Portage Health’s nutrition services teams up with Hancock Public Schools

School lunches are notoriously bad, but not anymore, or at least not in Hancock. Portage Health nutritionists are working together with Hancock Public Schools’ dining services to redesign the school menus and make them healthier.

Portage Health has recently been part of a campaign to reduce childhood obesity. So Hancock Public Schools asked Mark Pittillo, director of nutrition services at Portage, to help create new menus, with the help of a dietitian.

“Portage Health has made childhood obesity a focus for this year, so working to make school lunches healthier seemed like a great place to start,” says Pittillo.

He says the new meals are both healthy and fun, as the planners tried to stay away from “boring” offerings. New fresh fruits and vegetables are on the menu every day, and ordinary school lunch items are getting makeovers, like whole-wheat spaghetti with ground turkey used in the meat sauce, or pizza with a whole-grain crust and fresh toppings.

Throughout the year, Portage Health will continue to work with the school dining staff to train them and provide guidance, and will survey students about the new menus.

Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Mark Pittillo, Portage Health