Say goodbye to cash payments. With HotLunch.com, parents can order and pay for their child’s lunch online.

Keeping your school lunch program safe should be a top priority. School lunch programs are essential to continue providing students with nutritious meals to fuel their minds during the school day as many studies show that children consume over half their daily calories at school. As COVID-19 continues to spread, foodservice providers are tasked with maintaining a safe, contact-free, school lunch program. At HotLunch.com, we offer a school lunch ordering and management software that helps to eliminate contact and keep your students safe.

The children nutrition experts at HotLunch.com recommend following 10 best practices for keeping students safe while maintaining your hot lunch program:

• Install contactless payment methods, such as HotLunch.com, to minimize contact associated with cash
• Offer food that is prepackaged instead of cafeteria-style
• Use disposable food service items such as utensils and trays
• Avoid offering any self-service food or drink options
• When possible, have children eat meals outdoors or in classrooms while maintaining a safe distance
• If students congregate in a dining hall, ensure that they are 6-feet apart and sanitize all surfaces in between uses
• Remind teachers and students to wash their hands with soap and water for 20 seconds or use a hand sanitizer that includes at least 60% alcohol before and after eating
• Ensure that students do not share food or utensils—this not only helps prevent the spread of COVID-19, but also ensures safety for children with allergies
• Provide tissues and no-touch or foot pedal trash cans, when possible, for employees, volunteers, and students to use
• Always maintain social distancing and maintain regular cleaning schedules

In addition to following these CDC guidelines, our experts also recommend adhering to any protocols set forth by your state.

Resource: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/schools.html

At Hotlunch.com we are committed to the health and safety of students and staff. These are unprecedented times and now more than ever; schools are opting for paperless and contactless school lunch programs to increase safety. Our contactless school lunch software has been specifically designed to meet the challenges of the current scenario making it the go-to choice that meets the necessary safeguards required to protect students and staff.

We have been providing our services online, securely and efficiently, for years. Our system is proven to make the school lunch ordering process simple for parents and administrators, giving them access to our software from the safety and comfort of their homes and offices. HotLunch.com can be accessed anywhere from your phone or computer, eliminating unnecessary contact associated with cash payments and paper forms. The HotLunch.com app makes the user experience of ordering and managing school lunch on a smartphone more user-friendly.

Implementing a contactless school lunch ordering and management system is critical for the safety of students and staff during this time of increased concern for the health and safety of students and staff.

Our contactless school lunch program allows for contact to be minimized while students are ordering and receiving their lunch. Instead of handing over paper forms or cash payments, the student simply states their name or ID number and they will receive their school lunch in seconds. The school lunch software reduces line waiting times, which can improve the safety of students as they go back to school during the pandemic.

In events where social distancing is required, our online software can also accommodate for delivering each student’s lunch to their classroom in an event. This further minimizes the contact required for students waiting in line and standing at the service counter.

Opting for a contactless school lunch solution can help improve the safety of students and staff as we return to school this fall.

Humans are essentially born with the ability to know we need to eat when we’re hungry and stop when we’ve had enough. But as we grow, we develop various behaviors around what, when and how much we eat. Each of us approaches how we eat in our own way but we also influence those around us, especially our kids.

It’s important to think about the habits we as parents, grandparents, and caregivers have and how we portray those habits to kids.

Nutrition: How to create a healthy relationship with food for your children

This article from the Los Angeles Daily News talks about how to help kids develop a healthy relationship with food and includes advice such as not using food as a reward and not talking about dieting in front of kids. There are positive tips too, such as eating meals together, exploring foods and letting kids feel they have a sense of control over the foods they eat.

Green spaces are those with vegetation designated for recreational or aesthetic purposes, and there is significant new research indicating that green space can provide mental health benefits.

One study by PNAS noted a 55% higher risk of psychiatric disorder development in children who had the lowest exposure to green space as compared to other children in the same study. Beyond just parks in communities, there are many other settings where green space can be incorporated to maximize citizens’ well-being. For instance, a hospital design might include a rooftop green space that promotes physical activity and social interaction – both of which can positively affect mental health outcomes. Read more on the benefits of green spaces here.

Fish is a nutrient-dense food that can provide health benefits. This lean protein is high in vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids such as EPA and DHA (both omega 3 fatty acids that aid in heart and brain health).

There is some evidence that indicates fish may contain methylmercury, an environmental element that initially enters the food chain through fresh and saltwater habitats. While methylmercury has been proven hazardous to human health, there is current controversy over safe amounts that can be ingested through fish and shellfish products. The U.S. government aids consumers by classifying fish into categories of safety and recommends 2-3 servings of those lowest in mercury such as shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock and catfish.

Resources:

J Prev Med Public Health. 2012 Nov; 45(6): 353–363. Published online 2012 Nov 29. DOI: 10.3961/jpmph.2012.45.6.353
FDA. “Mercury Levels in Commercial Fish and Shellfish.” (2012). Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/food/metals/mercury-levels-commercial-fish-and-shellfish-1990-2012
WebMD. “FDA: New Fish Guidelines for Kids, Pregnant Women.” (2017). Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/diet/mercury-in-fish#1