal ideas
The names of some of the “Go 4 Green”meal deals can
change to the following for something different:•
Goblins- Green goblins meal, Goblins juice
•
Gobble- Gobble Green Jelly
•
Goolies- Goolies meal, etc.
•
Gertrude- Gertrude’
s Meal, etc
•
Gremlins –Gremlin’
s Meal, etc
•
Gravity- Gravity juice
•
Gravity- Gravity juice
•
Goobers- Green Goobers Meal, etc
•
Grand- Grand Green Goobers Meal, etc
•
G.I.- G.I. Juice
•
Grub –Gremlins Green Grub, etc
•
Grizzly- Grizzly Green Goobers
•
Gross green goobers
$0.00
Class ______
Name __________________________
GREMLINS MEAL
e
som
e
v
Ha ith the
w
fun mes
na
Thin
k
som of
e
of
you
r ow
n
Put some of these together and you can have:-
Gremlins Burger, with
shredded goolies, goober
slop, sliced goblins &
grizzlies on a grub roll
In real language:- Chicken burger with
lettuce, tomato, cheese & mayo.
-( Lean Meats, Vegetables, Dairy Foods,
Bread & Cereal Foods)
Please pick one fruit
…...Curley Goober Apple
or
……Gravity Fruit Kebab
Please pick one drink
……Small Choc Moove or
…...Apple Popper
Healthy check list complete
8. All about the Disc
Canteen Notes
Part 1:- What’
s on the Disc
What’
One of the most helpful tools in this package, for the canteen, is a CD. Hopefully this will
get the canteen and the schools creative juices flowing.
This CD contains helpful information, flyers & promotional clip art, that will help the
canteen promote “Go 4 Green”week and also other promotions in the future.
Inside there are 7 files to look at:-
•
Go 4 Green Clip art 06- this has 5 pages of clip art ( 77 pictures ), 2 pages of fruit
pictures, 2 pages of vegetable pictures, and 1 page mixed other pictures.
•
Go 4 Green Signage –this has a number of pages that you may like use for signage
around the canteen and even the school. You may like to print and laminate these signs
for the “Go 4 Green”promotion and use them for future promotions.
•
Go 4 Green Check List Lunch Meal- this is a special “Go 4 Green”lunch with funny
names & exciting fruit and vegetable pictures, There is also a check list for those who
wish to bring their healthy balanced lunch from home.
•
Go 4 Green Pet Lunch Meal- this a special “Go 4 Green”lunch with funny names &
exciting pet pictures for this promotion.
•
Go 4 Green Face Lunch Meal- this a special “Go 4 Green”lunch with funny names &
exciting Smiley pictures for this promotion.
•
Go 4 Green Fruit Recess Specials- this is special fruit signage and ideas for recess that
can be printed & laminated for this and other promotions in the future.
•
Go 4 Green Newsletter inserts:- this is a page of newsletter inserts that can be cut and
paste into the newsletter. Healthy tips, check list, & promotional notes for the “Go 4
Green”week.
There are lots of great pictures and ideas on this CD, just open the files and have a look.
This disc is interactive, just copy and paste the files onto your computer and change
anything such as names or pictures to suit your “Go 4 Green”promotion.
Cont…
8. All about the Disc cont….
Canteen Notes
Part 2:- How to use the Disc
PLEASE NOTE:- to use this CD you must have the program “
Microsoft Power
Point”on your computer to continue.
STEP 1:- Put the CD in the disc drive, the file should open automatically, if not open the CD.
STEP 2:- Open the file “
Go 4 Green Promos “Inside you will find all the files on the previous page.
Next you need to open a couple of the files so you can decide on which meal deal you would
like to use. To open a file double click on an icon.
STEP 3:- Select the file (one click on the icon), eg; 3 Go 4 Green Check List Lunch Meal
STEP 4:- copy the file ( one click on the tool bar at the top of the page)
STEP 5:- and paste ( one click on the tool bar at the to of the page)
it onto your computer
desktop or into the file that you have your other special days in.
STEP 6:- open the file ( double click on file icon)
STEP 7- The file is now open, time to do some
changing click on the writing that you wish to
change type in your own names or change
your type of food or drinks.
Change anything you wish.
STEP 8- then make sure you save it
( one click on the tool bar at the to
of the page)
and it will be
saved to your computer.
STEP 9- have fun changing things and
REMEMBER:- if you make a mistake
or do something completely wrong,
you can always start again, ( copy/paste )
This CD can not be erased, so just keep it
in a safe place and you cant go wrong.
HELP- If you need any help, ask the computer person/teacher at your school for some guidance,
once you know the basics you’
ll be right.
9. Helpful Web sites
Canteen Notes
Web sites that may help you plan
The New South Wales School Canteen Association
The New South Wales School Canteen Association promotes and facilitates
healthy and nutritious food.
Fresh tastes @ school resources, Buyers Guide,
Phone:- 1300 724 850
www.schoolcanteens.org.au