New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher and New York Jets Offensive Tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson will visit Lillian M. Steen School in Bogota to honor the school as this year’s Eat Right, Move More program grand prize winner.
In addition to the visit, the school will receive a $5,000 kitchen makeover made possible by the Jets and American Dairy Association & Dairy Council’s Fuel Up to Play 60 campaign, along with being recognized on field at the Jets home game versus the Kansas City Chiefs at MetLife Stadium on December 11.
The Eat Right, Move More program, a partnership between the Jets, the Department of Agriculture and the American Dairy Association & Dairy Council’s Fuel Up to Play 60 campaign, encourages New Jersey school children to take advantage of healthy foods in their school cafeterias and become more active.
This year, there was an emphasis on selecting the schools that have made changes in their menus reflecting more fresh fruits and vegetables; a greater variety of vegetables, such as dark green and orange vegetables, and legumes; and more whole grains. Additionally, school lunch and breakfast menus were reviewed and the schools had to show strong support and demonstrate efforts to improve nutrition and physical activity among their students.
As a professional football team that plays in New Jersey, the Jets regularly promote youth health, fitness, and education, particularly in disadvantaged communities. Ferguson has been the spokesman for the Eat Right, Move More campaign since its inception in 2006.
The Department of Agriculture’s school nutrition policy is the most comprehensive in the nation and covers pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students. The policy limits fat and sugar content in foods offered in a la carte lines, snack bars and vending machines, school stores and as part of on-campus fund-raisers.
