Project PA, a collaboration between Penn State University's Department of Nutritional Sciences and the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Division of Food and Nutrition, partners with schools and their communities to provide sound nutrition education and to promote children's healthy eating behaviors.
Current Projects
New School Food Service Directors and other individuals with responsibilities related to operating school meal programs can...
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Schools in Pennsylvania and throughout the nation are working to provide healthier foods to students and teach them the skills they need...
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Pennsylvania Harvest of the Month is a program developed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and Project PA (Penn State...
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The School Breakfast Outreach and Education project provides information about school breakfast, resources to help schools expand...
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Orientation to School Food Service Operations (Part 1)
The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), Division of Food and Nutrition, in collaboration with Project PA (Penn State), is offering an “Orientation to School Food Service Operations (Part 1)” in-person training. A successful School Nutrition Program is dependent on a knowledgeable and competent Food Service Director. This orientation will provide critical information to help new (and aspiring) school Food Service Directors and/or those responsible for Food Service Operations be successful in their new position.
Pennsylvania Farm to Child Nutrition Summit | Call for Presenters
On February 23, 2022 (snow date: March 2, 2022), the Pennsylvania Farm to Child Nutrition Summit will be held at the Farm Show complex in Harrisburg. Contingency plans are being discussed in case an in-person gathering in February 2022 would not be considered safe depending on the COVID-19 conditions and public health recommendations. This summit is being coordinated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Division of Food and Nutrition and Project PA (Penn State University) with the support of the Pennsylvania Farm to School Network. Funding is provided by a USDA Farm to School grant.
Information and Presentation Proposal Submission
Culinary Training Sessions (Summer 2019) Feature Five Pennsylvania Specialty Crops
During the summer of 2019, Project PA delivered three culinary training sessions for school food service employees. These two-day, hands-on sessions were led by Chef Bill Scepansky and were funded by a Specialty Crop Block Grant through the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Sessions were held at Seneca Valley School District (Harmony, PA), Derry Township School District (Hershey, PA) and Souderton Area School District (Souderton, PA). Recipes used in the sessions featured five Pennsylvania specialty crops – broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, squash, and sweet potatoes. All of the recipes are now available in PrimeroEdge.
Promising Practices
Creative strategies to enhance successful breakfast, lunch, and farm to school programs are utilized in many of Pennsylvania's schools. Many of these ideas are shared in these collections of promising practices.
Webinars
A collection of webinars conducted by Project PA can be found here. Links to view rebroadcasts of webinars as well as slide and document downloads are listed for each webinar.
